@article {308684, title = {Home range overlap as a driver of intelligence in primates.}, journal = {Am J Primatol}, volume = {77}, year = {2015}, note = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajp.22357/full}, month = {2015 Apr}, pages = {418-24}, abstract = {

Various socioecological factors have been suggested to influence cognitive capacity in primates, including challenges associated with foraging and dealing with the complexities of social life. Alexander [Alexander, 1989]. Evolution of the human psyche. In: Mellars P, Stringer C, editors. The human revolution: Behavioural and biological perspectives on the origins of modern humans. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p 455-513] proposed an integrative model for the evolution of human cognitive abilities and complex sociality that incorporates competition among coalitions of conspecifics (inter-group conflict) as a major selective pressure. However, one of the premises of this model, i.e., that when confronted with inter-group conflict selection should favor enhanced cognition, has remained empirically untested. Using a comparative approach on species data, I aimed to test the prediction that primate species (n = 104) that face greater inter-group conflict have higher cognitive abilities (indexed by endocranial volume). The degree of inter-group conflict/complexity was approximated via the variable home range overlap among groups. I found a significant relationship between home range overlap and endocranial volume, even after controlling for other predictor variables and covariates such as group size and body mass. I conclude that brain size evolution cannot be attributed exclusively to social factors such as group size, but likely reflects a variety of social and ecological determinants including inter-group conflict which poses cognitive demands on monitoring both the wider social milieu as well as spatial attributes of the habitat.

}, keywords = {Animals, Behavior, Animal, Biological Evolution, Brain, Cognition, Competitive Behavior, Homing Behavior, Intelligence, Organ Size, Primates}, issn = {1098-2345}, doi = {10.1002/ajp.22357}, url = {http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25412994}, author = {Grueter, Cyril C} }