Chapter 8 Primate Models for Human Behavioral Evolution
Jan 06, 2016
Chapter 8
Primate Models for
Human Behavioral Evolution
Developmental Changes in the Skull of Chimpanzees and Humans
(a) Chimpanzee and (b) Human. Anatomical differences arise through changes in regulatory genes in one or both species.
Human Origins and Behavior
Primatologists still use nonhuman primate behavior to examine the evolution of human behavior, they also use statistical tests to examine relationships between variables.
Brain and Body Size
The relationship between body and brain size is the index of encephalization.
Modern humans have a brain size well beyond that expected for a primate of similar body weight.
Allometry, also called scaling; is the differential proportion among various anatomical structures.
Cortex and Neocortex
Comparisons of Mammalian Brains
Language
Human trait. – Some animals go beyond involuntary noise
responses• Vervet monkeys
SymbolicArbitrary
Language
The bonobo Kanzi, as a youngster, using lexigrams to communicate with human observers.
Left Lateral View of the Human Brain
Information that is to be used in speech is sent from Wernicke’s area, via a bundle of nerve fibers, to Broca’s area.
Evolution of Human Language
Primate Cultural Behavior
Cultural behavior makes primates attractive as models for behavior in early hominids.
Culture is Learned
(a) This little girl is learning how to use a computer by watching her older sister.
(b) A chimpanzee learns the art of termiting through intense observation.
Using Tools
Chimpanzees in Bossou, Guinea, West Africa, use stones as hammer and anvil to crack oil-palm nuts. The youngster is learning to use stone tools through observation.
Criteria for Cultural Acts in Other Species
Innovation
Dissemination
Standardization
Durability
Diffusion
Tradition
Nonsubsistence
Naturalness
Aggressive Interactions
Members of a chimpanzee “border patrol” at Gombe survey their territory from a tree.
Altruism
Behavior that benefits another while involving some risk to the performaer
The Primate Continuum
Human brains are larger than primate brains, but the neurological processes are functionally the same.