• Question: based on social behaviour what animal is the most like humans?

    Asked by caterpillar to Claire on 25 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by nitsl001.
    • Photo: Claire El Mouden

      Claire El Mouden answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Hello,

      Sorry for the slow reply – I’m in Africa right now!

      What is cool about studying social behaviour is how you quickly see that natural selection has led animals to use the same sorts of social behaviours. So to understand human social behaviour, I think you can get insights from looking at loads of species (even bacteria!)

      As to which is most like humans? I’m not sure. There are particular things human societies have that I can pick species that also do, but none has the whole package.

      For example,humans live in cities with millions of individuals, and so do ants. Humans have complicated social hierarchies, and so do wolves. Humans engage in warfare, so do meerkats. Humans live in multi-male, multi-female groups, so do chimpanzees…

      Humans are unique though, in that we have language, and a culture that we pass on from generation to generation by teaching. This allows discoveries to accumulate meaning we have far more complicated tools and knowledge-based survival skills than any other species.

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