Cheek pouches are pockets between the jaw and the cheek used to temporarily store food. Many rodents, marsupials and monkeys have them. Apes and New World monkeys do not have cheek pouches. Old World monkeys have cheek pouches but do not use them with the same frequency. For instance, baboons in the wild don't seem to use their cheek pouches as much as they do in captivity. It was long believed that cheek pouches were the result of an adaptation to ground foraging, to store food in high risk situation while on the ground and consume it later high in a tree, however Ciochon and Feagle argue that cercopithecines who live mostly arboreal have the largest cheek pouches. ( Primate Evolution and Human Origins ). Unlike those of rodents, primates' cheek pouches secrete large quantities of amylase - which converts starches into sugar. In her book " Primate Behavioral Ecology ", Karen Strier writes: " this adaptation for digesting unrip fruits, which are o...
Humans and great apes seem to be the only creatures deprived of a tail. Yet, our coccyx is what scientists call a “vestigial” organ. It doesn’t serve any purpose but it is there. As Darwin writes in his Origin of Species: “Rudimentary organs may be compared with the letters in a word, still retained in the spelling, but become useless in the pronunciation, but which serve as a clue for its derivation.” In short, the fact we don’t have a tail doesn’t exclude the possibility that one of our distant ancestors had one. So, what is a tail for? For some, it is a built-in fly swatter – like cows in the field; for others a navigation tool like fish; for many a means to keep their balance and for others a way to communicate. When you come home, I am sure your dog greets you by jumping around with vigorous tail wagging – that is, if you are lucky enough to have one. Scientists at the University of Bari, Italy, have been studying tail wagging and its meaning for quite some time. The res...
Assuming we agree the theory of mind applies to monkeys and apes, what could prevent us from thinking that, much like our early human ancestors, they too lend significance to external phenomena they have no control over? Thunder, fire, the moon, the sun, waterfalls can stir awe, wonder or fear in humans. Why couldn't the same natural phenomena stir similar emotions in animals? In "J.T., JR, The Biography of an African Monkey" (1928), Delia J. Akeley , first wife of the famous taxidermist Carl Akeley , recounts her life with J.T. the female vervet monkey she adopted and whom she studied. She writes: "While the porters were busy cutting down the undergrowth to clear a site for the tents, I gathered an armful of flowers and maidenhair ferns. I was arranging them in a paraffin tin (my safari vase) when J.T., who was tied to the limb of a tree, attracted my attention by her excited manner and peculiar cries. In an effort to learn the cause of her agitation I ...
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