Gorilla Society: Conflict, Compromise, and Cooperation Between the Sexes

by Alexander H. Harcourt, Kelly J. Stewart

Societies develop as a result of the interactions of individuals as they compete and cooperate with one another in the evolutionary struggle to survive and reproduce successfully. Gorilla society is arranged according to these different and sometimes conflicting evolutionary goals of the sexes. In seeking to understand why gorilla society exists as it does, Alexander H. Harcourt and Kelly J. Stewart bring together extensive data on wild gorillas, collected over decades by numerous researchers working in diverse habitats across Africa, to illustrate how the social system of gorillas has evolved and endured.

Gorilla Society introduces recent theories explaining primate societies, describes gorilla life history, ecology, and social systems, and explores both sexes’ evolutionary strategies of survival and reproduction. With a focus on the future, Harcourt and Stewart conclude with suggestions for future research and conservation. An exemplary work of socioecology from two of the world’s best known gorilla biologists, Gorilla Society will be a landmark study on a par with the work of George Schaller—a synthesis of existing research on these remarkable animals and the societies in which they live.

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

Reviews

[Wendelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just beautiful, it contains everything you wanted to know about gorilla group behavior, social patterns, ecology, male and female reproductive strategies and survival strategies (nothing on anatomy or physiology). Not jargony. There's a section in the front to get one started on the basics of selection, ethology, sociobiology to pave for the application of the framework when it comes to the specific chunks of content on the gorillas. That really helped. After reading this I might look back and think, Wow, I now understand and predict the basics of gorilla behavior, to the extent of research at the time this book went to print! Not bad at all.

[Ed G · Rating 4 out of 5]

FANTASTIC!