The Primate Origins of Human Nature (Volume 3 in The Foundations of Human Biology series) blends several elements from evolutionary biology as applied to primate behavioral ecology and primate psychology, classical physical anthropology and evolutionary psychology of humans.  However, unlike similar books, it strives to define the human species relative to our living and extinct relatives, and thus highlights uniquely derived human features. The book features a truly multi-disciplinary, multi-theory, and comparative species approach to subjects not usually presented in textbooks focused on humans, such as the evolution of culture, life history, parenting, and social organization.

Table of Contents:
PREFACE xiii SERIES EDITORS’ PREFACE xvii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix SECTION I EVOLUTION, BEHAVIOR AND CULTURE 1 1 Elements of Evolutionary Biology 3 1.1 Darwin’s Argument, 3 1.2 Natural Selection and Fitness, 4 1.3 Adaptation, 5 1.4 Evolution, 10 1.5 Phylogeny and Character Reconstruction, 13 1.6 Evolution as a Historical Science, 18 1.7 Conclusions, 19 2 Basics of Behavioral Biology 21 2.1 Introduction, 21 2.2 Proximate and Ultimate Aspects of Behavior, 21 2.3 Proximate Control of Behavior, 22 2.4 Development of Behavior, 24 2.5 Adaptive Function: Optimality or Evolutionary Stability?, 32 2.6 Levels of Selection, 34 2.7 Behavioral Phylogeny, 39 2.8 Conclusions, 39 3 Social Learning and Culture 41 3.1 Introduction, 41 3.2 Social Learning, 42 3.3 Cultures among Animals, 48 3.4 Human Culture and Cultural Evolution, 51 3.5 A Theory of Cultural Evolution, 55 3.6 Conclusions, 56 4 Evolution and Human Behavior 59 4.1 Introduction, 59 4.2 Integrating Competing Approaches to Human Behavior, 59 4.3 Testing Adaptation in Humans, 63 4.4 How to Deal with Uniqueness?, 67 4.5 Reconstructing our Origins, 68 4.6 Conclusions and Outlook, 70 SECTION II THE HISTORY OF HUMANS 71 5 Ancestors: Humans from a Comparative Perspective 73 5.1 Introduction, 73 5.2 Our Deep History up to the Concestor, 75 5.3 The (Near-) Endpoint: Foragers, 78 5.4 Conclusion: The Gap, 81 6 Human Evolution: A Brief Overview 83 6.1 Introduction, 83 6.2 The First Hominins: The Origins of Bipedalism, 84 6.3 The Australopithecines and Early Homo, 85 6.4 Homo erectus, 86 6.5 Middle Pleistocene Hominins, 89 6.6 Modern Humans: Homo sapiens, 90 6.7 General Trends, 95 6.8 Conclusions, 96 SECTION III SUBSISTENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 99 7 Primate Ecology 101 7.1 Introduction, 101 7.2 Diet, 101 7.3 Seasonality, 104 7.4 Extractive Foraging and Hunting by Primates, 106 7.5 Range Use, 111 7.6 Conclusions, 115 8 Forager Ecology and Subsistence 117 8.1 Introduction, 117 8.2 Diet, 117 8.3 Obtaining Food: Gathering and Hunting, 119 8.4 Fluctuations in Energy Intake, 122 8.5 The Sexual Division of Labor, 123 8.6 Central Place Provisioning, 126 8.7 Paleodiet, Exercise, and Diseases of Civilization, 128 8.8 Conclusions, 129 9 The Evolution of Technology 131 9.1 Introduction, 131 9.2 Tool Use and Technology, 131 9.3 The Evolution of Primate Tool Use, 135 9.4 Nonhuman Primates and Hominins Compared, 138 9.5 Conclusions, 140 SECTION IV SEX AND SEXUAL SELECTION 141 10 Sex, Sexual Selection and Sex Differences 143 10.1 Introduction, 143 10.2 Sexual Reproduction, 143 10.3 Sexual Selection, 144 10.4 Intrasexual Selection, 148 10.5 Mate Choice, 152 10.6 Sex Role Equality and Reversal: Who Competes, Who Chooses?, 156 10.7 Sexual Conflict, 157 10.8 Sex Differences beyond Weapons and Ornaments, 161 10.9 Conclusions, 162 11 Mating Systems and Sexuality in Primates 163 11.1 Introduction, 163 11.2 Sexual Selection in Primates, 163 11.3 Sex in Mammals: The Mating Problem, 166 11.4 Features of Primate Sexuality, 168 11.5 Explaining the Variation in Primate Sexuality, 170 11.6 Conclusions, 174 12 Human Mating Systems and Sexuality 175 12.1 Introduction, 175 12.2 The Human Mating System: Morphological and Physiological Signals, 175 12.3 The Human Mating System: Ethnography and Behavior, 183 12.4 Mate Choice, 186 12.5 Mating Conflict in Humans, 193 12.6 Gender Differences, 198 12.7 Notable Sexual Behavior, 199 12.8 Conclusions, 202 13 Aesthetic Appreciation and Expression 203 