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Related Concept Videos

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 27, 2026

Dissecting the Non-human Primate Brain in Stereotaxic Space
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Why are there so many explanations for primate brain evolution?

R I M Dunbar1,2, Susanne Shultz3

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK robin.dunbar@psy.ox.ac.uk.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|July 5, 2017
PubMed
Summary

Primates evolved large brains due to complex social behaviors and cognitive demands. Overcoming physiological and energetic constraints was key to this evolutionary development.

Keywords:
coalitionsenergeticsforaging innovationsmultilevel socialitysocial brain hypothesissocial complexity

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Primatology

Background:

  • The evolution of large brains in primates is a long-standing question with multiple proposed explanations.
  • Existing hypotheses are supported by empirical evidence, suggesting a complex interplay of factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review and analyze the main hypotheses regarding primate brain evolution.
  • To propose a unifying framework for understanding the causes, consequences, and constraints of large brain evolution.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of existing hypotheses on primate brain evolution.
  • Analysis of empirical evidence supporting and refuting these hypotheses.
  • Development of a conceptual framework integrating evolutionary causes, consequences, and constraints.

Main Results:

  • No single hypothesis fully explains primate brain evolution; a multifactorial approach is necessary.
  • Social group complexity and the cognitive demands of social behaviors are significant drivers.
  • Overcoming physiological, energetic, and time budget constraints was critical for brain expansion.

Conclusions:

  • Primate brain evolution is best understood within a framework of evolutionary causes, consequences, and constraints.
  • The evolution of complex sociality and associated cognitive skills played a central role.
  • Domain-general cognition may have underpinned the development of specialized cognitive abilities for social living.