NOT A CHIMP

Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Domestication of dogs may have elaborated on a pre-existing capacity of wolves to learn from humans

http://phys.org/news/2013-12-domestication-dogs-elaborated-pre-existing-capacity.html

Previous comparative psychology suggested that wolves lacked the levels of attention to human cues that domesticated dogs excel at. However, this report suggests they have some capacity and this gave dogs a platform to build on as their domestication intensified.