Chimpanzee Fathers

It's father's day, and in the news there is an item about the genetic contribution of chimpanzee fathers to the evolution of the species.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140612142307.htm

Ninety percent of genetic mutations in chimpanzees come from the father, and the older the father, the more mutations. Bow is still quite young, so I expect he would be a source of fewer mutations than most, were he allowed to father a child this year.

Bow in the outer pen yesterday

When I think of that, it reminds me of those people who say that we cannot safely interact with chimpanzees because they have not undergone a long process of domestication. By domestication, they do not mean becoming personally accustomed to living in a house, as the etymology of that word would imply. They mean a selective breeding program. Those people are crypto-eugenicists.

If we believed what they were saying and wanted to follow their train of thought to its ultimate conclusion, the obvious solution to the "chimpanzee problem" would be a breeding program designed to bring out more cooperative traits, less violence and higher intelligence. The product of that breeding program would be "domesticated chimpanzees", as safe to own as dog or cow.

I don't think it actually works that way. The truth is that nurture has a huge impact on how anyone turns out. The sense of having a common interest with others, as opposed to a conflict of interest, also makes a huge difference. Bow knows that we are in this together. Another chimpanzee who does not know me would behave completely differently toward me.The same is true for dogs. You cannot know that a dog is safe to interact with unless you know the dog. 

Maybe this idea that behavior is pre-wired in higher functioning mammals is influenced by the study of insects. Insects seem to pretty much know what they are supposed to be doing without anyone ever having told them. Yesterday, the bees on my property gravitated toward the blackberry blossoms.

The butterflies, on the other hand, congregated by the purple milkweed flowers.

How did they all know what they were supposed to be doing? And what made them all decide not to show up this morning, just because it looks like rain again?

Many things that Bow and I do also come pre-wired. The way we stand, for instance.

The way we move, the things we like to eat, the sorts of thoughts we have, all do involves some genetic predisposition. But who our friends are, who we rely on in a pinch and who is a stranger to us is something that depends on our experiences.

Chimpanzee fathers may cause ninety percent of the mutations, but it's the person the chimpanzee grows up with who is ultimately the trusted family member.