Kyoto University announces that the case of chimpanzees can be explained by adaptive strategy, taking a step forward to unravel the mystery of why humans kill each other

By Tambako The Jaguar

Humans are human-killing creatures, but chimpanzees are also known to be human-killing creatures. When there was a great deal of controversy over whether this 'homogeneous killing' was born in the process of evolution or due to an acquired change in the environment, the research team at Kyoto University said that it was in the process of evolution. I concluded.

Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts: Nature: Nature Publishing Group
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v513/n7518/full/nature13727.html

Prove that the adaptive strategy can explain the allogeneic killing seen in chimpanzees-Expectations for elucidation of the evolution of allogeneic killing behavior in hominids-Kyoto University
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ja/research/research_results/2014/140919_3.html

Chimpanzees have often been reported to kill or cannibalize the same species within or between populations. You can see how the chim bungee cannibalize in the following movie. Be careful when playing it because it is shocking.

The cannibalism of the chimpanzee --YouTube


Regarding the reason for 'homogeneous killing', there is a view that it is an 'adaptation strategy ' to make it easier for male chimpanzees to acquire 'resources' such as food and mating females, and human development may change the habitat or humans. It was divided into two views that it was an 'artificial effect' caused by being fed by.

However, a research group of Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University and Associate Professor Michael L. Wilson of the University of Minnesota studied 18 chimpanzee groups and 4 bonobo groups for a long period of 50 years. After observing 152 killings in 15 populations (58 observations, 41 estimated cases, 53 suspected cases) and 1 suspected case in bonobo, 'artificial variation in the incidence of killings among the same species' The impact is irrelevant. ' This research result was published in the scientific journal Nature on September 17, 2014.

Photograph of 'males of chimpanzees who listen to the voice of the next group and form a clique and head for battle' released

The results of this study have settled the controversy that chimpanzee homozygous killing is primarily a male adaptation strategy for spouses and resources. However, only humans and chimpanzees in primates kill such species, and bonobos that evolved from a common ancestor with chimpanzees do not have such killings, so there is a strong commonality between chimpanzees and humans. I'm suspicious.

From this study, it is still unclear whether human killing is a behavioral characteristic inherited from the common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, or whether it is a behavioral characteristic that evolved individually after the species were separated. It is expected that the mystery of 'Why do humans kill humans?' And 'Why do we fight?' And the mechanism of their suppression will be elucidated if research on human homozygous killing progresses.