Brain size in primates depends on whether or not they eat the fruit
Anthropologists from new York University found that the brain volume of primates is affected by their diet, in particular, does it include fruit. The results of his research scientists published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
For a long time it was believed that the brain size of primates affects life in large groups. However, the authors of this study showed that a much larger influence is the diet and habitat of animals.
This study was planned in order to trace a possible link between monogamy and brain size. However, after analyzing information on more than 140 species of primates, the scientists found that the only factor that could reliably predict the size of the brain of the animal was, whether it eats mostly leaves and fruit.
As the authors of the work, searching for fruit requires more developed cognitive skills than eating leaves that you can find everywhere. However, scientists did not deny the possibility that brain development caused by the need to find fruit, has continued due to the complexity of social life.