Our evolution is often exemplified by two features: large brains and skillful hands. Together they created complex tools and cultures that allowed us to adapt and live in very different environments.
Os “Big brains” and “highly skilled hands” They will have evolved together, each influencing the development of the other.
This is what a study at the end of August in the Communications Biology.
The idea is convincing: as our ancestors began to manipulate objects with increasing accuracy, the cognitive requirements of tooling and social coordination may have boosted the expansion of their brains. Conversely, a growing brain could have allowed more sophisticated use of the hands.
The new study sheds light on how human dexterity and intelligence may have evolved together. 94 species of primates were analyzed, using a Bayesian phylogenetic comparative approach, which combines the evolutionary history with statistical modeling for Test relationships between physical and behavioral traits.
Great “fix”, large brain
As details A, the new study established a consistent connection between the brain size and thumb size.
Species with relatively longer thumbs tended to have larger brains. This suggests that manual dexterity and brain evolution are linked throughout the primates lineage, from being to humans.
The correlation remained even when human data was deleted, indicating that this pattern is not exclusive to our species.
“We always knew that our large brains and agile fingers distinguish us, but now we can see that they have not evolved separately,” the leader of the investigation told New Altas, explained, to New Altas, Joanna Baker.
“As our ancestors became better able to catch and manipulate objects, their brains had to adapt to deal with these new skills. These capabilities were tuned through millions of brain evolution,” he added.
