Objective
The aim of this proposal is to investigate how evolutionary theory that applies to cooperative birds and mammals can explain the incidence of family living and cooperative breeding in pre-industrial humans. Such theory suggests that (1) families evolve when adverse ecological conditions render offspring dispersal costly and philopatry beneficial, and (2) cooperative breeding evolves when delayers can accrue fitness by helping.
Hypotheses will be primarily tested using data from pre-industrial Finns, but will be supplemented with similar data from Canadians and contemporary Dominicans. The data on Finns has been collected on a range of life-history (births, deaths, marriages, dispersal), ecological (weather, climate, harvest yield, famine, war) and social (class) variables for more than 2000 families from five different areas in Finland. The data is restricted to the pre-industrial era (1720-1900) when mortality was high and fertility natural.
This project will consequently result in the most comprehensive analyses yet conducted on this subject in humans, and aspects will rival the quality hitherto reserved for a few species of cooperative birds and mammals. It is proposed that powerful techniques of mixed and matrix statistical modelling are used to investigate two main questions:
(1) what are the ecological factors that promote family living? and
(2) does the presence of potential helpers influence lifetime reproductive success and overall fitness of breeders and the helpers themselves?
I predict that families will be more common where and when ecological conditions render dispersal and independent breeding costly and helping beneficial. Finally, I will model what costs of dispersal and benefits of helping are necessary to promote family living in humans. It is envisaged that this study will lead to substantial advances of our understanding of the evolutionary significance of the family in humans, and cooperative breeding in general.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology demography mortality
- social sciences sociology demography fertility
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2004-MOBILITY-5
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
SHEFFIELD
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.