13.1 Introduction, 203 13.2 Physical Beauty, 206 13.3 The Arts, 208 13.4 Conclusions, 212 SECTION V LIFE’S CHANGES 213 14 Life History 215 14.1 Introduction, 215 14.2 General Patterns in Mammalian Life History, 216 14.3 The Evolution of Life History, 217 14.4 Life History and Behavior, 220 14.5 Human Life History, 223 14.6 Conclusions, 231 15 Parenting and Reproductive Investment 233 15.1 Introduction, 233 15.2 Parental Care, 233 15.3 Biparental Care, 234 15.4 Communal Breeding among Primates, 235 15.5 Cooperative Breeding among Primates, 235 15.6 Primate Investment Patterns: Seasonality and Life History, 240 15.7 Pregnancy and Birth, 242 15.8 Allocation Decisions, 243 15.9 Conflicts around Reproduction, 248 15.10 Conclusions, 250 16 Growth and Development 251 16.1 Developmental Stages, 251 16.2 Somatic Growth and Development, 253 16.3 Behavioral Aspects: Bonds, Play, Skill Acquisition, 254 16.4 Human Development, 260 16.5 Plasticity in Development, 261 16.6 Conclusions, 262 SECTION VI SOCIAL LIFE 263 17 Social Life in Nonhuman Primates 265 17.1 Introduction, 265 17.2 Competition and Conflict, 266 17.3 Group Living and Its Function, 271 17.4 How to Live in a Group?, 276 17.5 Conclusions, 280 18 Primate Socioeclogy 281 18.1 Socioecology, 281 18.2 The Socioecological Paradigm, 281 18.3 Female Sociality, 284 18.4 Males and Females, 287 18.5 Male Sociality, 289 18.6 Social Evolution in Primates, 296 18.7 Conclusions, 298 19 Social Evolution in Hominins 299 19.1 Introduction, 299 19.2 The Social Organization of Foragers, 299 19.3 The Key Features of Human Social Organization, 301 19.4 The Evolution of Human Pair Bonds, 302 19.5 The Evolution of Human Social Organization, 304 19.6 Human Social Evolution since the Neolithic Period, 308 19.7 Changes in Historical Time, 311 19.8 Human Social Life: Politics, 311 19.9 Conclusions, 313 SECTION VII COOPERATION 315 20 Cooperation in Nature 317 20.1 The Challenge of Cooperation, 317 20.2 The Evolution of Cooperation in Nonhuman Primates, 319 20.3 The Proximate Regulation of Primate Cooperation, 325 20.4 Human Cooperation in Small-scale Societies, 328 20.5 Human Cooperation in Large-scale Societies, 333 20.6 Conclusions, 335 21 Warfare 337 21.1 Introduction, 337 21.2 The Phylogeny of War: Between-group Contests among Animals, 337 21.3 Human Warfare and Its Cultural Evolution, 341 21.4 War as an Adaptation, 345 21.5 The Proximate Control of Warfare, 347 21.6 Conclusions, 350 22 Morality 351 22.1 Introduction, 351 22.2 Biology and Morality, 352 22.3 The Biological Basis of Human Morality, 353 22.4 Cultural Influences on Human Morality, 357 22.5 Phylogeny and Morality, 359 22.6 Philosophical Implications, 360 22.7 Conclusions, 361 23 Religion 363 23.1 Introduction, 363 23.2 The History of Religion, 364 23.3 Proximate Processes, 365 23.4 The Changing Function(s) of Religion, 369 23.5 Religion and Science, 371 23.6 Creationism and Intelligent Design, 372 23.7 Conclusions, 372 SECTION VIII THE COGNITIVE ANIMAL 375 24 The Evolution of Brain Size 377 24.1 Brains and Energy Constraints, 377 24.2 The Expensive Brain: Life-history Costs of Brain Size Increase, 382 24.3 Explaining Variation in (Relative) Brain Size: Life-history Filters, 385 24.4 Explaining the Increase in Hominin Brain Size, 387 24.5 Conclusions, 388 25 The Evolution of Primate Cognition 389 25.1 Introduction, 389 25.2 The Cognitive Skills of Primates, 391 25.3 Grade Shifts: Monkeys, Apes, and Humans, 396 25.4 Cognitive Development, 400 25.5 The Structure of Primate Cognition, 401 25.6 The Evolution of Primate and Human Cognition, 405 25.7 Conclusions, 411 26 Human Language 413 26.1 Introduction, 413 26.2 Animal Communication, 414 26.3 Human Language, 419 26.4 The Functional Uses of Language, 422 26.5 The Evolutionary History of Language, 424 26.6 Language Development, 425 26.7 Language and Cultural Evolution, 426 26.8 Language and Cognition, 427 26.9 Conclusions, 428 SECTION IX CONCLUSIONS 429 27 What Made Us Humans? A Preliminary Synthesis 431 27.1 Mind the Gaps, 431 27.2 The Ape within Us, 432 27.3 The Cooperative Breeder and Hunter in Us, 433 27.4 Uniquely Human, 437 27.5 Novel Expressions of Human Nature, 439 REFERENCES 443 GLOSSARY 491 INDEX 501