Non Human Primates


Humans and non-human primates have many behaviors and characteristics in common. Apes and chimpanzees have been studies and closely watched for many years. Scientist and researchers and found many similarities between the apes and chimpanzees with humans. All three are hard working and work with tools. They also make these tools. Another similarity is the fact that they are very social with others of their breed. This is also true about other primates other than apes and chimpanzees, like lemurs, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers. Apes and chimpanzees are able to learn sign language and elementary math skills. All primates have nails instead of claws on their fingers and toes. Both non-human primates and humans all have opposable thumbs. They use these thumbs to be able to pick up things better and they are thumbs that are able to move and touch other parts of the same hand. Non-human primates, including humans, learn by watching their mothers and other family members. For example, chimpanzees learn to make stick tools to stick into holes to get termites to eat. They do this because the mothers never teach them

This study now proves that chimpanzees have an inherent system for genes and one for culture. These results have increased the processes looked at when examining a chimpanzees gene frequencies and phenotypic characteristics. Chimpanzees behavior may be culturally learned which changes their whole evolution. Learning more about chimpanzees and their evolution in culture can help us understand our evolution in culture. Scientists have been looking into how these behaviors are adapted between communities, they found that males stay in their natal community which means females are the ones who bring new behaviors to the group. Though there is still debate on how this exactly happens. Most new females who bring their natal group behavior into their new group will not be replicated. Some females drop their natal group behaviors completely when entering a new group, but there are some behaviors that make it through to other chimpanzees causing them to be socially learned. Lycett, Collard, And McGrew state that there needs to be more research on this subject because the integration of chimpanzee behavior is so

there are many arguments surrounding what defines culture and how it is possible to label all animals, including non-human primates, as exhibiting signs of possessing culture. They may not take in the opera or sip fine wines, but the verdict is in: apes are cultured. Fifty years of research on the apes has shown they use tools, communicate, and sometimes shake their hands just because it’s cool.

Anthropologist, Edward Tylor defines culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” (McGrew, 1998). Other anthropological definitions refer to specific human nature of a culture centered on language, symbols, teaching and imitation (Humle and Newton-Fisher, 2013). Nonhuman primates are cultured and is passed from parent to offspring and is enforced throughout their lives. Various primates initially do the same thing, but carry out these tasks different per what they practice which would be a part of their culture. This research paper will explore specific evidence of culture in nonhuman primates and how it is transmitted.

During the Eocene epoch, 47,000,000 years ago, one of our ancestors lived in what is now Germany. She was still young, her baby teeth still intact and probably less than a year old. This little girl came to a lake’s edge for a drink of water; cupping the water with her hand she slowly drank the water while holding onto a branch with her other hand. Our ancestor died there when she was overcome by an underground gas bubble that erupted, the fumes leaving her unconscious; she fell into the water and drowned. Her body slowly drifted to the bottom of the lake with a myriad of other creatures. The lake where she was buried eventually filled with mud and algae that turned into oily shale

For many animals, the ability to move is essential for survival. Animals move for a variety of reasons such as: to find food, a mate, a habitat to live in, or to escape predators. It is important for animals to develop new abilities and traits to accomplish these necessities of living. Natural selection has shaped the locomotion methods and mechanisms used by moving organisms for millions of years. Generally, non-human primates are studied to garner an understanding of evolution caused by natural selection because of the many distinctive adaptations that have occurred within their taxonomic order. To understand the origin of locomotion that exist amongst primates, the two categories of primates must be analyzed to recognize morphological trait differences. Then, three major determinants can be evaluated to describe the variety of locomotor patterns primates display: the ecological niches in which the primate originates, the current inhabited niches, and the major key aspects of survival such as

Experiments and research on non-human primates has helped advance the fields of biology and medicine. The experiments and research done on primates often plays a major role in testing the safety of new drugs, research on understand how the brain works, and research on how to prevent infections disease in humans. Thanks to research done with animals, medical advances are continuously made. In some way, all humans benefit from animal research. Non-human primates are a group of mammals that consists of monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, lemurs and others. Monkeys are then divided into two smaller groups known as Old World monkeys and New World monkeys. New World monkeys are native of Africa and Asia. Old World monkeys originate from Central and South

There is some great evidence for the argument that primates have their own culture, so it is no wonder that it is getting harder for people to argue that they do not. There are plenty of pictures of primates hugging each other, laughing, and even making tools. The more I read about primates the more I see how similar they are to humans. Chimps use grooming as a way of social reconciliation, as well as helping each other out. Humans were also thought to be one of the only species to engage in sexual activity without the sole cause being conception. Primates have been observed engaging in sexual acts that tend to strengthen social bonds and defuse conflict. Scientists have also taught primates how to use sign language as a means of communication.

