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Author  |
Dunbar, R.I.M.; Shultz, S. |
| Title |
Evolution in the Social Brain |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Science |
| Volume |
317 |
Issue |
5843 |
Pages |
1344-1347 |
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| Abstract |
The evolution of unusually large brains in some groups of animals, notably primates, has long been a puzzle. Although early explanations tended to emphasize the brain's role in sensory or technical competence (foraging skills, innovations, and way-finding), the balance of evidence now clearly favors the suggestion that it was the computational demands of living in large, complex societies that selected for large brains. However, recent analyses suggest that it may have been the particular demands of the more intense forms of pairbonding that was the critical factor that triggered this evolutionary development. This may explain why primate sociality seems to be so different from that found in most other birds and mammals: Primate sociality is based on bonded relationships of a kind that are found only in pairbonds in other taxa. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4243 |
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Dunbar, R.I.M.; McAdam, M.R.; O'connell, S. |
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Mental rehearsal in great apes (Pan troglodytes and Pongo pygmaeus) and children |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
| Volume |
69 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
323-330 |
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Algorithms; Animals; Child; Child, Preschool; Food; Frontal Lobe/anatomy & histology/physiology; Humans; *Imagination; Pan troglodytes; Pongo pygmaeus; Problem Solving/*physiology; Psychomotor Performance/physiology; Reward |
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The ability to rehearse possible future courses of action in the mind is an important feature of advanced social cognition in humans, and the “social brain” hypothesis implies that it might also be a feature of primate social cognition. We tested two chimpanzees, six orangutans and 63 children aged 3-7 years on a set of four puzzle boxes, half of which were presented with an opportunity to observe the box before being allowed to open it (“prior view”), the others being given without an opportunity to examine the boxes before handling them (“no prior view”). When learning effects are partialled out, puzzle boxes in the “prior view” condition were opened significantly faster than boxes given in the “no prior view” condition by the children, but not by either of the great apes. The three species differ significantly in the speed with which they opened boxes in the “no prior view” condition. The three species' performance on this task was a function of relative frontal lobe volume, suggesting that it may be possible to identify quantitative neuropsychological differences between species. |
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Evolutionary Psychology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Biosciences Building, Crown Street, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK. rimd@liv.ac.uk |
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English |
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0376-6357 |
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PMID:15896530 |
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2097 |
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Dunbar, R.I.M. |
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Observations on the ecology and social organization of the green monkey,Cercopithecus sabaeus, in Senegal |
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Journal Article |
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1974 |
Publication |
Primates |
Abbreviated Journal |
Primates |
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15 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
341-350 |
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The green monkey,Cercopithecus sabaeus, has not been studied in its natural habitat in West Africa. This paper reports observations made during a 3-month study in Senegal. Green monkeys live in multimale groups averaging some 12 individuals. Information is given on home range size, use of habitat, daily activity patterns, diet and birth seasonality. Social organization is discussed and data are given on the relationships between age-sex classes, aggression and leadership. Inter-group relations are discussed and it is suggested that groups defend their ranges as territories. The ecology and social organization of green monkeys is compared with that of populations ofC. aethiops studied in East Africa and they are found to be similar. |
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2062 |
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Dunbar, R.I.M. |
| Title |
Male and female brain evolution is subject to contrasting selection pressures in primates |
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Journal Article |
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2007 |
Publication |
BMC Biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
BMC Biol |
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5 |
Issue |
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Pages |
21 |
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Animals; *Brain/physiology; *Evolution; Female; Humans; Male; *Selection (Genetics); *Sex Characteristics |
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The claim that differences in brain size across primate species has mainly been driven by the demands of sociality (the “social brain” hypothesis) is now widely accepted. Some of the evidence to support this comes from the fact that species that live in large social groups have larger brains, and in particular larger neocortices. Lindenfors and colleagues (BMC Biology 5:20) add significantly to our appreciation of this process by showing that there are striking differences between the two sexes in the social mechanisms and brain units involved. Female sociality (which is more affiliative) is related most closely to neocortex volume, but male sociality (which is more competitive and combative) is more closely related to subcortical units (notably those associated with emotional responses). Thus different brain units have responded to different selection pressures. |
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British Academy Centenary Research Project, School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. rimd@liv.ac.uk |
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1741-7007 |
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PMID:17493267 |
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2100 |
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Dunbar, R.I.M. |
| Title |
The social brain hypothesis and its implications for social evolution |
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Journal Article |
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2009 |
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Annals of Human Biology |
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Annals of Human Biology |
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36 |
Issue |
5 |
Pages |
562-572 |
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The social brain hypothesis was proposed as an explanation for the fact that primates have unusually large brains for body size compared to all other vertebrates: Primates evolved large brains to manage their unusually complex social systems. Although this proposal has been generalized to all vertebrate taxa as an explanation for brain evolution, recent analyses suggest that the social brain hypothesis takes a very different form in other mammals and birds than it does in anthropoid primates. In primates, there is a quantitative relationship between brain size and social group size (group size is a monotonic function of brain size), presumably because the cognitive demands of sociality place a constraint on the number of individuals that can be maintained in a coherent group. In other mammals and birds, the relationship is a qualitative one: Large brains are associated with categorical differences in mating system, with species that have pairbonded mating systems having the largest brains. It seems that anthropoid primates may have generalized the bonding processes that characterize monogamous pairbonds to other non-reproductive relationships (?friendships?), thereby giving rise to the quantitative relationship between group size and brain size that we find in this taxon. This raises issues about why bonded relationships are cognitively so demanding (and, indeed, raises questions about what a bonded relationship actually is), and when and why primates undertook this change in social style. |
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Taylor & Francis |
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0301-4460 |
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doi: 10.1080/03014460902960289 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6546 |
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| Author |
Dunbar, R.I.; Dunbar, E.P. |
| Title |
Contrasts in social structure among black-and-white colobus monkey groups |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
1976 |
Publication |
Animal Behaviour. |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Behav. |
| Volume |
24 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
84-92 |
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Agonistic Behavior; Animals; *Colobus; Copulation; Female; *Haplorhini; *Hierarchy, Social; Male; *Social Dominance |
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Three types of Colobus guereza groups may be distinguished on the bases of size and composition, namely small one-male groups, large, one-male groups and multi-male groups. The social structure of each type of group is described in terms of the distribution of non-agonistic interactions, the frequency and distribution of agonistic behaviour and the organization of the roles of vigilance, territorial defence and leadership. A number of differences are found between the group types which appear to be related to the differences in group size and composition. It is suggested that these group types represent stages in the life-cycle of colobus groups, and that such an interpretation may help to resolve some of the conflicting reports in the literature. |
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0003-3472 |
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PMID:817624 |
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2049 |
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