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Essay on the Introduction to Human Behaviour:

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After all, Homo sapiens has a science all its own, namely
anthropology, and the other “social sciences” are almost exclusively
concerned with this one species too. Nevertheless, many animal
behaviour researchers, undaunted by all these specialists, have made
Homo sapiens one of their study species, a choice justified by the fact
that theories and methods developed by students of nonhuman
animals can often illuminate human affairs in ways that escape
scientists whose training and focus is exclusively anthropocentric.

The continuity of anatomy, physiology, brain, and human behaviour

between people and other animals clearly implies that nonhuman
research can shed light on human nature. Medical researchers rely on
this continuity, using “animal models” whenever human research
would be premature, too intrusive, or too risky. The same is true in
basic behavioural research.

Consider, for example, the study of hormonal influences on human

behaviour. The “activating” effects of circulating steroid hormones on
sexual motivation aggression, persistence, and other behavioural
phenomena were first established in other species and only then
investigated in human beings.

Similarly, non-human research on the “organizing” (developmental)

effects of these same gonadal hormones has motivated and guided
human research on the behavioural consequences of endocrine
disorders. In a more recent example, discoveries concerning the role of
androgens in mediating tradeoffs between mating effort and male
parental effort in animals with biparental care have inspired studies of
the same phenomena in human fathers.