Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Table of Contents - 2010 - Volume 33, Issue 01  

Cambridge Journals Online - CUP Full-Text Page
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (2010), 33:35-39 Cambridge University Press
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010
doi:10.1017/S0140525X09991749

Open Peer Commentary

Are humans cooperative breeders?: Most studies of natural fertility populations do not support the grandmother hypothesis

Beverly I. Strassmanna1 and Nikhil T. Kurapatia1

a1 Department of Anthropology and Research Center for Group Dynamics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. bis@umich.edu nikhiltk@umich.edu
Article author query
strassmann bi [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]
kurapati nt [PubMed]  [Google Scholar]

Abstract

In discussing the effects of grandparents on child survival in natural fertility populations, Coall & Hertwig (C&H) rely extensively on the review by Sear and Mace (2008). We conducted a more detailed summary of the same literature and found that the evidence in favor of beneficial associations between grandparenting and child survival is generally weak or absent. The present state of the data on human alloparenting supports a more restricted use of the term “cooperative breeding.” Human stem family situations with celibate helpers-at-the-nest can be described as cooperatively breeding, but the term is a poor fit to many human family systems.

Grandparental investment: Past, present, and future David A. Coall and Ralph Hertwig School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Fremantle, Western Australia 6160, Australia. david.coall@uwa.edu.au http://www.uwa.edu.au/people/david.coall; Department of Psychology, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland. ralph.hertwig@unibas.ch http://www.psycho.unibas.ch/hertwig