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Author Müller, A. E.; Thalmann, U. url  openurl
  Title Origin and evolution of primate social organisation: a reconstruction Type Journal Article
  Year 2000 Publication Biological Reviews Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 75 Issue Pages 405-435  
  Keywords social organisation; evolution; ancestral primate; strepsirhines; nocturnal prosimians; lemurs; lorisiforms; dispersed multi-male system; promiscuity.  
  Abstract Abstract

The evolution and origin of primate social organisation has attracted the attention of many researchers, and a solitary pattern, believed to be present in most nocturnal prosimians, has been generally considered as the most primitive system. Nocturnal prosimians are in fact mostly seen alone during their nightly activities and therefore termed “solitary foragers”, but that does not mean that they are not social. Moreover, designating their social organisation as “solitary”, implies that their way of life is uniform in all species. It has, however, emerged over the last decades that all of them exhibit not only some kind of social network but also that those networks differ among species. There is a need to classify these social networks in the same manner as with group-living (gregarious) animals if we wish to link up the different forms of primate social organisation with ecological, morphological or phylogenetic variables. In this review, we establish a basic classification based on spatial relations and sociality in order to describe and cope properly with the social organisation patterns of the different species of nocturnal prosimians and other mammals that do not forage in cohesive groups. In attempting to trace the ancestral pattern of primate social organisation, the Malagasy mouse and dwarf lemurs and the Afro-Asian bushbabies and lorises are of special interest because they are thought to approach the ancestral conditions most closely. These species have generally been believed to exhibit a dispersed harem system as their pattern of social organisation (“dispersed” means that individuals forage solitarily but exhibit a social network). Therefore, the ancestral pattern of primate social organisation was inferred to be a dispersed harem. In fact, new field data on cheirogaleids combined with a review of patterns of social organisation in strepsirhines (lemurs, bushbabies and lorises) revealed that they exhibit either dispersed multi-male systems or dispersed monogamy rather than a dispersed harem system. Therefore, the concept of a dispersed harem system as the ancestral condition of primate social organisation can no longer be supported. In combination with data on social organisation patterns in “primitive” placentals and marsupials, and in monotremes, it is in fact most probable that promiscuity is the ancestral pattern for mammalian social organisation. Subsequently, a dispersed multi-male system derived from promiscuity should be regarded as the ancestral condition for primates. We further suggest that the gregarious patterns of social organisation in Aotus and Avahi, and the dispersed form in Tarsius evolved from the gregarious patterns of diurnal primates rather than from the dispersed nocturnal type. It is consequently proposed that, in addition to Aotus and Tarsius, Avahi is also secondarily nocturnal.
 
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4257  
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Author Dunbar, Robin I. M. doi  openurl
  Title The social brain hypothesis Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews Abbreviated Journal Evol. Anthropol.  
  Volume 6 Issue 5 Pages 178-190  
  Keywords brain size – neocortex – social brain hypothesis – social skills – mind reading – primates  
  Abstract Conventional wisdom over the past 160 years in the cognitive and neurosciences has assumed that brains evolved to process factual information about the world. Most attention has therefore been focused on such features as pattern recognition, color vision, and speech perception. By extension, it was assumed that brains evolved to deal with essentially ecological problem-solving tasks. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.  
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  Notes Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioural Ecology at the University of Liverpool, England. His research primarily focuses on the behavioral ecology of ungulates and human and nonhuman primates, and on the cognitive mechanisms and brain components that underpin the decisions that animals make. He runs a large research group, with graduate students working on many different species on four continents. Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4371  
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Author Lefebvre, L.; Reader, S.M.; Sol, D. doi  openurl
  Title Brains, Innovations and Evolution in Birds and Primates Type Journal Article
  Year 2004 Publication Brain, Behavior and Evolution Abbreviated Journal Brain. Behav. Evol.  
  Volume 63 Issue 4 Pages 233-246  
  Keywords Innovation W Brain evolution W Hyperstriatum ventrale W Neostriatum W Isocortex W Birds W Primates W Tool use W Invasion biology  
  Abstract Abstract

Several comparative research programs have focusedon the cognitive, life history and ecological traits thataccount for variation in brain size. We review one ofthese programs, a program that uses the reported frequencyof behavioral innovation as an operational measureof cognition. In both birds and primates, innovationrate is positively correlated with the relative size of associationareas in the brain, the hyperstriatum ventrale andneostriatum in birds and the isocortex and striatum inprimates. Innovation rate is also positively correlatedwith the taxonomic distribution of tool use, as well asinterspecific differences in learning. Some features ofcognition have thus evolved in a remarkably similar wayin primates and at least six phyletically-independent avianlineages. In birds, innovation rate is associated withthe ability of species to deal with seasonal changes in theenvironment and to establish themselves in new regions,and it also appears to be related to the rate atwhich lineages diversify. Innovation rate provides a usefultool to quantify inter-taxon differences in cognitionand to test classic hypotheses regarding the evolution ofthe brain.
 
