Chimpanzee Models in Human Evolution

Living primates are frequently used as models to assist in interpreting the behavior of extinct human ancestors. This is rarely done in a consistent or methodologically rigorous fashion, however. To help address this problem, I am currently collaborating with Richard Wrangham and David Pilbeam to produce an edited volume on chimpanzees as referential models. This book will provide the first systematic account of similarities and differences between humans and chimpanzees, thus clarifying what is unique about humans.  It will also provide a new framework for using primate data to generate and test hypotheses about the evolution of unique human traits.

The first part of the book will make the case that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was very like a modern chimpanzee, and address the question of whether chimpanzees or bonobos might better serve as a specific model.  The second part of the book will explore, topic by topic, the detailed implications of this view.  Each chapter will summarize the similarities and differences in a specific trait between chimpanzees and humans. For characters that appear similar, authors will consider whether this is the result of homology or homoplasy, and why.  For characters that are different, authors will explicitly consider how data from chimpanzees and other primates can help to test hypotheses about the origin of the uniquely human traits.  Chapters include life history patterns, diet, reproductive ecology, locomotion, the social community, cooperation, sexual behavior, hunting and meat sharing, tool use, culture, cognition and others.