A fruit in the hand or two in the bush? Divergent risk preferences in chimpanzees and bonobos

• Published in: Biology letters (2005) Vol. 4; no. 3; pp. 246 - 249
• Main Authors: Heilbronner, Sarah R, Rosati, Alexandra G, Stevens, Jeffrey R, Hare, Brian, Hauser, Marc D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London The Royal Society 23.06.2008
• Subjects: Animal Behaviour; Animals; Appetitive Behavior - physiology; Bonobos; Chimpanzees; Decision Making; Female; Male; Pan paniscus; Pan paniscus - physiology; Pan troglodytes; Pan troglodytes - physiology; Risk; Risk-Taking; Species Specificity

Human and non-human animals tend to avoid risky prospects. If such patterns of economic choice are adaptive, risk preferences should reflect the typical decision-making environments faced by organisms. However, this approach has not been widely used to examine the risk sensitivity in closely related...