Primates: From Food to Communication Essays

     It is common in monkeys, apes and humans that behavior and social organization aren’t necessarily programmed into the genes. There have been several cases where an entire troop has learned from the experiences of just a few. In a group of Japanese macaques, for example, a three-year-old female female developed the habit of washing dirt of of sweet potatoes before she

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.

Primates are some of the best-adapted animals in the planet. Throughout time their dentition has evolved into different patterns and forms, best fitted for their environment. From the early prosimians, to the modern men, the changes are a prime example of how diverse primates are. Throughout primate evolution, the changes in diet can be correlated with the changes in dentition patterns; however, dentition pattern can be different between male and female, and hold other purposes.

In this article, “What does variation in primate behavior mean?” the author, Karen Strier describes the general concept of intraspecific behavioral variation, in concerns towards the ability of primates of all species to change and adapt to benefit and increase their future survival rate. Her analysis details how “behavioral flexibility” within the primate world has been studied and understood for a long period of time, but now along with the addition of intraspecific behavioral variation, there is a realization of the potential threat to primate survival under new conditions including environmental influences.

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

Kavanagh, M. & Morris, D. (1983). Complete guide to monkeys, apes and other primates. London: Viking Press.

Referring to a part of the video where the narrator spoke about the shyness of the monkeys and how they changed over time, I think that while their genetic makeup had a role to play in their development since their parents and distant relatives might have had the same characteristics, the video also spoke about how the change in their environment allowed them to open up and become more receptive to their environment favoring nurture over

Communication underpins all primate social behavior. Primates communicate with olfactory, visual and vocal signals. Acoustic communication has been the most often studied, followed by visual and then olfactory signals (Semple & Higham, 2013). Typically primates are considered visual animals and several species have the ability to recognize color variants, an extensive range of facial expressions and colorful markings. Compared to numerous other mammals that have extensive reliance on chemosensation, primate olfactory system can appear unremarkable. It has been argued as to whether primates are “microsmatic” (not heavily reliant on smell) compared to other mammals (such as rodents) that are considered “macrosmatic” (heavily reliant on smell). Some researchers argue that not all primates are microsmatic, but instead only a subset of primates (specifically haplorhines) (Heymann et al., 2006). One of the major trends in primate evolution that is often discussed is the "replacement" of olfactory sensitivity by visual specializations like acuity and trichromacy in a sort of trade off pattern (Nummela et al., 2013).

Understanding how selection on behavior shapes brain investment is a major question in the analysis of the evolution of animal sociality [Szathmary and Maynard Smith, 1995; Edelman and Changeux, 2001; Ricklefs, 2004; Gronenberg and Riveros, 2009]. Neural tissue is energetically expensive and therefore brain regions should only enlarge when needed to meet functional demands [Niven and Laughlin, 2008]. The social brain hypothesis posits that social interactions are so cognitively demanding that social environment selects for enhanced neural development [Humphrey, 1976; Dunbar and Shultz, 2007]. Studies supporting the social brain hypothesis usually rely on comparative analyses across taxa with varying levels of social complexity and use

Van Schaik proposes that primate tool use helps biological anthropologists gain a deeper insight into the evolution of human social learning. However, he argues that population loss and habitat disturbances can affect an orangutan’s ability to teach learned behaviours, such as tool use, to their offspring. The article hypothesizes that tool use traditions in great ape populations varies due to environmental conditions, such as geographic habitat and resource availability.

The goal of this study was to determine if traditions in capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) could be induced. To test this theory, a foraging apparatus is used on several different groups of capuchins that have been housed socially. This experiment consists of two phases with two generations of infant tufted capuchins. During both experimental phases, most of the subjects showed working in a group or around others as their preference. Results confirmed that infants are influenced by an adults presence to increase activity and to be more intrigued when seeing an adult capuchin using the apparatus. It was also discovered that most of the subjects seemed to prefer the method of solution that they first solved. This experiment helps to look further

When previously looking at the nature of Darwin’s theory, we saw that the likelihood of a characteristic being inherited by offspring was strongly dependent on how beneficial, or adaptive the characteristic was. Psychologists of today argue that the qualities that differentiate humans to other animal species (social intelligence, language and memory) came about because they promoted survival, especially in complex social groups (Cardwell & Flanagan, 2012). Take the evolution of deception for example. Whiten and Byrne (1988) found that those apes with the ability to deceive their competitors (whether inter- or intraspecific) were at an evolutionary

As claims the premise below, the ecological (e.g., temperature, humidity, altitude, and alimentation) and social (relationships with the environment and other organisms) factors could mould the perceptual and cognitive characteristic of a given species. It means that among nonhumans vertebrates they learn differently and have difference intelligence. Some authors, such as Clayton et al. (1998), supports this point of view. But this is not a universal thought within the scientific world. Mcphail and Bolhuis (2001), for example, do not see a relation between cognitive abilities and ecological factors. Moreover, Mcphail (1982, 1885), with his “null hypothesis,” claims that all vertebrates non-humans are of equal intelligence.

Furthermore, both Humans and these small primates practice cooperative responsibility for their young, and this lead some scientists to believe that this cooperation was responsible for altruistic behaviors. Therefore, a group of researchers from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Great Britain were lead by anthropologist Judith Burkart who developed a new model of group service in which they were able to study spontaneous selfless behavior that is consistent with more types of primates. The researcher’s study was done to see if individuals from a certain primate species were willing to provide other group members with a treat, even if that meant they would not get one. They tested twenty-four groups of fifteen different species of primates. The second part of the study tested if 4-7 year olds acted altruistically. As expected, the researchers found that the propensity to care for others outside of your own genetically related family greatly varied between each of the primate species. More surprisingly, both humans and callitrichid monkeys consistently provided the other group with their treat and therefore acted the most altruistic; however, what caught the researchers attention was that when they studied the chimpanzees, a close relative to humans, they very rarely behaved selflessly, as did most of the other primate species like the capuchins and macaques groups, even though they are regarded as having high cognitive skills. Before the study was conducted, the researchers assumed that altruistic behavior demonstrated by primates could be ascribed to characteristics they share with humans, like strong social bonds, high cognitive skills, large brains, and high social tolerance; however, Burkart’s research shows that sharing these qualities does not in fact predict how altruistic a species will behave. Nevertheless,

Human Ancestors, including the First apes, have a very small brain, but with the evolution of conduct, so did the human brain. The rapid development of human intelligence has been attributed to human-induced changes in the surrounding environment changes and the living environment. This led to the expansion of specific regions of the brain, greatly different human mature compared to our ancestors, genetic changes, which are just some of the changes have occurred in humans。