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. Read more