Mothers and Others

Two pieces were commissioned by Dr. Sarah Hrdy to illustrate her work on alloparenting, parental care given by individuals other than the mother and father. Dr. Hrdy argues that in an environment with limited resources, children who are better able to socially solicit help would be selected for and this may have been the key driver in the evolution of human intelligence. One piece illustrates mothers and others caring for small children in a group of hominins such as Homo sedibus. The second piece illustrates a possible precursor stage of social learning in a chimpanzee like hominid.