The evolution of primate intelligence essay

A study identifying individual chimpanzees that consistently performed highly on cognitive tasks found clusters of abilities instead of a general factor of intelligence. Mechanisms behind such increase in size involves generation of a large brain which consequently programs the body to increase food intake and lengthen its life span to be able to substantially maintain and develop a bigger brain.

Also it helped by keeping track of who is more and less related so that the individuals performs altruistic acts only for kin, individuals who handled these problems better might have higher reproductive success Byrne and Whiten, ; Harcourt, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp — This paper will describe aspects on the evolution of primate intelligence based on four 4 grades of primate evolution.

The females are not related to each other and so have little to offer each other socially. To account for the possibility that observers may be more willing to ascribe behavioural flexibility to the great apes than to other primates, we repeated the analysis with great apes removed, finding equivalent results electronic supplementary material.

In addition, the aspect of parental investment was observed as a prime goal for mating selection in primates Geher et al. These are third party relationships; between two other individuals, not directly involving the individuals who knows about them.

Pigeons show same-different conceptualization after training with complex visual stimuli. In addition, there are also ecological and genetic factors that could influence variability in intensities of selection in different primate families which may have different effects on primate life histories.

Not only do the large hominids have large brains, their brains differ from those of other primates in having more distinct asymmetries to them, where features of the right and left cerebral hemispheres are unequal In size or extent of expression.

The chimpanzees have male-bonded societies where females migrate between troops and individuals leave…. It would then be interesting to determine what factors directly influence relative brain sizes. While still in the uterus, the brain starts growing.

Despite the fact that it is metabolically costly, there has been increase in primate brain size Harvey et al, Tarsiers have very long six-month gestation periods and one of the lowest rates of fetal growth among mammals. More importantly, the classification of primates should also be addressed, so prevent further confusion on primate taxonomy.

Such association is mostly due to the need to specifically localize such activity to the neocortex Dunbar and Shultz, Several approaches have identified a number of selective pressures that have triggered primate speciation over approximately 65 million years my.

It has been shown the primates have mate preferences, but unlike humans, chimpanzees prefer older females, suggesting that the choice of younger females as mates is a derived human-specific mating feature Muller et al.

It cannot clearly be said that what favored the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities in apes, as they do use lot of extractive foods and some foraging skills take a long time to learn. Apes have much larger and more complex brains. Primates that vive in monogamous societies exhibit the following features: Animals that face a high risk of predation maximize reproductive success by having a life history strategy that produces lots of offspring as quickly as possible, this maximizes the number of offspring the individual produces before a predator kills it Deacon, It can also provide additional information on what makes humans unique and what can be done to eliminate primate extinction and enhance human evolution.

The hominoids are a fascinating species mostly because of their likeness to us humans, in terms of physical appearance, gestures, social structure and most importantly— intelligence. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 24 April: Similar to the lemur, they mark their territory.

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Females are not receptive for three to four years after giving birth and resume sexual activities for one to six months until conception.

Also the more sophisticated species exhibit longer infant and Juvenile stages, which are related to the time required for a more advanced mental development. They are differentiated by the increase in brain size, both in relative and absolute terms, especially the cortex that increased in size and complexity.

Studying social behavior also gives clues to cognitive level. First, we investigated the relations between numerous measures of behavioural flexibility in primates, using statistical methods that control for potential confounds and simultaneously incorporating continuous variables relevant to social, cultural, ecological and technical intelligence.

In addition, they are difficult to know because so little information is available about subfossil species. They found that the animals failed in most cases to differentially request food from the "knower.

Many species, especially nocturnal ones, have very primitive, relatively basic social structures; others are monogamous; and some live in larger groups with many males and females ibid.

Primate cognition is the study of the intellectual and behavioral skills of non-human primates, particularly in the fields of psychology, behavioral biology, primatology, and. Primate Intelligence: Apes - Monkey see, monkey do.

Apes have always been thought to have an increased level of intelligence. Over the years, researchers have attempted to understand the degree of intelligence these primates possess. View this term paper on Evolution of Primate Intelligence. Methods that have been used to determine the level of intelligence in animal ancestors include the Term Paper Evolution of Primate Intelligence and 90,+ more term papers written by.

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The evolution of primate intelligence tends to be linked with the evolution of a larger brain size through these primate grades, which in turn has been theorized to be the result of changes in social organization and foraging strategies on the part of these animals (RifkinFalk ).

Primates Essay Words | 6 Pages. Primates Since the beginning of time, man has evolved through primate evolution. Each primate has acquired different characteristics over a period of millions of years.

The ecosystem has experienced an enormous change in this phase.

Most major changes have occurred due to the phenomenon of .

The evolution of primate intelligence essay