Book Review The New Monkey in the Mirror: A Rhesus Macaque Reflection

“Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved. ”- Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince Rhesus macaques have quite a bad reputation, at least among primatologists. This was first brought to my attention as an undergraduate working in developmental research, when I was instructed to tread firmly and vigilantly with this species as they are, to say the least, feisty (other, less kind terms, were also bantered about). I also know many researchers who have a great fondness for Macaca mulatta, despite the personality quirks for which the species is known. Dario Maestripieri, Associate Professor at the University of Chicago and a highly respected figure in primate research, has spent many years studying these macaques, and it is clear they have earned his respect. What, then, is “Macachiavellian Intelligence”? The concept, at least as it has been applied to humans, is known as Machiavellianism, based on the work of Niccolo Machiavelli, who, in his work The Prince, describes how a ruler can gain and retain power by exploiting others; the concept is, essentially, social opportunism. If you happen to be a rhesus macaque, a primate species with a strict hierarchical social structure, you are bor