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Robert Ardrey

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Robert Ardrey (b. October 16, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois; d. January 14, 1980 in South Africa) was an American playwright and screenwriter who in the 1950s returned to his academic training in anthropology and the behavioral sciences. Ardrey published his first and most widely acclaimed books In the 1960s: African Genesis and The Territorial Imperative.

Contents

[edit] Paleoanthropology

In the fields of anthropology, ethology, paleontology and science writing for the informed non-specialist general reader, Robert Ardrey was one of the most articulate proponents of the paleoanthropological hunting hypothesis and the killer ape theory.

According to the hunting hypothesis, hunting activity and the eating of meat had pivotal effects on human evolution. Ardrey believed that early African pre-humans (precursors of Australopithecus) survived the long dry periods (millions of years in the Miocene and Pliocene) by adapting the hunting ways of the carnivorous animals, which distinguished them from other primates.

The killer ape theory posits that aggression was a fundamental characteristic distinguishing human ancestors from other primates and the urge to do violence is retained in modern humans.

In academia, variations on these theories have also been investigated by, among others:

Others whose research in anthropology, ethology, paleontology and other fields informed Ardrey's own scientific investigations, and/or with whom he consulted at length in Africa during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s while developing his four major works, include:

Ardrey's first two books, African Genesis and The Territorial Imperative, and zoologist Desmond Morris's The Naked Ape, all had considerable impact when they were published in the 1960s.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Prizes and awards

[edit] Plays

[edit] Screenplays

[edit] Personal

Ardrey attended the University of Chicago and was married to Helene Johnson from 1938 until they divorced in 1960. He married Berdine Grunewald, who later illustrated his books, in 1960.

[edit] External links: plays and screenplays

[edit] External links: paleoanthropology

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