Paper Example on Primate Intelligence Evolution

Introduction

Anthropologists have worked hard over the years trying to unearth the mystery of evolution. One of the areas of interest is particularly the primate intelligence. On level ground, it is a bit difficult to identify the procedures and process that are attributed to human intelligence. Although their attention is directed to primates in general, their main focus is to identify the mechanisms in which human intelligence developed and whether the evolution of the brain still occurs. In the last few centuries, researchers and scholars have primarily depended on the works of Charles Darwin. Darwin is among the earliest psychologist who invented the theory of evolution. Within the same, there is the idea of survival fittest as well as natural selection which had something to do with social groupings. The legendary Darwin generated all these ideologies. In one way or another, his theory explains the process of primate evolution. There exist a huge relationship between the size of the brain, social organizations, gestation period and level of intelligence in primates. An increase in one factor elevates the intelligence levels.

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The process of evolution has not been well documented but whatever is known is that there are four grades of primate evolution. The primates are the most researched since they fall in the same category as man. According to Fleagle, the groups are divided into grade 1, 2, 3 and 4. Each grade represents a specific group and has unique features. The organisms become more sophisticated with the increasing grade levels. This that grade 3 has finer features that the other proceeding grades. The same case applies to the levels of intelligence. Several researchers have come up theories to explain the process of intellectual evolution although none seems to illustrate the circumstances in which it occurred. However, they are somehow related.

In the pursuit to understand the origin of primates, researchers have come with several theories. Among the three common theories is the arboreal theory which was the most dominant before its credibility was questioned. According to Cartmill, the theory suggests that early primates evolved in line with their arboreal needs. This is to mean that the eye orbits evolved to enhance better stereoscopic vision as well as shortening of the snouts and grasping using nails instead of claws. All these were meant to make them fit into the arboreal world. The second theory that seeks to explain the origin is the visual predation theory.

The Journal of Human Evolution suggests that the features described in the previous theory were meant to help them obtain their food may it be the fruits or the insects. The modification of the orbits was vital to the spotting of prey. The angiosperm theory is the last attempt to explain the process. There is the notion that primates occurred from the radiation of flowering plants thus offering new opportunities. The organisms were omnivorous thus fed on both fruits and insects. Their eyesight enhanced their ability to spot food. Of the three theories, the visual predation theory has more weight.

Before even the grading is done, there exists a group that does not fit into the primate category but has some salient and interesting features. They are primarily referred to as the Tree Shrews, (Martin 325). Apart from the fact that they are associated with trees, there is no other feature that they share with the other four classes. At the same time, they are insectivorous while the latter can hardly feed on insects. When discussing the actual primates, the first grade is the Lemuroids. The class consists of Lemurs and Lorises. They have several features that make them different from the rest of the primate population. First of all, it is believed that the organisms had some nail but at the same time lacked claws. The fact that there were no claws differentiate the primates from other organisms. They as well had ears that could move a clear indication that their senses had some centralized form of control which in this case is the brain. However, their face would not move, but then their breeding was seasonal. Their social organization was relatively simple and perhaps, this is the reason why the intellectual capacities were low.

The second grade of primates is Tarsiers. They had no much differences from the previous group apart from in some few parameters. One of the most pronounced characteristics is their closed eye orbits. While the previous group had a somehow stereoscopic vision, the latter has had some closed eye orbits a significance of the type of eyesight posed. At the same time, the upper lips were more flexible. In normal circumstances, body movements are controlled by the brain. The fact that the lip became flexible shows that the capacity of their brain had improved significantly. Just like the previous group, they had small bodies as well as mobile ears. Their level of organization was also low, but then they had an upper due to their ability to coordinate their lips.

After the generation of Tarsiers, there came the monkeys. Unlike the other levels, the monkeys exhibited more movements prove of a more developed brain. It is said that they had some large brains. Huge brains go hand in hand with intellectual capacity. If anything, the money were able to move their face randomly meaning their brains were at work. Different from the rest, they had a quadrupedal body as well as shoulder. The most salient feature that proves that the intellectual capacities of the primates were advancing is the presence of complex social patterns. The presence of large brains and more organized social life amount to greater intellectual capacity.

The final group entails the apes and man and are collectively called the Hominids. Through the grades, the tail goes on diminishing, and when comes to this level, it does not exist. The gestation period is as well longer, and their bodies are large. Apart from the body, their brain is also large. Their social organization is said to be more complex than that of the monkeys. A combination of the large brain, more organization, and the advanced gestation means the intellectual capacity of the group is unmatched. However, man is a step ahead of the apes due to their complex organization and thus more advancement intellectually.

Conclusion

In as much the scholars do not acknowledge the role of Charles Darwin in evolution, it is hard to overlook his contribution. Based on the four stages, the evolutionary process follows the principles of Darwin. Stage four represents developed organisms. At the same time, social organization and brain enlargement are issues that he addressed. The intellectual capacity of primates increases from the first grade to the forth. This implies that as the brain enlarged, the intellectual capacity increased. The level of organization is the other factor that illustrates an increase in intellectual capacity. The complex organization that is portrayed by man is responsible for the elevated reasoning levels. Primates have largely displayed the relation between brain size, levels of the organization and intellectual abilities. In the future, anthropologists should investigate whether the evolution of the human brain occurs to date.

Works Cited

Cartmill, Matt. "Arboreal adaptations and the origin of the order Primates." The functional and evolutionary biology of primates. Routledge, 2017. 97-122.

Darwin, Charles. On the origin of species, 1859. Routledge, 2004.

Fleagle, John G. Primate adaptation and evolution. Academic Press, 2013.

MARTIN, ROBERT D. "PRIMATE ORIGINS: PLUGGING THE GAPS." Shaking the Tree: Readings from Nature in the History of Life (2000): 325.

Rothman, Jessica M., et al. "Nutritional contributions of insects to primate diets: implications for primate evolution." Journal of Human Evolution 71 (2014): 59-69.