THE EVOLUTION OF COOPERATION. Recent fossil discoveries spark a debate among anthropologists.

The most controversial aspects of the papers involve the authors' -- particularly [Kent State's C. Owen] Lovejoy's -- interpretations of what the fossils say about behavior. Of particular importance, he said, is that the sizes of males and females were about the same, and that the specimens do not have large, sharp canine teeth. Both findings suggest that the fierce, often violent competition among males for females in heat that characterizes gorillas and chimpanzees was absent in Ardipithecus.

That implies, Lovejoy concluded, that the males were beginning to enter into monogamous relationships with females and devoted a greater proportion of their time to caring for their young than did earlier ancestors.

"This is a restatement of Owen Lovejoy's ideas going back almost three decades, which I found unpersuasive then and still do," [Harvard's David] Pilbeam said. [Yale's Andrew] Hill was more blunt, calling Lovejoy's speculation "patent nonsense."

Perhaps the academic pecking order reflects better supporting work and a long-time professor at Kent State has had lots of opportunities to get it wrong. Perhaps the peer-review culture requires faculty at mid-majors to make more daring claims in order to be published. Or perhaps anthropology departments at the Ivies have to protect their credibility in the Culture Wars. Monogamy, rather than the rabbit culture, being evolutionarily stable. Subvert the dominant paradigm, indeed.