The coevolution of innovation and technical intelligence in primates.

ABSTRACT: In birds and primates, the frequency of behavioural innovation has been shown to covary with absolute and relative brain size, leading to the suggestion that large brains allow animals to innovate, and/or that selection for innovativeness, together with social learning, may have driven brain enlargement. We examined the relationship between primate brain size and both technical (i.e. tool using) and non-technical innovation, deploying a combination of phylogenetically informed regression and exploratory causal graph analyses. Regression analyses revealed that absolute and relative brain size correlated positively with technical innovation, and exhibited consistently weaker, but still positive, relationships with non-technical innovation. These findings mirror similar results in birds. Our

SUBMITTER: Navarrete AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4780528 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature