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fandomhigh2011-03-10 09:20 am
bootlessjane.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-03-10 09:20 am
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Primatology; Thursday, Fourth Period [ 03/10 ].
"Hello, class," Jane smiled on her students when they settled in and it was time for the lesson to begin, "in light of the upcoming weekend, I was thinking we might have a look at the idea of social structures in primate cultures. For most human, the predominant social structure is, of course, the family. The make-up of a family depends on a variety of things, but it is typically a structure of two parental units, a mother and a father, and their offspring. Some have less...since my mother died, for example, it has been just my father and me. Some have more: many cultures embrace the elder generation into the main family structure, building it from two generations to three. There are all sorts of other variations, as well. Humans have always been an incredibly diverse species, and other primate social structures are quite the same."
"Like humans, most primates prefer large social groups to live in; in the case of terrestrial primates, such as baboons, being in a large community helps provide protection against predatory animals. It also helps protect scarce food resources. This is especially true for non-human primates when the food is fruit. Leaf-eaters, such as colobus monkeys and langurs, tend to form smaller social groupings since there is little competition for their food. The very few nocturnal species of primates are mostly small, relatively solitary hunters.
"Most non-human primate communities are more or less closed to contact with members of other communities. Most often, they are tied to a particular locale and rarely migrate outside of their home range. This aloofness from other troops prevents high concentrations of individuals which could result in rapid depletion of local resources. Communities usually avoid each other and are aggressive towards outsiders. As a result, social interactions between members of different troops are usually very rare, especially for females. Chimpanzees are a notable exception. When chimpanzees from different troops come together, there is often an exciting, friendly encounter lasting several hours, following which, some of the adult females switch groups. Apparently, they are seeking new mates.
"Interactions within non-human primate communities are usually unlimited. Subgroups are rarely closed from group interaction. All members of a community have daily face to face, casual communication. The most common type of subgroup consists of a mother and her young offspring.
"In some forest living primates, contact between groups of the same species is in the form of a specialized territorial defense behavior. Instead of avoiding each other, groups actively converge near their common territorial border and make hostile displays. Howler monkeys, indris, siamangs, and gibbons all produce exceptionally loud vocalizations for this purpose. This is a ritualized, essentially harmless form of aggression that is intended to intimidate members of the neighboring community. All four of these species live in home ranges that are usually so small that the food resources of neighboring territories can be seen and become attractive.
"In general, though, you can find six major patterns in social structures among all primates, including humans: single female and offspring, one male to several females, monogamous family groups, polyanderous family groups, multi-male and multi-female groups, and the fission-fusion groups. I am handing out a quick primer on these different classifications. I would like you to look them over, and then I would like to spark an interesting discussion that might highlight some of our own societal differences. Which best matches the social structure you grew up in? Is it common or uncommon where you're from? For what reasons do you think your family structure developed? Or, even further, how did your society structure as a whole develop? I grew up in London, a great big metropolitan area which developed and grew due to economical and sustainable reasons, for example.
"Let's also keep in mind kinship. Kinship refers to relationships that are recognized between individuals based on family ties. Among humans, those ties are created by marriage and shared descent from ancestors. Among non-human primates, they are due to descent. Most non-human primates apparently only recognize matrilineal descent. That is, they know who their mother is but not their father. Socially recognized paternity is unimportant or non-existent for them. The strongest social unit is a mother and her young children. Chimpanzees maintain their bonds with their mother well into adulthood. When they are threatened by others, even large male chimpanzees may go to their aged mother to be soothed by grooming. As mentioned earlier, the social ranking of juvenile rhesus macaques precisely corresponds to the ranking of their mothers. Shared descent from the same female is also the basis of close relationships between macaque sisters, aunts, and nieces. Another indication of the recognition of matrilineal descent is the fact that incest in the form of mother-son mating is rare for primates.
"A great deal of human societies focus on patrilineal decent rather than matrilineal. Why do you suppose this is? Is your society different?"
"There's so much to discuss and, most importantly, to think about, considering that we should have a wide variety of social structures represented from our eclectic student body as loved ones and friends show up for the special weekend. So let us open up the conversation and keep these things in mind as we can study the most peculiar of primates, the homo sapien every day in our passing lives!"
