Primate thumbs and brains evolved hand-in-hand

Originally published by the University of Reading, on 26 August 2025

Longer thumbs mean bigger brains, scientists have found - revealing how human hands and minds evolved together.

Researchers studied 94 different primate species, including fossils and living animals, to understand how our ancestors developed their abilities. They found that species with relatively longer thumbs, which help with gripping small objects precisely, consistently had larger brains.


A group of chimpanzees at the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary is eating bananas outside. Photo: © Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary. Fuente: ifaw.org
 

The research, published today (Tuesday, 26 August) in Communications Biology, provides the first direct evidence that manual dexterity and brain evolution are connected across the entire primate lineage, from lemurs to humans. 

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