Coevolution of Mutualistic Species Assemblages: Extended Hypersociality and Extended Ultrasociality

Aurelio José Figueredo · Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre · Steven C. Hertler

Jul 2025 · Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Ebook

146

Pages

Eligible

About this ebook

The evolution of cooperation and altruism both within and between species remains a subject of scientific interest. In the past two decades, numerous evolutionary scientists have considered the influence of genes, culture, and social institutions in facilitating the emergence of cooperation within and among large-scale human groups. Traditionally, the evolution of complex societies has been attributed to the rise and spread of farming. Novel paleoanthropological and archaeological evidence provides an alternative perspective, wherein complexity preceded the emergence of agriculture. These findings suggest that prehistoric human societies cooperated beyond local networks based on kinship and reciprocity. Despite this growing literature, little attention has been given to how humans extended their prosocial inclinations toward their domesticated animals. The present book provides a novel theoretical framework based on cutting-edge evidence discussed across various scientific fields, including evolutionary ecology, paleontology, archaeology, history, anthropology, and psychology, offering further insight into our coevolution with nonhuman animals.

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About the author

Aurelio José Figueredo, PhD, is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona, USA. Until his retirement from the University in 2022, Dr Figueredo served as Director of the Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology (EEP) Laboratory, which engages in cross-disciplinary research integrating studies of comparative psychology, ethology, sociobiology, behavioral ecology, social biogeography, cliodynamics, genetics, and development. He has coauthored 218 peer-reviewed journal articles, 45 book chapters, and 8 books.

Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre, PhD, currently serves as a research associate in the School of Animal and Comparative-Sciences Research at the University of Arizona, USA. His lines of scientific research include the evolution of lethal coalitional aggression in human and nonhuman animals, socioecological correlates of sociopolitical complexity, social biogeography, cliodynamics, and multilevel selection. Dr Peñaherrera-Aguirre has coauthored 65 peer-reviewed journal articles, 59 book chapters, and 3 books.

Steven C. Hertler, PsyD, serves as assistant professor in Saint Elizabeth University’s (USA) Psychology Department teaching assessment, methodology, and physiological psychology. He reads and writes about history as it documents war, pestilence, migration, famine, and agricultural innovations, among other topics. Dr Hertler has coauthored 33 peer-reviewed journal articles, 16 book chapters, and 6 books.

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