Modern apes smarter than pre-humans: Study

Living great apes are smarter than our pre-human ancestor Australopithecus, a group that included the famous "Lucy", according to a study.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, challenges the long-held idea that, because the brain of Australopithecus was larger than that of many modern apes, it was smarter.

Researchers, including those from the University of Adelaide in Australia, measured the rate of blood flow to the cognitive part of the brain, based on the size of the holes in the skull that passed the supply arteries.

This technique was calibrated in humans and other mammals and applied to 96 great ape skulls and 11 Australopithecus fossil skulls.

The study revealed a higher rate of blood flow to the cognitive part of the brain of living great apes compared to Australopithecus.

"The results were unexpected by anthropologists because it has been generally assumed that intelligence is directly related to the size of the brain," said Professor Roger Seymour from the University of Adelaide.

"At first, brain size seems reasonable because it is a measure of the number of brain cells, called neurons. On second thought, however, cognition relies not only on the number of neurons, but also on the number of connections between them, called synapses," Seymour said in a statement.

He noted that these connections govern the flow of information within the brain and greater synaptic activity results in greater information processing.

The human brain uses 70 per cent of its energy on synaptic activity, and that amount of energy relies on a proportionately high blood supply to deliver oxygen.

Although our brain occupies only 2 per cent of our body weight, it uses 15 to 20 per cent of our energy, and requires about 15 per cent of the blood from the heart.

Seymour said the great apes were known to be very intelligent and included the gorilla Koko, who was taught to communicate with over 1,000 signs.

The group also included a chimpanzee called Washoe who learned about 350 signs, and Kanzi, a bonobo, who not only developed good English comprehension and syntax but also made stone tools.

"How does the intelligence of modern great apes stack up against that in our 3 million-year-old relatives, the australopithicines such as Lucy?