Killer ape theory

The theory holds many branches on to what kind of violence it was, one-on-one or was violence enacted as a cooperation among different groups. One group versus the other. The theory of the killer ape brings in the evolution of bipedalism and why humans evolved. Many believe the primary reason we evolved to bipedalism was due to learn how to run and energy efficiency. The primary reason to evolving to bipedalism was for the reason to use our forward limbs. The killer ape theory points out as well that violence was a driving factor to bipedalism, the use of our upper limbs to hold tools and use weapons is seemed to be caused by the act of violence.

A theory amongst the killer ape came about in the 1970s. In Creatures of Cain: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America by Erika Lorraine Milam (2018) she briefly mentions how some research put the theory of the killer ape in spectacles, "Then, in the 1970s, the theory unraveled altogether when primatologists discovered that chimpanzees also kill members of their own species". The knowledge of chimpanzees attacking their own species correlates to todays ideals of human violence. Are we violent to each other due to our nature or due to circumstances. they break down if the interpretation of the killer ape theory. "Gentle savage or bloodthirsty brute”, hunter or hunted, hunter or scavenger, violence or cooperation..." the human race today is like a game of cat and mouse as Hart and Sussman try to distinguish.

The expression "killer ape" does not mean an outstanding aggressive kind of ape; in fact, the term refers to anthropological analysis of human aggression. Accordingly, the killer ape is a notably belligerent species on which our instincts might be rooted, because this very ancestor could establish itself due to its special aggression.

Raymond A. Dart (1893–1988) originated the hypothesis in his article "The predatory transition from ape to man" (1953).[3]

Ethologist Konrad Lorenz showed interest in similar ideas in his book On Aggression (1963).[4] In his introduction, he describes how rival butterfly fish defend their territories, leading him to raise the question of whether humans, too, tend to intraspecific conflict.

A 2008 article in Nature by Dan Jones stated, "A growing number of psychologists, neuroscientists, and anthropologists have accumulated evidence that understanding many aspects of antisocial behaviour, including violence and murder, requires the study of brains, genes, and evolution, as well as the societies those factors have wrought." Evolutionary psychologists generally argue that violence is not done for its own sake, but is a by-product of goals such as higher status or reproductive success. Some evolutionary psychologists argue that humans have specific mechanisms for specific forms of violence such as against stepchildren (the Cinderella effect). Chimpanzees have violence between groups, which are similar to raids and violence between human groups in nonstate societies, and produce similar death rates. On the other hand, intragroup violence is lower among humans living in small-group societies than among chimpanzees. Humans may have a strong tendency to differ between ingroup and outgroup, which affects altruistic and aggressive behavior. Also, evidence exists that both intragroup and intergroup violence were much more prevalent in the recent past and in tribal societies. This suggests that tendencies to use violence to achieve goals are affected by social mores. Reduced inequalities, more available resources, and reduced blood feuds due to better-functioning justice systems may have contributed to declining intragroup violence.[5]

The idea that man is naturally warlike has been challenged, for example in the book War, Peace, and Human Nature (2013), edited by Douglas P. Fry.[6] The Seville Statement on Violence, released under UNESCO auspices in 1986, specifically rejects any genetic basis to violence or warfare. More modern research and criticism has focused on misinterpretations of fossil evidence, lack of research into other apes, and the political climate of the Cold War.[7][8]

The association of intraspecies and interspecies violence with a quantum leap in human evolution can be seen in the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The television show Sliders made extensive use of the killer ape theory in storyline arcs involving the Kromaggs.

One of the scenes shows apes acting violent upon another ape. In this scene the surrounding apes are throwing objects to the one ape in the middle. This scene is one indicator that theorises that primate evolved to bipedalism due to the fact of holding and utilizing weapons and tools. The fact of chimpanzees attacking their own species, even killing them sometimes, is played out in the film. All the apes look alike but they all come together to attack one member by throwing them rocks and other objects, indicating the push for bipedalism in the human evolution.

• On Aggression (1963)
• Homo Necans (1972)
• Gombe Chimpanzee War
• Hunting hypothesis
• Congo (film)

• Ardrey, Robert (1961). African Genesis: A Personal Investigation Into the Animal Origins and Nature of Man. New York: Atheneum Books. ISBN 978-0-00-211014-3. LCCN 61015889. OCLC 556678068.
• Dart, Raymond (1953). "The Predatory Transition from Ape to Man". International Anthropological and Linguistic Review. 1 (4): 201–217. ISSN 0534-6649.
• Haas, Jonathan; Piscitelli, Matthew (2013). "The Prehistory of Warfare: Misled by Ethnography". In Fry, Douglas P. (ed.). War, Peace, and Human Nature: The Convergence of Evolutionary and Cultural Views. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 168–190. ISBN 978-0190232467.
• Jones, Dan (2008). "Human behaviour: Killer instincts". Nature. 451 (7178): 512–515. Bibcode:2008Natur.451..512J. doi:10.1038/451512a. PMID 18235473. S2CID 205035543.
• Lorenz, Konrad (1966). On Aggression. London: Methuen Publishing. ISBN 978-0-415-28320-5. LCCN 67072318. OCLC 72226348.
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• "The Killer Ape Is Dead"
• Excerpts from African Genesis by Robert Ardrey