Social personality in sheep: Can social strategies predict individual differences in cognitive abilities, morphology features, and reproductive success?
Social personality can be key factor in evolution because of intraindividual consistency, heritable basis, and linkage with fitness. The aim of this study was to identify the existence of sheep personality profiles based on the use of social strategies and its associations on morphological, cognitive, and reproductive success. Fifty adult ewes, housed indoor, were studied […]
Ecological dominance, social competition, and coalitionary arms races: Why humans evolved extraordinary intelligence
Human cognitive abilities are extraordinary. Our large brains are significantly modified from those of our closest relatives, suggesting a history of intense natural selection. The conditions favoring the evolution of human cognitive adaptations, however, remain an enigma. Hypotheses based on traditional ecological demands, such as hunting or climatic variability, have not provided satisfying explanations. Recent […]
Curiosity boosts orang-utan problem-solving ability
Investigating the mechanisms underlying individual variation in cognitive performance is a crucial step towards understanding the structure and evolution of cognition. In this study, we investigated phenotypic plasticity of 61 Bornean, Pongo pygmaeus, and Sumatran, Pongo abelii, orang-utans to gain insight into how rearing history shapes problem-solving approaches. We first examined the determinants of an […]