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Cited by 501Primate Behavior and EcologyLanguage and cultural evolutionEvolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Distribution Patterns of Tropical Plant Foods as an Evolutionary Stimulus to Primate Mental Development

MILTON, KATHARINE·1981·American Anthropologist
DOI 10.1525/aa.1981.83.3.02a00020
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Abstract

Primates are noted for their mental abilities but the selective basis for such traits has remained obscure. It is hypothesized that the element of predictability associated with the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of plant foods in tropical forests has served to stimulate mental development in primates taking much of their food from the first trophic level. Primates able to remember the locations and phenological patterns of a wide variety of plant foods could move directly to such foods when and where available without wasting time and energy in random search. This would enhance overall foraging success by lowering procurement costs associated with a varied and patchily distributed plant diet. Membership in a cohesive social unit, that utilized the same supplying area over many consecutive generations, would also enhance foraging success by serving to transmit important information about diet to close kin. Data on the foraging behavior of howler and spider monkeys are presented to test certain implications of this hypothesis. Similar selective pressures, but applied to foods from the second trophic level, may have been of critical importance in the mental development of hominids. [primates, evolution, intelligence, plant foods, Aleles, Alouatta]

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  • The foraging hypothesis posits that dietary complexity, indexed by field reports of dietary breadth and reliance on fruit, was the primary driver of primate cognitive evolution.

    “The foraging hypothesis posits that dietary complexity, indexed by field reports of dietary breadth and reliance on fruit (a spatiotemporally distributed resource), was the primary driver of primate cognitive evolution (151-154).”

    From The evolution of self-control. (2014) · cites this paper as [151]

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Authors
MILTON, K.
Affiliations
University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
MILTON, KATHARINE
Venue
American Anthropologist
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1981-09
Volume
83
Issue
3
Pages
534-548
ISSN
  • 0002-7294 (ISSN-L)
  • 1548-1433
DOI
10.1525/aa.1981.83.3.02a00020
OpenAlex
W2113940759
Cited by
501
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 39
FWCI
5.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 10284 d)
Locations
American Anthropologist (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
Keywords
foraging behavior, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, Alouatta, social learning, kin selection, hominin evolution, evolution of intelligence

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