The rarity of human uniqueness no longer exists in the thoughts of scientists believing that human ability skills lie within the construction and use of tools. As declared by Goodall in which chimpanzees used straight sticks after removing the leaves and branches to collect termites or ants for consumption. (Goodall, 1986) Other species both primate and non-primate demonstrate successful abilities., which include a sense of self as well as the theory of mind, by which other species recognize that other individuals contain different information than themselves. Different species also have the ability to communicate symbolically to one another through the sounds of vocalization. (Sapolsky R. M., 2006)

Some Intentional responses include direct eye contact, specific sounds and calls, and mounting. Reproductive strategies are different for both males and females. Male strategies focus on mating as often as possible while female strategies focus on maximizing resources for herself and her offspring. Primates are K-selected reproductive animals just like us. K-selected animals tend to have few offspring at a time but invest a lot into parental care. The mother-infant bond is a strong thing in K-selected animals. Lastly cultural and cognitive behavior in primates are behaviors that require planning and the idea of an end result. These are typically learned behaviors such as stone tool use. Some primates in captivity have been able to show some types of artistic expression too such as painting. A remarkable behavior that Apes have is their knowledge of their self-image. When a mirror is placed in front of them they can tell that they are looking at themselves.

For my final paper for this class I will be going over and portraying the behavior of non-human primate and human primate in the literature and movies we went over, compared to the evolutionary understandings of primate behavior. Throughout this class we studied and compared the different primates, including human and non-humans. According to the Wikipedia, “The primate lineage is thought to go back at least 65 million years ago.” with that one could say that research on non-human and human primate can somehow explain the theory behind evolution. In addition to the different reading materials we had in class we also watched several movies displaying different behaviors of non-human primate and human primate. With that saying, I developed a thesis statement, despite its differences and similarities between non-human primates and human primates behavior, can evolution be understood differently when comparing the two through various readings, movies and evolutionary research. Throughout this paper I will be going over the differences and similarities in behavior, evolution, a higher power and even my take on such an opposition.

Also, the primate’s brain sizes and active social life make their more intelligent than other animals. For example, the chimpanzees that separate to look for food and then come together to eat since they are all related to each other. It helps defend each other and thus ensure their survival. Like the primates the grandparents, in their early years as a species, older women helped gather food for their offspring’s offspring. They were freeing up their daughters to have more children, more quickly. So the most evolutionarily fit grandparents have the most grandchildren, to whom they pass on their longevity-promoting genes. Finally, I could relate the paper to the course with the hominins that forms social networks, clans, and groups of greater

Does having more previous experience with tools using lead to better performance in future planning tasks? Do inexperienced bonobos and orangutans less likely to save tools for future use? How will they deviate in the tool choosing performances when compare with experienced users (Mulcahy, & Call, 2006)?

Your discussing in regarding with human and non-human primates if it should be considered true language or not was very appropriate. “If a dog barks aggressively at another dog will result to the receiving dog to either bark back or run-away” is a good example of reflexivity in the properties of language. Which is also defined as a performance of a reflex or simply without conscious thought. The difference with human language and the ability to reflect happens when the person happen to talk or reflect on language itself. When dogs bark at each other, they are probably not talking about barking per say. This is why many people might find this subject easily debatable when comparing both human and animal language. Do you think animals speak human

Research by Yamamoto, Humle and Tanaka in 2009 concluded that chimpanzees show altruism only when prompted or pressured rather than voluntarily [5]. This particular empirical research challenges the evidence proposed by prior researchers and tests the limits of chimpanzee’s altruistic nature. Using colour-coded tokens, one of which allowed for a partner to share the reward with the test subject and one of which gave the test subject all of the reward, several chimps were tested as to their response. Results showed a tendency for the chimpanzee to take the prosocial option in situations both with and without peer pressure. Abnormally results showed that pressure or harassment from partners reduced the chimpanzee’s inclination to take the prosocial option. Although these results challenge prior research [5] they are limited as they are not conclusive and raise questions of their own to reach a complete understanding. These research results are significant in challenging an already established understanding of chimpanzee’s altruistic traits and acts as a good contrast to other references. This resource stands out as it does not make conclusive statements out of abnormal results but rather opens up a reader’s opinion and presents issues further