the JASs is published by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia www.isita-org.com Ethics and Altruism Grooming, coalitions, and reciprocal altruism in primates

Th e study of primate altruistic behaviours can help to shed light on the evolution of human altruism. In particular, as it provides information on patterns of altruism in species that may lack advanced cognitive abilities such as the capacity for empathy and score-keeping. Grooming and agonistic coalitions represent two traditional examples of primate reciprocal altruism (Trivers, 1971). Seyfarth (1977) developed an infl uential theoretical model to explain the distribution of grooming among female primates. Th is model assumed females compete for accessing and grooming high-ranking group mates in order to exchange grooming for later support during aggressive confrontations