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  ISSN 0006-8977 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4738  
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Author Sawaguchi, T.; Kudo, H. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Neocortical development and social structure in primates Type Journal Article
  Year 1990 Publication Primates Abbreviated Journal Primates  
  Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 283-289  
  Keywords Neocortex – Relative size – Allometry – Congeneric group – Social structure – Monogyny – Polygyny – Primates  
  Abstract Abstract  The relationships between the relative size of the neocortex and differences in social structures were examined in prosimians and anthropoids. The relative size of the neocortex (RSN) of a given congeneric group in each superfamily of primates was measured based on the allometric relationships between neocortical volume and brain weight for each superfamily, to control phylogenetic affinity and the effects of brain size. In prosimians, “troop-making” congeneric groups (N=3) revealed a significantly larger RSN than solitary groups (N=6), and there was a significant, positive correlation between RSN and troop size. In the case of anthropoids, polygynous/frugivorous groups (N=5) revealed a significantly larger RSN than monogynous/frugivorous groups (N=8). Furthermore, a significant, positive correlation between RSN and troop size was found for frugivorous congeneric groups of the Ceboidea. These results suggest that neocortical development is associated with differences in social structure among primates.  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4799  
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Author Pérez-Barbería, F.J.; Shultz, S.; Dunbar, R.I.M.; Janis, C. doi  openurl
  Title Evidence For Coevolution Of Sociality And Relative Brain Size In Three Orders Of Mammals Type Journal Article
  Year 2007 Publication Evolution Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 61 Issue 12 Pages 2811-2821  
  Keywords Brain size, carnivores, coevolution, primates, sociality, ungulates  
  Abstract Abstract

As the brain is responsible for managing an individual's behavioral response to its environment, we should expect that large relative brain size is an evolutionary response to cognitively challenging behaviors. The “social brain hypothesis” argues that maintaining group cohesion is cognitively demanding as individuals living in groups need to be able to resolve conflicts that impact on their ability to meet resource requirements. If sociality does impose cognitive demands, we expect changes in relative brain size and sociality to be coupled over evolutionary time. In this study, we analyze data on sociality and relative brain size for 206 species of ungulates, carnivores, and primates and provide, for the first time, evidence that changes in sociality and relative brain size are closely correlated over evolutionary time for all three mammalian orders. This suggests a process of coevolution and provides support for the social brain theory. However, differences between taxonomic orders in the stability of the transition between small-brained/nonsocial and large-brained/social imply that, although sociality is cognitively demanding, sociality and relative brain size can become decoupled in some cases. Carnivores seem to have been especially prone to this.
 
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  Notes doi: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2007.00229.x Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4781  
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Author Barton, R.A. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Neocortex size and behavioural ecology in primates Type Journal Article
  Year 1996 Publication Proceedings of the Royal Society B Abbreviated Journal Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B  
  Volume 263 Issue 1367 Pages 173-177  
  Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Brain/*anatomy & histology; Cerebral Cortex/*anatomy & histology/*physiology; *Ecology; Evolution; Primates/anatomy & histology/*physiology/psychology; Regression Analysis; Species Specificity  
  Abstract The neocortex is widely held to have been the focus of mammalian brain evolution, but what selection pressures explain the observed diversity in its size and structure? Among primates, comparative studies suggest that neocortical evolution is related to the cognitive demands of sociality, and here I confirm that neocortex size and social group size are positively correlated once phylogenetic associations and overall brain size are taken into account. This association holds within haplorhine but not strepsirhine primates. In addition, the neocortex is larger in diurnal than in nocturnal primates, and among diurnal haplorhines its size is positively correlated with the degree of frugivory. These ecological correlates reflect the diverse sensory-cognitive functions of the neocortex.  
  Address Department of Anthropology, University of Durham  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0962-8452 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:8728982 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4783  
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Author Sterck, E.; Watts, D.; van Schaik, C. doi  openurl
  Title The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates Type Journal Article
  Year 1997 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 41 Issue 5 Pages 291-309  
  Keywords ecology; matrilocal; primate; social; theory  
  Abstract Considerable interspeci®c variation in female social relationships occurs in gregarious primates, particularly with regard to agonism and cooperation between females and to the quality of female relationships with males. This variation exists alongside variation in female philopatry and dispersal. Socioecological theories have tried to explain variation in female-female social relationships from an evolutionary perspective focused on ecological factors, notably predation and food distribution. According to the current ``ecological model'', predation risk forces females of most diurnal primate species to live in groups; the strength of the contest component of competition for resources within and between groups then largely determines social relationships between females. Social elationships among gregarious females are here characterized as DispersalEgalitarian, Resident-Nepotistic, Resident-Nepotistic-Tolerant, or Resident-Egalitarian. This ecological model has successfully explained i€erences in the occurrence of formal submission signals, decided dominance relation ships, coalitions and female philopatry. Group size and female rank generally a€ect female reproduction success as the model predicts, and studies of closely related species in di€erent ecological circumstances underscore the importance of the model. Some cases, however, can only be explained when we extend the model to incorporate the e€ects of infanticide risk and habitat saturation. We review evidence in support of the ecological model and test the power of alternative models that invoke between-group competition, forced female philopatry, demographic female recruitment, male interventions into female aggression, and male harassment.

