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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Big Brains Arose Separately in Multiple Primate Groups


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Analysis of a Chilecebus fossil from South America, reported in July 2008, shows that the ancestor of modern-day New World primates had a small brain.

The finding suggests that a hallmark of primate biology—bigger brains—arose separately in primates in isolated groups throughout the world.

Photograph courtesy John Weinstein, the Field Museum