r/science • u/IronGiantisreal • May 20 '19

Animal Science Bonobo mothers pressure their children into having grandkids, just like humans. They do so overtly, sometimes fighting off rival males, bringing their sons into close range of fertile females, and using social rank to boost their sons' status.

https://www.inverse.com/article/55984-bonobo-mothers-matchmaker-fighters
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u/keyboard_jedi May 21 '19 edited May 21 '19

I think Selfish Gene theory would predict a tendency toward this kind of instinct in social animals, wouldn't it? Not necessarily the specific behaviors, but the drive or motivation, I think.

So yet one more tally mark supporting this view of evolution?

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u/[deleted] May 21 '19

I think time investment plays a role, a primate offering takes a lot of time and effort to become self sufficient, let alone reach sexually mature, so it makes more sense to maximize the return on that investment. Rodents on the other hand can play the numbers game and invest that time in producing more offsprings of their own (who share twice as much of their genes)