CT scanning and 3D digital reconstruction of a 20 million year New World Monkey suggest that the conventional wisdom--that evolving brain size relative to body mass led to why we're so smart--may not be as straightforward as we once imagined! (Of course, nothing in this line of research is!). Reported here: https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/08/article/ancient-monkey-skull-reveals-brains-secrets/; you can find the published research paper here: https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/8/eaav7913/tab-pdf.
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Dec 18, 2019
Discussion
One commonly observed behavior of some chimpanzees is that they like to throw rocks at trees--especially resonant trees that produce a deep, full sound. But why? New research questions whether it is a ritual at all, and especially whether it is indicative of emerging spirituality: https://www.newsweek.com/chimp-throw-rocks-trees-communication-1477637 . The original journal article may be found here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0747 (access required)