[[ OCDon the way is up! ]]
"Like humans, most primates prefer large social groups to live in; in the case of terrestrial primates, such as baboons, being in a large community helps provide protection against predatory animals. It also helps protect scarce food resources. This is especially true for non-human primates when the food is fruit. Leaf-eaters, such as colobus monkeys and langurs, tend to form smaller social groupings since there is little competition for their food. The very few nocturnal species of primates are mostly small, relatively solitary hunters.
"Most non-human primate communities are more or less closed to contact with members of other communities. Most often, they are tied to a particular locale and rarely migrate outside of their home range. This aloofness from other troops prevents high concentrations of individuals which could result in rapid depletion of local resources. Communities usually avoid each other and are aggressive towards outsiders. As a result, social interactions between members of different troops are usually very rare, especially for females. Chimpanzees are a notable exception. When chimpanzees from different troops come together, there is often an exciting, friendly encounter lasting several hours, following which, some of the adult females switch groups. Apparently, they are seeking new mates.
"Interactions within non-human primate communities are usually unlimited. Subgroups are rarely closed from group interaction. All members of a community have daily face to face, casual communication. The most common type of subgroup consists of a mother and her young offspring.
"In some forest living primates, contact between groups of the same species is in the form of a specialized territorial defense behavior. Instead of avoiding each other, groups actively converge near their common territorial border and make hostile displays. Howler monkeys, indris, siamangs, and gibbons all produce exceptionally loud vocalizations for this purpose. This is a ritualized, essentially harmless form of aggression that is intended to intimidate members of the neighboring community. All four of these species live in home ranges that are usually so small that the food resources of neighboring territories can be seen and become attractive.
"In general, though, you can find six major patterns in social structures among all primates, including humans: single female and offspring, one male to several females, monogamous family groups, polyanderous family groups, multi-male and multi-female groups, and the fission-fusion groups. I am handing out a quick primer on these different classifications. I would like you to look them over, and then I would like to spark an interesting discussion that might highlight some of our own societal differences. Which best matches the social structure you grew up in? Is it common or uncommon where you're from? For what reasons do you think your family structure developed? Or, even further, how did your society structure as a whole develop? I grew up in London, a great big metropolitan area which developed and grew due to economical and sustainable reasons, for example.
"Let's also keep in mind kinship. Kinship refers to relationships that are recognized between individuals based on family ties. Among humans, those ties are created by marriage and shared descent from ancestors. Among non-human primates, they are due to descent. Most non-human primates apparently only recognize matrilineal descent. That is, they know who their mother is but not their father. Socially recognized paternity is unimportant or non-existent for them. The strongest social unit is a mother and her young children. Chimpanzees maintain their bonds with their mother well into adulthood. When they are threatened by others, even large male chimpanzees may go to their aged mother to be soothed by grooming. As mentioned earlier, the social ranking of juvenile rhesus macaques precisely corresponds to the ranking of their mothers. Shared descent from the same female is also the basis of close relationships between macaque sisters, aunts, and nieces. Another indication of the recognition of matrilineal descent is the fact that incest in the form of mother-son mating is rare for primates.
"A great deal of human societies focus on patrilineal decent rather than matrilineal. Why do you suppose this is? Is your society different?"
"There's so much to discuss and, most importantly, to think about, considering that we should have a wide variety of social structures represented from our eclectic student body as loved ones and friends show up for the special weekend. So let us open up the conversation and keep these things in mind as we can study the most peculiar of primates, the homo sapien every day in our passing lives!"
[[ OCD
Sign In - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 03/10.
Listen to the Lecture - Primatology, 03/10.
Though she'll probably not notice if you happen to have fallen asleep. Unless you snore.
Discussion - Primatology, 03/10.
Anything else you'd like to propose and muse? Jane would be thrilled to hear it.
Re: Discussion - Primatology, 03/10.
A pause, and then: "The humans we lived with, I do not think they is this... patrilinial?" she frowned a bit as she got her tongue around the word. She recognized it, thanks to endless lessons on heraldry from Derian and Earl Kestrel, but it wasn't a word she used often. "It is always the first-born who then become the One of the family. It not seem to matter if they is strongest or smartest, only first," she thought that was a little strange.
Re: Discussion - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Discussion - Primatology, 03/10.
Re: Discussion - Primatology, 03/10.
Talk to Jane - Primatology, 03/10.
OOC - Primatology, 03/10.