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Roots of Human Behavior

Learn how the study of monkeys and apes can help provide a fuller picture of who we are.
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The Four Facets of Anthropology

01: The Four Facets of Anthropology

Anthropology comprises many ways to study humanity, but a biological anthropologist focuses on the evolution of the human, anatomically and behaviorally. We begin with the evolutionary link between humans and other anthropoid primates that was posited by Charles Darwin more than 100 years ago.

32 min
Social Bonds and Family Ties

02: Social Bonds and Family Ties

The very idea of a "solitary anthropoid" is a contradiction in terms. Monkeys and apes are social animals, whose life experiences are defined by their place as an individual within a group. These arrangements have practical advantages and are emotionally and developmentally meaningful.

30 min
The Journey Away from Mom

03: The Journey Away from Mom

An anthropoid infant's progress to adulthood is one many of us would recognize. Beginning in absolute dependence, the infant adapts to the world through exploration and play. Some will stay "at home" to form the core of their native communities, while others will disperse to find new homes.

31 min
Males and Females—Really So Different?

04: Males and Females—Really So Different?

Forty years ago the stereotype of males as promiscuous aggressors and females as passive mother figures held sway. Studies of the most recently discovered great ape, the bonobo, changed this uncomplicated dichotomy dramatically.

31 min
Sex and Reproduction

05: Sex and Reproduction

As with male-female differences, ideas on sex and reproduction have withstood revision in recent years. Variations in behavior across species complicates any conclusions we might draw about a fixed and clearly defined sexual nature in humans.

31 min
Tool Making—Of Hammers and Anvils

06: Tool Making—Of Hammers and Anvils

New research shows that great apes engage in spontaneous problem solving and other advanced cognitive behavior in producing tools for grooming and feeding, and even escaping from captivity! A study of orangutans in Sumatra suggests that social tolerance and cooperation play a critical role in this behavior.

30 min
Social Learning and Teaching

07: Social Learning and Teaching

A conundrum faced by any primatologist is determining whether an advanced behavior has been spontaneously invented, learned through a trial-and-error, or acquired through teaching. What is certain is that learning is a dynamic process that is actively pursued, not passively absorbed.

30 min
Culture—What Is It? Who’s Got It?

08: Culture—What Is It? Who’s Got It?

No concept other than culture has been more controversial historically. Many great ape communities have developed group-specific behaviors that have survived and been passed on over time, and some of these actions are even thought to show conceptual understanding and convey symbolic meaning. Whether this represents culture depends on your definition of the term.

31 min
Dynamics of Social Communication

09: Dynamics of Social Communication

It was once thought that communication in great apes and monkeys was limited to expressions of emotion and states of arousal. But data on predator-specific alarm calls among vervet monkeys in Kenya suggest that anthropoid primates can communicate information to achieve dynamic social coordination.

31 min
Do Great Apes Use Language?

10: Do Great Apes Use Language?

Great apes raised in an enriched human environment exhibit an expanded range of linguistic skills, showing the equally important roles played by both biological dispositions and the rearing environment. Are our complex languages unique in kind or only in degree?

31 min
Highlights of Human Evolution

11: Highlights of Human Evolution

More than four million years ago the hominids emerged, and by 30,000 years ago "Homo sapiens" had outcompeted and replaced other hominids. Yet despite bipedalism, mastery of fire, and construction of stone tools that render the hominids unique, a surprising number of their behaviors are found in our anthropoid relatives: the monkeys and apes.

31 min
Exploring and Conserving a Legacy

12: Exploring and Conserving a Legacy

Anthropoid primates are valuable as creatures in their own right and as a critical lens through which to view ourselves. How, then, should we deal with the forces that imperil them, from medical research to economic development and the deadly bushmeat trade? Dr. Barbara J. King offers a balanced assessment.

31 min

Overview Course No. 168

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About

Barbara J. King

Scientific creationism, however, and even the newer doctrine of intelligent design, are fundamentally at odds with the bedrock principles of biological anthropology, and of science itself.

INSTITUTION

The College of William & Mary
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By This Professor

Biological Anthropology: An Evolutionary Perspective
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