Research

Information on research topics
and research ressources at the LFE

Social Climate

For decades, primatologists have focused on characterizing the social dynamics of primates living in groups. These efforts have resulted in widely-held concepts of species- typical social behaviour, yet recent research has begun to highlight just how much variability is present within species. Chimpanzees have historically been described as competitive and low in social tolerance, and this generalization of their social climate has led to the development of numerous hypotheses about the evolution of human sociality and cognition. Currently, we are combining observational and experimental methods to quantify the diversity in social climates expressed across multiple chimpanzee communities and working to determine how the specific social environment of a group influences the expression of cooperation and social learning.