2016/11/24 by Louise R. Peckre, Anne‐Claire Fabre, Christine E. Wall +6 · 29 citations
Psychology · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Neuroscience · #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior #Child and Animal Learning Development #Adaptation (eye) #Context (archaeology) #Feeding behavior #Biology #Biological evolution #Psychology #Evolutionary biology #Zoology #Neuroscience
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep37729
published in Scientific Reports 6(1), 37729 (Nature Portfolio)
openalex publication_date 2016/11/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The origin and evolution of manual grasping remain poorly understood. The ability to cling requires important grasping abilities and is essential to survive in species where the young are carried in the fur. A previous study has suggested that this behaviour could be a pre-adaptation for the evolution of fine manipulative skills. In this study we tested the co-evolution between infant carrying in the fur and manual grasping abilities in the context of food manipulation. As strepsirrhines vary in the way infants are carried (mouth vs. fur), they are an excellent model to test this hypothesis. Data on food manipulation behaviour were collected for 21 species of strepsirrhines. Our results show that fur-carrying species exhibited significantly more frequent manual grasping of food items. This study clearly illustrates the potential novel insights that a behaviour (infant carrying) that has previously been largely ignored in the discussion of the evolution of primate manipulation can bring.