ABSTRACT
Human giving is unrestricted both as to the agents that can participate as donors and recipients, and as to the items that can be transferred (apparent exceptions are demonstrably cultural not biological: limitations found in one place and time do not reappear in other places or times). This contrasts with the restricted form that giving appears to take in most other species. Characteristically, giving is confined to the transfer of food. In addition, the exchange is restricted to caretaker and young, although some species expand on this narrow form, allowing food exchange between adults. Certainly, this is a minor elaboration, however, compared to human giving where any agent can give anything to any other agent, including even other agents.
