Ape society: trading favours.
An alpha-male chimpanzee allots mating opportunities with receptive females in return for support from potential competitors. Although ubiquitous among humans and apparently rare among animals, exchange of one currency for another -- in this case sex for power -- may not be cognitively demanding.
Byrne
Richard W
RW
Centre for Social Learning and Cognitive Evolution & Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, UK. rwb@st-andrews.ac.uk
D000818:Animals; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000523:psychology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012930:Social Dominance