“Study says apes think like humans in an important way” In Seth Borenstein’s article about non-human primates, he discusses how humans and apes are similar. Likewise, the author states that it appears that apes have the skill sets to walk in someone else’s shoes, just as humans can. The author ties in a study that was conducted on select great apes to see if they shared this trait with humans known as the “theory of the mind.” Borenstien points out the study focuses on the idea of false beliefs and how these primates react to this information. He continues by expressing that previously, the great apes were thought to be unable to understand this concept that human toddlers could, but according to recent research involving primates and clips of King Kong, these apes are capable of understanding that what is happening is not true. An expert, Kano, from the University of Kyoto commented on the study and remarked that while this is a big step, it does not imply full complex understanding. However, Borenstien insists that this is very important because previous studies were unsuccessful and this expresses complex cognition among non-human primates. On the other hand, the author includes the facts that the sample size for this …show more content…
Moreover, one of the key elements of biological anthropology is the concept of the behavioral aspects of humans and non-human primates, as well as their correlation to one another as ancestors. Not only does this piece discuss the behavior of the great apes, but it also compares those behaviors to that of humans. The understanding of false beliefs among great apes is only one of a multitude of way that humans and non-human primates share similarities. The evidence provided further establishes the importance of studying the two in relation to one another. Therefore, there is a direct tie to this field of anthropology in this
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
Despite a lack of scientific academic education, Jane Goodall’s work on the chimpanzees made revolutionary breakthrough in the field of understanding chimpanzee behavior. It was all made possible by her firm belief on her unconventional methods which academics in the field eyed with cynicism and felt was pointless. Such pessimistic outlook on her efforts from established academics did not blight her morale; instead she carried on with her methods of analyzing the chimpanzee population with full enthusiasm and self belief.
Observing non-human primates gives humans new knowledge & a glimpse of the past to better understand human evolution. I was able to watch the San Diego Zoo’s Ape Cam for over an hour back and forth the Orangutan was golden brown in color and looked very spectacular. The Ape was very quiet and peaceful in captivity it didn’t move around much. It was sitting down eating tree leaves similar as how a human sat on a chair in that particular manner for over half an hour. The Ape has similar body function processes as humans in terms of using its hands to eat & buttocks to sit. I was able to learn and further acknowledge that we are so similar to the Ape’s compared to other animals in the animal kingdom. Suddenly I witnessed the Orangutan
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.
Throughout the term, reading the book, “Through a Window” by Jane Goodall has been quite intriguing for me, in that it has inspired me with new ideas and perceptions about how our own species has evolved over time. I have really enjoyed seeing the many similarities that hominids share with other primate species, especially chimpanzees. Goodall’s research only further proves that we are not only extremely biologically similar to chimpanzees in our DNA, but have many behavioral similarities as well. The film, “Monkey in the Mirror” also shows support for our likeness in intellectuality. These documented findings on chimpanzee and human resemblances provides the strong evidence needed to conclude the fact that humans do indeed share a common ancestor with great apes.
1. Introduction: Extent Primates provide great insight as analogies into facilitating an understanding of how tool use, culture and cognition developed in the early hominid lineage. Archaeologists interpret primate behaviors and social structures as a means of investigating the evolution of hominin technology. This process will be briefly outlined as well as a number of the benefits and disadvantages presented when using extant primates as analogies in this way.
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.
To begin this essay, Lovejoy appeals the notion of human uniqueness while focusing on human’s ability to be bipedal. By doing this, he introduces the possibilities of the first bipedal ancestor of humans while focusing the relation to other ape’s morphology. Lovejoy first discusses early Australopithecine as one the possibilities for a last common ancestor with chimpanzee, but quickly moves to Ardipithecus ramidus with their thesis of through examining the morphology and social behavioral structure of a CLCA , A. ramidcus can prove the African ape based models are not necessary. African apes models that are used to illustrate human and hominid behavior have become unreliable. To replace these models, Lovejoy proposes adaptive suites and explains
Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.
The first topic addressed in this book that I will focus on is the social behavior of apes, specifically on courting rituals and mating behavior, such as the love dance performed by the “humans” in the novel. The second topic is the (in)capability of apes to produce human speech. In the novel, the apes all speak human language, but in reality, this is not a likely possibility.
Non human primates’ social organization can provide useful information how human social evolution occurs. We will go over main points of how similar and different non human primates such as chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas’ society are compared to ours, humans.
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
Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach
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)
Are Monkeys People too? How scientists demonstrated decision making biases across different species. This article demonstrates an experiment on the behaviour of monkeys similar to human beings. Things like currency and trading are concepts believed to be solely known to man - something which makes humans different from other species. However economist M. Keith Chen and psychologist Laurie R. Santos from Yale taught a group of seven capuchin monkeys how to use money in a lab set up at the Yale-New Haven Hospital.