Researchers have found that during monkey wars, chimpanzees produce the maximum amount of the hormone of happiness - oxytocin. This hormone also leads to greater cohesion among group members.
There is a misconception that our closest "relatives" - chimpanzees - are a kind of noble savages. In reality, they are waging bloody wars over territory. And now German scientists have decided to find out the mechanisms of the "inhuman" behavior of chimpanzees, as well as to understand why such behavior is characteristic of humans. The research results were presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Scientists have followed the behavior of monkeys living in the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. Researchers have long noticed that large groups of male chimpanzees evade their domains and periodically engage in fierce battles with other groups. At the same time, animals are completely focused on "war". Experts decided to collect urine samples from animals before and after the "battles" of the groups. It turned out that before the "military campaign", as well as after the victory in it, the level of oxytocin in the body of animals reached the highest level. Simply put, the fights made the individuals happy.
Oxytocin levels during various social interactions
Photo: Samuni et al
Another important finding relates to the fact that during times of conflict, oxytocin brought together team members as much as possible, forcing them to relate better to each other. Scientists also noticed that during the "wars" the flock leaves much less chimpanzees than during calm periods.
All of the above, scientists consider an evolutionary mechanism that promotes maximum cohesion of chimpanzees during fights. Researchers believe that in the case of human societies, perhaps something extremely similar is taking place. It is these intergroup conflicts, by the way, that could give rise to what we now call altruism in a person.
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Note that the social behavior of chimpanzees is the subject of heated debate. Thus, one of the latest studies has identified "altruistic" aspects in the behavior of these creatures. But not all experts share this point of view.
Ilya Vedmedenko
