Careful Climbing in the Miocene: The Forelimbs of Ardipithecus ramidus and Humans Are Primitive

摘要

A grasping hand and highly mobile forelimb are defining characteristics of primates. The special ability to pick things up and manipulate them has probably been a central selective force in making primates so unusually intelligent. It's something that porpoises can't do at all and crows can't do very well. It may also be one reason why humans alone eventually evolved cognition.