Although chimpanzees and other primates are frequently used as models to reconstruct the behavior of extinct human ancestors, this is rarely done in a consistent or methodologically rigorous fashion. This volume brings together leading scholars to explore how knowledge about chimpanzees can be used to understand both what is unique about our own species, and how these traits evolved. The first part of the book makes the case that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was chimpanzee-like. This inference is based not on an assumption that chimpanzees are a model species, but on morphological, developmental, and genetic data, together with evidence from the hominin fossil record. The second part of the book provides the first detailed record of the similarities and differences between humans and chimpanzees, including those in social system, mating system, diet, social behavior, hunting, tool use, culture, cognition, and communication.-- Provided by publisher.

I.Was the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans chimpanzee-like? -- 1. Introduction : chimpanzees and human evolution / Martin N. Muller ; -- 2. Reconstructing the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans / David R. Pilbeam and Daniel E. Lieberman ; -- 3. Equal, similar, but different : convergent bonobos and conserved chimpanzees / Brian Hare and Richard W. Wrangham -- II. Chimpanzees and the evolution of human uniqueness. -- 4. Introduction : chimpanzees and human uniqueness / Martin N. Muller ; -- 5. Mortality, senescence, and life span / Michael D. Gurven and Cristina M. Gomes ; -- 6. Fertility and fecundity / Melissa Emery Thompson and Peter T. Ellison ; -- 7. Locomotor ecology and evolution in chimpanzees and humans / Herman Pontzer ; -- 8. Evolution of the human dietary niche : initial transitions / Sherry V. Nelson and Marian I. Hamilton ; -- 9. Evolution of the human dietary niche : quest for high quality / Rachel N. Carmody ; -- 10. From Pan to man the hunter : hunting and meat sharing by chimpanzees, humans, and our common ancestor / Brian M. Wood and Ian C. Gilby ; -- 11. The evolution of the human mating system / Martin N. Muller and David R. Pilbeam ; -- 12. From chimpanzee society to human society : bridging the kinship gap / Bernard Chapais ; -- 13. Violent cousins : chimpanzees, humans, and the roots of war / Michael L. Wilson and Luke Glowacki ; -- 14. Cooperative and competitive relationships within sexes / Richard W. Wrangham and Joyce Benenson ; -- 15. Cooperation between the sexes / Adrian V. Jaeggi, Paul L. Hooper, Ann E. Caldwell, Michael D. Gurven, Jane B. Lancaster, and Hillard S. Kaplan ; -- 16. Sexual coercion in chimpanzees and humans / Martin N. Muller ; -- 17. Tool use and manufacture in the last common ancestor of Pan and Homo / Campbell Rolian and Susana Carvalho ; -- 18. Cultural evolution in chimpanzees and humans / Joseph Henrich and Claudio Tennie ; -- 19. Chimpanzee cognition and the roots of the human mind / Alexandra G. Rosati ; -- 20. Ancestral precursors, social control, and social selection in the evolution of morals / Christopher Boehm ; -- 21. Communication and language / Katie E. Slocombe and Thom Scott-Phillips.