{"title":"Ape Ancestor (About Seven Million Years Ago)","authors":"L. Newson, P. Richerson","doi":"10.1093/oso/9780190883201.003.0002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"If you had been born as one of your ancestors who lived seven million years ago, you would have been an ape living in an African forest. This ancestor would also be the ancestor of the chimpanzees and bonobos that still live in African forests. You would have already possessed some of the characteristics that make humans an unusual animal. You would have had a large brain (but not nearly as large as the brain you have now). You would have taken a long time to grow and reach maturity (but not has long as it took you as a human). And, by watching your mother as she foraged and negotiated her social life, you would have gained a head start on learning how to survive in your environment. Your mother wouldn’t have actively tried to teach you, but having her around as a model and protectors would help you learn.","PeriodicalId":228169,"journal":{"name":"A Story of Us","volume":"116 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"A Story of Us","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190883201.003.0002","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
If you had been born as one of your ancestors who lived seven million years ago, you would have been an ape living in an African forest. This ancestor would also be the ancestor of the chimpanzees and bonobos that still live in African forests. You would have already possessed some of the characteristics that make humans an unusual animal. You would have had a large brain (but not nearly as large as the brain you have now). You would have taken a long time to grow and reach maturity (but not has long as it took you as a human). And, by watching your mother as she foraged and negotiated her social life, you would have gained a head start on learning how to survive in your environment. Your mother wouldn’t have actively tried to teach you, but having her around as a model and protectors would help you learn.