Notes On Primate Evolution Into Humans


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

In the article, “Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and ´Dignity´ to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?¨, written by Ed Yong, who explains the moral but unclear delma of granting Great Apes rights. Extending from Spain to the U.S., the Great Ape Project (GAP) fights for these basic sets of moral and legal rights for apes. The problem is that apes, although genetically similar to humans are still viewed as simple animals. Which makes the ability to give these non-human animals, human like rights unnecessary as it would to give rights to dogs or rats. The U.S. has also passes the Great Ape Protection Act, which stop any harmful experience to apes. Consequently also stopping any further understanding of underlying biological mechanisms,

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

This evolution had also gifted these hairless primates with opposable thumbs on the hands at the ends of their appendages, which could be used as a truly unrivaled tool, to grasp and shape the world around them. Immediately, the primates fashioned clubs with which to brutally and mercilessly attack and kill one another; a tragic misuse of what they had been gifted. With more time, these beings continued onward to form families, tribes, and armies. Ceaseless consumption, breeding, and fighting led to the culmination of their evolution, Humanity. These beings, far more refined than any other, possessed not only sentience, but feelings and intelligence.

One study attempted to observe capuchin monkey’s ability to recognize cause and effect relationship in regards to tool use. An article in the international journal or primatology by Anthea Lavallee, describes the tests she conducted in a captive naturalistic environment on capuchin monkeys, as she writes, “I tested tufted capuchins' ability to conceive solutions to a probing task in a naturalistic captive setting” . The results showed at 3 out of the 5 capuchin monkeys displayed an ability to make and use tools that were presented to them from a wide variety of natural materials presented. Another study on the manipulation and tool use in captive yellow breasted capuchin monkeys was published in the “International Journal of Comparative Psychology” . This experiment consisted of six capuchin monkeys, who were placed in an environment where their tool using was tested and observed. The tools that were made available to the monkeys were transparent 9mm Plexiglas boxes with 3mm Plexiglas lids as well as different size stones. A piece of food was then placed into the box with the stones next to it and left for the capuchins. Each test subject was left isolated with the tools and box from the other test subjects, the subjects where successful if they used the stones to try and

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.

Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of promisians to human, many characteristics has been represented due to the adaptations to new environments and resulted in evolutionary changes. The Earth has encountered several geological and climatic changes over time. For the primates existed at that time had to adjust itself especially in body configurations and locomotion in order to better survive. It is important to be aware of this information since we are the part of occurring changes as well. Throughout the evolution owing to

We as humans have our inner monkey to thank for much of the “human” characteristics that we enjoy today. The ways that we see the world, walk, and even think have been shaped by our primate ancestors. Though humans didn’t evolve from modern monkeys, it’s clearly evident that we do share an evolutionary relationship: a common ancestor. A particular creature called Notharctus, while perhaps not the exact common ancestor between humans and monkeys, played an important role in the development of one of the most defining primate features: the hand.

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)

One of the main reasons why we are so interested in the other primates is that by looking at them we can obtain some ideas of what our ancestor must have been like a few millions years ago. Even though, we are not descended from any modern-type monkey or ape, our lineage does appear to have gone through stages in which we were a medium-sized, reasonably intelligent creature with good binocular vision, hands that were good at manipulation and the ability to climb trees. An evolutionary trend in primates involves the development of offspring both before and after birth and their integration into complex social systems. Another trend in primate evolution has been toward a more elaborate brain. In addition to brain size and gestation periods,

In 1981 Owen Lovejoy suggested that behavioral mechanisms were a factor in the switch to bipedalism. This behavioral mechanism helped hominids in reproductive processes. Having the hands free to carry food and other things to the mate and offspring is seen to be a strong selection factor for choosing a mate. Having a such factor helps with reproductive success in a monogamous mating structure similar to what humans have today (Jacobs, 90). When

It might be interesting to examine why apes save tools for future use by testing how tool using is originated in natural environments. If apes are able to solve more complex tool application tasks, we can assume that their planning skills are developed along with the higher-order cognition. In this way, we may understand how future planning is essential for animal’s survival and benefits their fitness in multiple facets.

After gaining a clear understanding of natural selection and its prominence in the theory of evolution, the possibility of linking human origin with its ancestors (Primates) has become clearer. Human evolution is characterized by a number of morphological, developmental, physiological, and behavioral changes but most interestingly the basis for such changes is in understanding the origins of humans. The Primate order indeed serves as the starting point for human evolution.

Chimpanzees are one of the few animal species that can use tools. They carve sticks to help remove insects from their nests or out of the logs. They use stones to open nuts and they use leaves as cups for drinking water.

Fifty years ago, a slender young English woman was walking through a rainforest reserve at Gombe, Tanzania. She came across a dark figure hovering over a termite nest. The large male chimpanzee was foraging for food. As she watched, the animal through her binoculars, the chimpanzee carefully took a twig, bent it, stripped it of its leaves and finally stuck it into the nest. The chimpanzee began to spoon termites into his mouth. Jane Goodall made one of the most important scientific observations of modern times in that remote African rainforest: something other than a human had just made a serving tool! “It was hard for me to believe,” she remembered, "At that time, it was thought the humans, and only the humans, used and made tools. I had been told from school on that the world’s best definition of a human was man, the tool maker” and yet, I had just watched a chimp tool maker in action.”  I remember that day as if it was yesterday. A brief encounter in an African rainforest inspired Jane Goodall to explore the definitions and paradigms of humans.