The social evolution of adaptive plasticity in human co-operation
Human societies provide unique opportunities for testing key predictions of social evolutionary theory, as well as for determining the ecological conditions under which co-operative interactions such as alloparenting and division of labour will evolve and be maintained.
In this talk, Jordan S. Martin will discuss how comparative ecological approaches can be used to investigate adaptive plasticity in human co-operation, as demonstrated by our research into the effects of environmental harshness on alloparental care across a large sample of non-industrialised societies. Jordan will also present ongoing research into the fitness consequences of plasticity and task specialisation among the co-operative familial networks of the Tsimane people of Bolivia.
Speaker
Jordan S. Martin is an evolutionary biology PhD student at the University of Zurich, working in the Human Ecology Group at the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine. His research centres on the evolutionary ecology of social interactions and individual variation, using comparative methods in combination with cutting-edge statistical tools to explain behavioural evolution in human and non-human animal societies.
He previously completed his Masters in biological anthropology at Emory University, worked as a Goldman scholar and research fellow in the cognitive biology department at the University of Vienna, and received his Bachelor degree in biology and psychology at Miami University.
Please note that this session will not be recorded
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