Jeffrey A. Kurland

Child abuse: A test of some predictions from evolutionary theory

Abstract Data on twenty-four two-parent households in which there was at least one known victim of child abuse are analyzed with respect to a number of predictions from an evolutionary model of social behavior. As expected (1) stepparents and their stepchildren are much more at risk to child abuse than are parents and offspring, (2) parents are much more likely to abuse their stepchildren than their own children, (3) males are more likely than females to be abusers, (4) handicapped children are more likely than nonhandicapped children to be abused, and (5) the youngest child is less likely to be abused than any other child within the family. Although the results of the present and previous studies of child abuse are consistent with sociobiologic theory, such findings do not, as yet, represent a strong test of evolutionary models of social behavior.

Measuring the relationship between dietary quality and body size in primates

The feeding niche and the body size of any species are fundamental parameters that constrain the evolution of many other phenotypic characters. Moreover, previous work has shown that body size and diet are correlated, as a consequence of the negative allometry of metabolic rate. Unfortunately, the precise form of the association between body size and diet has never been specified, principally because no suitable cross-species measure of diet has been advanced. Here we develop a measure of diet that is sensitive over the whole spectrum of primate feeding niches, and use this measure to define the relationship between body size and diet for a sample of 72 primate species. Subsequently, we present several examples of how behavioral and ecological hypotheses can be tested by examining the extent to which particular species deviate from the general diet-body size pattern.

Spatial Autocorrelation, Phylogenetic Constraints, and the Causes of Sexual Dimorphism in Primates

Cheverud et al. (1985) apply the important and relatively new methodology of spatial autocorrelation to the quantification of phylogenetic constraints on adaptation and illustrate the use of these methods in an allometric study of sexual dimorphism in body size among extant nonhuman primates. Though of potentially broad applicability, the technique was completely overlooked in a recent review of methods to control for the effects of common descent in comparative studies (Bell, 1989). Their approach therefore deserves a wider recognition. However, their specific conclusion, that phytogeny is the primary determinant of patterns of sexual dimorphism among primates, has been uncritically accepted. We present four main methodological problems with their approach that should temper the interpretation of their analysis: biased phylogenetic relatedness scores, biased sample selection, size dependence in sex dimorphism measurement, and deficiencies in selection of a structural path model. We conclude that, even in terms of the analysis by Cheverud and co-workers (1985), phylogenetic inertia is not the primary reason for body size dimorphism.

Comparability among measures of primate diets

Feeding niche constitutes one of the most basic ecological parameters defining any species. Unfortunately, our picture of primate feeding niches is suspect because field workers have used a variety of observational techniques to assess diet in the wild. Here the question of the comparability of these techniques is explored empirically, by comparing the dietary profiles of a small group of primate species that have been studied by two methods in a single locality. These methods are shown to yield quite different results, both in the realm of simple description, and in the realm of behavioral-ecological hypothesis testing.

Symbolic or not-so-symbolic wounds: The behavioral ecology of human scarification

Abstract Scarification, the deliberate and often painful modification of the body, is analyzed from the perspective of four competing hypotheses: (1) a rite of passage, (2) a hardening/trauma procedure, (3) a nonadaptive sexually selected character, or (4) an adaptive pathogen-driven sexually selected character. These four hypotheses are tested using the Standard Cross Cultural Sample (SCCS). Hypothesis 1 is supported in the worldwide sample as well as two of the geographic subsamples.

Ultimate and Proximate Determinants of Child Maltreatment: Natural Selection, Ecological Instability, and Coercive Interpersonal Contingencies

For most people, the family is assumed to function as Christopher Lasch (1977) aphoristically summarizes: a “haven in a heartless world.” However, research over the past 25 years indicates that Doris Lessing (1973) may have been the more perceptive observer when she wrote that “Behind every door there is a disaster.” Cumulative research findings indicate that the family is often a storm center marked by disaffection, disengagement, conflict, aggression, and violence. In this chapter, we shall attempt to provide some theoretical coherence to the multitude of attempts that have been made to explain violence and other forms of harmful mistreatment directed toward children in their homes.

Toward an Evolution of Mind: Implications for the Faithful?

Ever since its inception, Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection has challenged assumptions about the nature of humankind and human institutions. It did not escape the notice of Darwin, sympathetic allies, or hostile contemporaries that his theory had profound implications for ethics and theology. In this paper I review some current sociobiological hypotheses about the mind that are based on the theory that the human mind is primarily a social tool. Many researchers now believe that both complex human within-group cooperation and between-group competition are the anvils that may have shaped the modules of the mind. Given this evolutionary theory of the mind, the Darwinian challenge to theism, ethics, and faith is now being relaunched with a vengeance. However, I suggest that modern physics, evolutionary biology, and cognitive science all seem to fit nicely into the atheistic and phenomenological niche defined by Buddhism.

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Moral lessons from social anthropology and evolutionary biology

Alexander, R. D. The Biology of Moral Systems. New York: Aldine De Gruyter, 1987. xx + 301 pp. including bibliography, name index, and subject index.

Optimal Foraging and Hominid Evolution: Labor and Reciprocity

34.95 cloth,

Ecological significance of hypometabolism in nonhuman primates: Allometry, adaptation, and deviant diets

16.95 paper. Ingold, Tim. Evolution and Social Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986. xv + 431 pp. including notes, bibliography, name index, and subject index.