The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal by Desmond Morris

Author:Desmond Morris
Language: eng
Format: mobi, pdf
Tags: Human Behavior, Life Sciences, Animals, Psychology, Nature, Human Growth, Science, Philosophy, Biology, General, Anthropology, Primatology, Mammals, Zoology, Human Beings, Human Ecology, Primates, Social Science
ISBN: 9780385334303
Publisher: Delta
Published: 1967-01-01T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four: EXPLORATION

All mammals have a strong exploratory urge, but for some it is more crucial than others. It depends largely on how specialized they have become during the course of evolution. If they have put all their evolutionary effort into the perfection of one particular survival trick, they do not need to bother so much about the general complexities of the world around them. So long as the ant-eater has its ants and the koala bear its gum leaves, then they are well satisfied and the living is easy. The non-specialists, on the other hand—the opportunists of the animal world—can never afford to relax. They are never sure where their next meal may be coming from, and they have to know every nook and cranny, test every possibility, and keep a sharp look-out for the lucky chance. They must explore, and keep on exploring. They must investigate, and keep on re-checking. They must have a constantly high level of curiosity.

It is not simply a matter of feeding: self-defence can make the same demands. Porcupines, hedgehogs and skunks can snuffle and stomp about as noisily as they like, heedless of their enemies, but the unarmed mammal must be forever on the alert. It must know the signs of danger and the routes of escape. To survive it must know its home range in every minute detail.

Looked at in this way, it might seem rather inefficient not to specialize. Why should there be any opportunist mammals at all? The answer is that there is a serious snag in the specialist way of life. Everything is fine as long as the special survival device works, but if the environment undergoes a major change the specialist is left stranded. If it has gone to sufficient extremes to outstrip its competitors, the animal will have been forced to make major changes in its genetical make-up, and it will not be able to reverse these quickly enough when the crunch comes. If the gum-tree forests were swept away the koala would perish. If an iron-mouthed killer developed the ability to munch up porcupine quills, the porcupine would become easy prey. For the opportunist the going may always be tough, but the creature will be able to adapt rapidly to any quick-change act that the environment decides to put on. Take away a mongoose’s rats and mice and it will switch to eggs and snails. Take away a monkey’s fruit and nuts and it will switch to roots and shoots.

Of all the non-specialists, the monkeys and apes are perhaps the most opportunist. As a group, they have specialized in non-specialization. And among the monkeys and apes, the naked ape is the most supreme opportunist of them all. This is just another facet of his neotenous evolution. All young monkeys are inquisitive, but the intensity of their curiosity tends to fade as they become adult. With us, the infantile inquisitiveness is strengthened and stretched out into our mature years. We never stop investigating. We are never satisfied that we know enough to get by.

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