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Published online 9 April 2001 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news010412-1
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Men fish for compliments
The hunting techniques of some Melanesian islanders have more to do with politics than food.
The menfolk of the Meriam, a people who live on islands off the northeast tip of Australia, spend their time spear-fishing and turtle-hunting. This is not an efficient way to gather food, but anthropologists may have found an explanation for this seemingly irrational behaviour: showing off.
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