A new study shows that chimpanzees and bonobos are far more similar in their gender roles than previously thought. In order to understand the range of complexity in our evolutionary cousins’ social lives, perhaps we first need to recognize the range of complexity that exists in our own.
Recent observations of homosexual behavior in male spider monkeys adds to our knowledge of these behaviors and may help us answer questions about the evolutionary functions homosexual behaviors may play.
The findings will fuel the ongoing debate over whether stone tools mark the beginning of modern human culture.
"evolution of intelligence can be driven by the need to deal with the mechanical environment, rather than the prevailing orthodoxy that it’s only the social environment that’s important"