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Are Primates Superior to Non-Primates? Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects

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Are Primates Superior to Non-Primates? Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE COGNITION: ARE PRIMATES SUPERIOR TO NON-PRIMATES? DEVELOPMENTS IN PRIMATOLOGY: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS Series Editor: Russell H. Tuttle University ofChicago, Chicago, Illinois This peer-reviewed book series will meld the facts of organic diversity with the continuity of the evolutionary process. The volumes in this series will exemplify the diversity of theo­ retical perspectives and methodological approaches currently employed by primatologists and physical anthropologists. Specific coverage includes: primate behavior in natural habi­ tats and captive settings: primate ecology and conservation; functional morphology and developmental biology ofprimates; primate systematics; genetic and phenotypic differences among living primates; and paleoprimatology. ALL APES GREAT AND SMALL VOLUME 1: AFRICAN APES Edited by Birute M. F. Galdikas, Nancy Erickson Briggs, Lori K. Sheeran, Gary L. Shapiro and Jane Goodall THE GUENONS: DIVERSITY AND ADAPTATION IN AFRICAN MONKEYS Edited by Mary E. Glenn and Marina Cords ANIMAL BODIES, HUMAN MINDS: APE, DOLPHIN, AND PARROT LANGUAGE SKILLS William A. Hillix and Duane M. Rumbaugh COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE COGNITION: ARE PRIMATES SUPERIOR TO NON-PRIMATES? Lesley J. Rogers and Gisela Kaplan COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE COGNITION: ARE PRIMATES SUPERIOR TO NON-PRIMATES? Edited by Lesley J. Rogers and Gisela Kaplan Centre tor Neuroseienee and Animal Behaviour Sehool o[ Biologieal, Biomedieal and Moleeular Seienees University o[ New England Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Comparative vertebrate cognition: are primates superior to non-primates? / edited by Lesley ]. Rogers and Gisela Kaplan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-306-47727-0 1. Cognition in animals. 2. Primates-Psychology. 3. Vertebrates-Psychology. I. Rogers, Lesley J. II. Kaplan, Gisela T. QL785.C537 2003 596.1513-dc22 2003060171 ISBN 978-1-4613-4717-0 ISBN 978-1-4419-8913-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-8913-0 © 2004 Springer-Science+Business Media New York Originally publishcd by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York in 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A C.I.P record for this book is available from the Library of Congress All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. PREFACE Primates have featured in human cultural history for a long time. Adventurers, hunters, and travelers described them in their diaries. Even before Darwin, there was some recognition that they were different and fascinating, although not necessarily likeable. Rennie, in his observation oforangutans in 1838 con­ demned orangutans as slovenly and useless creatures: "Their deportment is grave and melancholy, their disposition apathetic, their motions slow and heavy, and their habits so sluggish and lazy, that it is only the cravings of appetite, or the approach of imminent danger, that can rouse them from their habitual lethargy, or force them to active exertion." (cit. in Yerkes, R. M., and Yerkes, A. W. (1929) The Great Apes. A Study of Anthropoid Life, Yale University Press, New Haven). Starting with Darwin, interest in primates became scientific and, tragically, led to the first major holocaust of apes, who were killed by their thousands in short spans of time to supply museums with specimens. Gradually zoos also captured them in increasing numbers for "exhibits." Because of their relatedness to humans, primates were then also regarded as good test subjects in biomedical research and the beginning ofthe trade and supply of monkeys commenced, taking them from the wild in uncontrolled and ever growing numbers for use in medical laborarories throughout the best part of the 20th century. Against this background, the efforts that were made in the 1960s and throughout the 1970s to say that primates and, in particular great apes, were "special" was a much needed and radical departure from the poor practice and derogatory attitudes that had gone before. Attitudes began to change along with the sudden rise to fame of the great apes, thanks to the extremely devot­ ed research work done by a number of researchers, many of whom are now household names. These changes resulted in questioning the ethics ofhow we treated primates. Export and import of many primates is now banned in most countries; hence, taking them from the wild is often no longer an option, no matter how justifiable the purpose may be. Poaching is usually punishable by law (although v VI Preface not always enforceable) and use ofprimates for frivolous research purposes has been curbed over the years. Overall, primates are now better protected in the wild and are generally treated better in captivity than they were in the 1950s. Such new appreciation can be attributed in no small measure to primatology's own hard work in disseminating the persistent take-home message that primates are special, deserving of our interest, protection and moral support. As a result of these sustained efforts in the last 50 years or so, the image of great apes gradually changed from that of brutes like King Kong (gorilla), the silly clown (chim­ panzee), or the slovenly imbecile (orangutan) to that of creatures worthy of appreciation or, less needed, we believe, ofsome kind of new "noble savage" perhaps even with a mind ofits own. So what are we doing here in Primatology by publishing a book seemingly questioning the very essence on which we have finally achieved some change in moral status for primates? There are two points to be made in reply. The appalling past treatment ofprimates and their depletion in the wild had to be fought by political means and discourses in the political realms ofhuman soci­ eties. The claim that primates are special was an important political point of argument; and so was the evolving concept ofgreat apes as flagship species. This book, voicing the opinions ofsome leading primatologists, ethologists, psychobiologists, neuroscientists and anthropologists, is not speaking from the standpoint ofa political engagement with primates but ofa scientific engage­ ment with primates in relation to all other species. The extremely lively and seminal primatological debates of the 1970s, especially on the cognitive skills ofapes, have carried us almost through to this day. Thirty years later, it is time to take stock and revise what we know, casting the net wider than the primate order to see what we have achieved theoretically and what is sustainable scien­ tifically. Such stock taking exercises help us to adjust our research directions, reflect on our practices, and perhaps also give rise to new and different questions. Often inadvertently, but sometimes deliberately, we make statements imply­ ing superiority ofthe behavior or cognitive abilities ofapes compared to mon­ keys, or primates compared to nonprimates. Yet recent evidence shows that at least some of the characteristics that we thought made primates unique and superior are also seen in some species ofnon-primates. Thus we are beginning to become aware of the risks of moving in one intellectual milieu and choos­ ing to work on a species instead ofchoosing a problem and then testing it on Preface vii a range of species. With this recognition has come another motivation for editing this book. Each contributor has addressed the question "Are the cog­ nitive abilities ofprimates simply different from other mammals or are they an evolutionary advance on them?" or, more generally, "Are primates special?" Each contributor has approached the question from a different perspective and considered a range ofdifferent species. We have covered in this book research findings about a wide span ofvertebrate species, all relevant to understanding primates. Of course, we recognize that there are differences in cognition between all species, including the various primates, but we have examined whether there is any substance behind the often stated or hinted assumption that primates are some sort of improved cognitive design and that, amongst primates, the apes are a further improvement that foregrounded the evolution ofthe human brain and mind. We have approached this topic fully aware ofthe difficulties in defining what we mean by higher cognition, or "intelligence," but by our various ways ofdealing with this uncertainty as we compare primate and nonprimate species we believe we will lead to a change in thinking. The aim of the book is to explore afresh the long-standing interest, and emphasis on, the "special" capacities of primates. Some of the recent discov­ eries of the higher cognitive abilities of other mammals and also birds challenge the concept that primates are special and even the view that the cog­ nitive ability ofapes is more advanced than that ofnon-primate mammals and birds. It is therefore timely to ask whether primates are, in fact, superior to non-primates, and to do so from a broad range ofperspectives. It will become apparent to the reader that researchers are only at the beginning of the search to find out whether primates are special and, ofcourse, by "special" is meant not just different, which applies
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