Chimpanzees prefer to cooperate over compete — studyCooperation is often hailed as a key trait that separates humans from animals, but researchers said Monday that our closest relative, the chimpanzee, can learn to work as a team. (Flickr / Tambako The Jaguar / mb.com.ph) Chimpanzees prefer to cooperate over compete — study(Flickr / Tambako The Jaguar / mb.com.ph)In fact, chimps prefer cooperation by a ratio of five to one over competition, and find ways to discourage peers from freeloading, said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal. Other times, more dominant chimpanzees intervened to fend off the freeloaders, displaying what researchers called third-party punishment — also a human strategy. “It has become a popular claim in the literature that human cooperation is unique. Our study is the first to show that our closest relatives know very well how to discourage competition and freeloading.

Source: Manila Bulletin August 23, 2016 06:00 UTC