Not one of these models can replace the ecological model, which already encompasses the between-group competition. Currently the best model, which explains

several phenomena that the ecological model does not, is a ``socioecological model'' based on the combined importance of ecological factors, habitat saturation and infanticide avoidance. We note some points of similarity and divergence with other mammalian taxa; these remain to be explored in detail.
 
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5227  
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Author Cochet, H.; Byrne, R.W. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Evolutionary origins of human handedness: evaluating contrasting hypotheses Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Abbreviated Journal Animal Cognition  
  Volume 16 Issue 4 Pages 531-542  
  Keywords Hand preference; Hemispheric specialization; Communicative gestures; Evolution of language; Nonhuman primates; Human children  
  Abstract Variation in methods and measures, resulting in past dispute over the existence of population handedness in nonhuman great apes, has impeded progress into the origins of human right-handedness and how it relates to the human hallmark of language. Pooling evidence from behavioral studies, neuroimaging and neuroanatomy, we evaluate data on manual and cerebral laterality in humans and other apes engaged in a range of manipulative tasks and in gestural communication. A simplistic human/animal partition is no longer tenable, and we review four (nonexclusive) possible drivers for the origin of population-level right-handedness: skilled manipulative activity, as in tool use; communicative gestures; organizational complexity of action, in particular hierarchical structure; and the role of intentionality in goal-directed action. Fully testing these hypotheses will require developmental and evolutionary evidence as well as modern neuroimaging data.  
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  Publisher Springer-Verlag Place of Publication (up) Editor  
  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5691  
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Author Pelé, M.; Sueur, C. url  doi
openurl 
  Title Decision-making theories: linking the disparate research areas of individual and collective cognition Type Journal Article
  Year 2013 Publication Abbreviated Journal Animal Cognition  
  Volume 16 Issue 4 Pages 543-556  
  Keywords Optimality; Primates; Insects; Diffusion Model; Delay; Risk; Speed-accuracy; Trade-off  
  Abstract In order to maximize their fitness, animals have to deal with different environmental and social factors that affect their everyday life. Although the way an animal behaves might enhance its fitness or survival in regard to one factor, it could compromise them regarding another. In the domain of decision sciences, research concerning decision making focuses on performances at the individual level but also at the collective one. However, between individual and collective decision making, different terms are used resulting in little or no connection between both research areas. In this paper, we reviewed how different branches of decision sciences study the same concept, mainly called speed-accuracy trade-off, and how the different results are on the same track in terms of showing the optimality of decisions. Whatever the level, individual or collective, each decision might be defined with three parameters: time or delay to decide, risk and accuracy. We strongly believe that more progress would be possible in this domain of research if these different branches were better linked, with an exchange of their results and theories. A growing amount of literature describes economics in humans and eco-ethology in birds making compromises between starvation, predation and reproduction. Numerous studies have been carried out on social cognition in primates but also birds and carnivores, and other publications describe market or reciprocal exchanges of commodities. We therefore hope that this paper will lead these different areas to a common decision science.  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5692  
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Author Gruber, T.; Clay, Z.; Zuberbühler, K. url  doi
openurl 
  Title A comparison of bonobo and chimpanzee tool use: evidence for a female bias in the Pan lineage Type Journal Article
  Year 2010 Publication Animal Behaviour Abbreviated Journal Anim. Behav.  
  Volume 80 Issue 6 Pages 1023-1033  
  Keywords culture; great ape; neoteny; Pan; primate evolution; sex difference; tool use  
  Abstract Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, are the most sophisticated tool-users among all nonhuman primates. From an evolutionary perspective, it is therefore puzzling that the tool use behaviour of their closest living primate relative, the bonobo, Pan paniscus, has been described as particularly poor. However, only a small number of bonobo groups have been studied in the wild and only over comparably short periods. Here, we show that captive bonobos and chimpanzees are equally diverse tool-users in most contexts. Our observations illustrate that tool use in bonobos can be highly complex and no different from what has been described for chimpanzees. The only major difference in the chimpanzee and bonobo data was that bonobos of all age–sex classes used tools in a play context, a possible manifestation of their neotenous nature. We also found that female bonobos displayed a larger range of tool use behaviours than males, a pattern previously described for chimpanzees but not for other great apes. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that the female-biased tool use evolved prior to the split between bonobos and chimpanzees.  
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  ISSN 0003-3472 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5856  
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