Abstract
A comparative study of the learning ability in two species of lower monkeys, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) and hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas), was used as a hypothetical model for the development of cognitive abilities in primates during such an evolutionary event as the transition from an arboreal lifestyle to a terrestrial one. It was found that in male rhesus monkeys the average level of learning was 68.5 ± 5.8%, in male hamadryas baboons - 78.0 ± 3.1%. The median of the distribution of learning, which characterizes the maximum number of continuous correct decisions, in rhesus monkeys is 17.0% (interquartile range, IQR = 11.0); in hamadryas baboons - 40.0% (IQR = 15.5). In the studied groups of monkeys, certain differences were found in the dynamics of skill formation. Our results illustrate the advantages of terrestrialism as a factor contributing to evolution towards rationality, and are in the best possible way with the ecological hypothesis of the development of cognitive abilities.
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