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dc.contributor.authorWobber, Victoria Elizabeth
dc.contributor.authorHare, Brian
dc.contributor.authorMaboto, Jean
dc.contributor.authorLipson, Susan Fay
dc.contributor.authorWrangham, Richard W.
dc.contributor.authorEllison, Peter T.
dc.date.accessioned2011-04-05T17:31:34Z
dc.date.issued2010
dc.identifier.citationWobber, Victoria, Brian Hare, Jean Maboto, Susan Lipson, Richard Wrangham, and Peter Ellison. 2010. Differential changes in steroid hormones prior to competition in bonobos and chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(28): 12457-12462.en_US
dc.identifier.issn0027-8424en_US
dc.identifier.issn1091-6490en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:4796828
dc.description.abstractA large body of research has demonstrated that variation in competitive behavior across species and individuals is linked to variation in physiology. In particular, rapid changes in testosterone and cortisol during competition differ according to an individual's or species’ psychological and behavioral responses to competition. This suggests that among pairs of species in which there are behavioral differences in competition, there should also be differences in the endocrine shifts surrounding competition. We tested this hypothesis by presenting humans’ closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), with a dyadic food competition and measuring their salivary testosterone and cortisol levels. Given that chimpanzees and bonobos differ markedly in their food-sharing behavior, we predicted that they would differ in their rapid endocrine shifts. We found that in both species, males showed an anticipatory decrease (relative to baseline) in steroids when placed with a partner in a situation in which the two individuals shared food, and an anticipatory increase when placed with a partner in a situation in which the dominant individual obtained more food. The species differed, however, in terms of which hormone was affected; in bonobo males the shifts occurred in cortisol, whereas in chimpanzee males the shifts occurred in testosterone. Thus, in anticipation of an identical competition, bonobo and chimpanzee males showed differential endocrine shifts, perhaps due to differences in perception of the situation, that is, viewing the event either as a stressor or a dominance contest. In turn, common selection pressures in human evolution may have acted on the psychology and the endocrinology of our competitive behavior.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipHuman Evolutionary Biologyen_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherNational Academy of Sciencesen_US
dc.relation.isversionofdoi:10.1073/pnas.1007411107en_US
dash.licenseLAA
dc.titleDifferential Changes in Steroid Hormones Prior to Competition in Bonobos and Chimpanzeesen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
dc.description.versionAccepted Manuscripten_US
dc.relation.journalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of Americaen_US
dash.depositing.authorEllison, Peter T.
dash.waiver2010-08-08
dc.date.available2011-04-05T17:31:34Z
dc.identifier.doi10.1073/pnas.1007411107*
dash.contributor.affiliatedLipson, Susan
dash.contributor.affiliatedWobber, Victoria Elizabeth
dash.contributor.affiliatedWrangham, Richard
dash.contributor.affiliatedEllison, Peter


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