An investigation carried out by a team of Spanish scientists has shown that lethal violence (with the intention of killing) between individuals is a specific characteristic of primates and that Homo sapiens has inherited through evolution. The study has been published in the journal Nature.
Researchers, from the Arid Zones Experimental Station (EEZA-CSIC) and the University of Granada, the Rey Juan Carlos University of Madrid and the Desertification Research Center (CIDE-CSIC), have collected data on more than 4 million deaths and have quantified the level of lethal violence in 1,024 species of mammals, 137 taxonomic families and around 600 human populations, dating back 50,000 years to the present.
Starting from the idea that the violent component of human nature is associated with our evolutionary history in common with mammals, the truth is that scientists discovered that there are lineages of mammals with almost no presence of violence with their peers and, nevertheless, others where aggression is the most common.
“We humans evolutionarily belong to one of these last lineages, which indicates that the violence that we manifest already occurred in the species that were our ancestors,” indicates Marcos Méndez, co-author of the work.
Using comparative phylogenetic instruments and a large volume of data from humans and other mammals, they concluded that the deadliest violence as a consequence of our evolutionary past is around 2%.
“Lethal violence in humans has, therefore, an undoubted evolutionary component that precedes our own origin as a species”, clarifies Adela González Megías, co-author of the study.
But not everything is negative. Taking into account that the horizons of violence have changed throughout history, the researchers point out that culture can mitigate this violent nature , since the levels drop significantly in more complex societies.
