FEMALES have been in the vanguard of primate evolution. Their “people skills” have driven both the evolution of larger primate social groups, and the higher intelligence that individuals require to live in such groups.
Biologists have long suspected this may be the case, but three studies have finally confirmed the idea. It is likely that females drove the evolution of human society and intelligence in much the same way.
Primatologist Joan Silk at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her collaborators Susan Alberts and Jeanne Altmann found that female baboons with strong social bonds raised more offspring to the…
