Role Of Showoff Hypothesis In Social Decisions Investigated

A new study of the Hadza population in Tanzania, forthcoming in the April 2006 issue of Current Anthropology, explores the role of hunting in human evolution. Among chimpanzees and most human populations that subsist on wild resources, hunting is a predominantly male activity, and researchers have long tried to locate the advantage that hunting, a dangerous and tiring activity, brings to men.

Though some have argued that good hunters have longer-lasting ties to mates and better-fed offspring, other research suggests that hunting provides an opportunity to garner social attention and increase one's mating prospects, also known as the "showoff hypothesis."

"When asked where they would like to reside, [Hadza] women preferred the camp of good hunters, where more food would be shared with their families," explains Brian M. Wood (a graduate student in biological anthropology at Harvard University). "The choice was not so clear for [Hadza] men: living with bad hunters would showcase their own hunting prowess. Living with good hunters, however, would bring more food to their family, at the cost of lowered relative hunting status."

In a similar study of the Ache hunter-gatherers in eastern Paraguay, also published in Current Anthropology, Wood revealed that a man without dependent offspring is more concerned about his individual prestige as a hunter, and would therefore rather reside among poorer hunters, while one with children, more concerned about access to food, prefers to be with better hunters. However, most participants in the Hadza study opted for a living situation that provided a better flow of nutrients to the household.

"A few joined the camp of bad hunters, where they could, as one [Hadza] man put it, "teach them how to hunt"," Wood says. "Most men, however, joined the camp of good hunters. We may still wonder whether it is better to play second string on a winning team, or to be the star of a losing team. For the Hadza at least, the spoils of the winning team seem to matter the most."

Copyright 2006 by Space Daily, Distributed United Press International

Related stories:

Future looks bleak for 1 of world's smallest seal species
One of the smallest seals – the Caspian - has joined a growing list of mammal species in danger of extinction.Scientists from the University of Leeds together with international partners have documented the disastrous decline of the seal - a species found only in the land-locked waters of the Caspian Sea – in a series of surveys which reveal a 90 per cent drop in numbers in the last 100 years.
Stone Age Graveyard reveals Lifestyles of a 'Green Sahara': Two Successive Cultures Thrived Lakeside
(PhysOrg.com) -- The largest Stone Age graveyard found in the Sahara, which provides an unparalleled record of life when the region was green, has been discovered in Niger by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and University of Chicago Professor Paul Sereno, whose team first happened on the site during a dinosaur-hunting expedition.
Simian foamy virus found in several people living and working with monkeys in Asia
A research team led by University of Washington scientists has found that several people in South and Southeast Asian countries working and living around monkeys have been infected with simian foamy virus (SFV), a primate virus that, to date, has not been shown to cause human disease. The findings provide more evidence that Asia, where interaction between people and monkeys is common and widespread, could be an important setting for future primate-to-human viral transmission. The study appears in the August issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Disease.
Catch a new planet
Is there anybody out there? Could the Universe contain lots of other planets like ours? Are there new worlds yet to be discovered?
Britain’s last Neanderthals were more sophisticated than we thought
An archaeological excavation at a site near Pulborough, West Sussex, has thrown remarkable new light on the life of northern Europe’s last Neanderthals. It provides a snapshot of a thriving, developing population – rather than communities on the verge of extinction.

Research team examines the challenges of coexistence between humans, wolves
Having grown up on the crowded East Coast and studied wildlife in developing countries like Uganda and Ecuador, Adrian Treves knows just how difficult balancing the needs of people and wild animals can be - and how often human interests win out.
New Dinosaur From Mexico Offers Insights into Ancient Life of West America
A new species of dinosaur unearthed in Mexico is giving scientists fresh insights into the ancient history of western North America, according to an international research team led by scientists from the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah.
Cats' family tree rooted in Fertile Crescent, study confirms
The Fertile Crescent of the Middle East has long been identified as a “cradle of civilization” for humans. In a new genetic study, researchers at the University of California, Davis, have concluded that all ancestral roads for the modern day domestic cat also lead back to the same locale.

News discussion:

General Science news