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Energy Relations and Some Basic Properties of Primate Social Organization 1
Author(s) -
DENHAM WOODROW W.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1971.73.1.02a00060
Subject(s) - primate , social organization , typology , field (mathematics) , mating , sociology , social relation , space (punctuation) , ecology , social psychology , biology , psychology , anthropology , computer science , mathematics , pure mathematics , operating system
Recently published field data on non‐human primate ecology and social behavior has stimulated much discussion of the control exercised by different environments upon social behavior of populations living within those environments. Here the author attempts to contribute to that discussion by presenting a model of certain relations between food density and distribution patterns and characteristics of predator populations on the one hand, and some basic properties of primate social organization including space and resource allocation, socionomic sex ratios, mating strategies, and the structure of multi‐male social groups on the other hand. Some of the better documented primate populations are examined from the vantage point provided by the model, and a new typology of primate societies emerges. Sexual dimorphism and individual mate selection within primate groups is briefly discussed. The article concludes with a statement of its implications for the anthropological study of human social behavior.