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A skillful hand requires a large brain

Children can only reach for the first time when they are around five months old. It takes another five to six years before they can eat with a knife or fork or tie their shoes. At this age, many species of monkeys already had their first offspring.

Humans not only need longer because the handles are more difficult than those that learn lemurs or marmosets. People also start learning these skills much later.

Researchers at the University of Zurich have now investigated why monkeys are outpacing humans. They concluded that the reason for this is the size of the brain, as the university said on Friday.

Large brains less developed at birth

The researchers suspect that large brains like those of humans are less developed at birth than small brains. Only with mammals that live as long as humans and therefore have enough time to learn has a large brain developed that enables complex dexterity including the use of tools.

“It is not just by chance that we humans are so skillful in using hands and tools. Our big brain made this possible in the first place. A clever mind also has a clever hand », Sandra Heldstab is quoted by the Anthropological Institute.

“This makes it clear why so few species follow our path and why we humans have become the most technologically perfect organism on this planet.”

Everyone learns in the same order

There are also differences in dexterity between the monkey species: those with large brains such as macaques, gorillas or chimpanzees can use their hands to solve much more difficult tasks than those with small brains such as lemurs or marmosets.

According to the researchers, it was surprising that all monkey species learn their dexterity in exactly the same order. The neuronal development therefore runs in extremely rigid patterns, even with the most diverse types of monkeys.

For their study, the researchers observed 36 species of monkeys over a period of seven years. They studied 128 young animals in 13 European zoos, each from birth to the age at which they had learned all the skills of adult animals.

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