ANTH 311 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Neocortex, Cladistics, Clavicle
23 May 2014
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The material in this chapter is closely integrated with the lectures on the primate pattern and on the lectures and video titled survey of the primates, although there are some differences. Box 2. 1 describes a study that sought to determine if the large brains of primates evolved primarily in response to ecological (dietary) or social pressures. The study found larger neocortex ratios in primates with larger social groups and grooming networks in a sample of 25 different primate species. This material is covered later in lectures on cognition. You are responsible for it on the final exam, but i won"t ask questions specifically on this. Strier starts the section on distinguishing traits by saying that the traits that distinguish primates from other animals fall into 4 major categories. Because a large brain relative to body size is one of the important traits that distinguish primates from other mammals, the first section discusses allometric scaling of brain and body size.
