"Scientists at the University of Reading have found a link between brain size and thumb size across 95 primate species, including humans. Across all species, they found that the longer the thumb, the bigger the brain. Thumbs and brains likely grew in tandem as primates evolved and became gradually smarter over millions of years, they claim. So, as primates developed better manual skills for handling objects, their brains had to grow to process and use these new abilities effectively."
"'As our ancestors got better at picking up and manipulating objects, their brains had to grow to handle these new skills,' said lead author Dr Joanna Baker. 'These abilities have been fine-tuned through millions of years of brain evolution.' The researchers conducted an analysis of 95 primate species, including modern and extinct humans, as well as other modern and extinct primates. Modern-day primates that were part of the study included chimps, gorillas, monkeys, lemurs, marmosets, baboons and orangutans."
Analysis across 95 primate species, including modern and extinct humans, shows a positive correlation between thumb length and overall brain size. Hominins exhibit significantly longer thumbs and relatively large brains compared with other primates. Thumb and brain dimensions appear to have expanded in tandem during primate evolution as manual manipulation skills improved. Enhanced manual skills for handling and manipulating objects increased demands for neural processing and control. Modern primates included in the dataset range from chimpanzees and gorillas to lemurs, marmosets, baboons and orangutans. Longer thumbs were expected to relate to the cerebellum, the movement-control brain region.
Read at Mail Online
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