Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
SPAC Scientific Field Station Network, GgmbH, Bielefeld, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 12;10(1):3692. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-60504-6.
The evolutionary origins of how modern humans share and use space are often modelled on the territorial-based violence of chimpanzees, with limited comparison to other apes. Gorillas are widely assumed to be non-territorial due to their large home ranges, extensive range overlap, and limited inter-group aggression. Using large-scale camera trapping, we monitored western gorillas in Republic of Congo across 60 km. Avoidance patterns between groups were consistent with an understanding of the "ownership" of specific regions, with greater avoidance of their neighbours the closer they were to their neighbours' home range centres. Groups also avoided larger groups' home ranges to a greater extent, consistent with stronger defensive responses from more dominant groups. Our results suggest that groups may show territoriality, defending core regions of their home ranges against neighbours, and mirror patterns common across human evolution, with core areas of resident dominance and larger zones of mutual tolerance. This implies western gorillas may be a key system for understanding how humans have evolved the capacity for extreme territorial-based violence and warfare, whilst also engaging in the strong affiliative inter-group relationships necessary for large-scale cooperation.
现代人类如何共享和使用空间的进化起源通常是基于黑猩猩的基于领地的暴力行为来建模的，与其他类人猿相比，这种模型的比较有限。大猩猩由于其较大的栖息地范围、广泛的栖息地重叠以及有限的群体间攻击行为，被广泛认为是非领地性的。我们使用大规模的相机陷阱，在刚果共和国监测了西部大猩猩，监测范围达 60 公里。群体之间的回避模式与对特定区域“所有权”的理解一致，与邻居的栖息地中心越近，它们之间的回避就越多。群体也会更多地回避更大群体的栖息地，这与来自更占优势的群体的更强防御反应一致。我们的研究结果表明，群体可能表现出领地性，保护其栖息地核心区域免受邻居的侵害，反映了人类进化过程中常见的模式，即居住者优势的核心区域和更大的相互容忍区域。这意味着西部大猩猩可能是一个关键的系统，可以帮助我们理解人类是如何进化出极端的基于领地的暴力和战争能力的，同时也参与了大规模合作所需的强烈的群体间亲和关系。
