THE NAKED APE

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accounted for only i.6 per cent, reptiles i.o per cent, fish o- i per cent, invertebrates o. i per cent, and amphibians o-05 per cent. Obviously there is something special about mammals in this context. (It should perhaps be pointed out that the replies to the questions were written, not spoken, and it was sometimes difficult to identify the animals from the names given, especially in the case of very young children. It was easy enough to decipher loins, hores, bores, penny kings, panders, tapers and leapolds, but almost impossible to be certain of the species referred to as bettle twigs, the skipping worm, the otamus, or the coco-cola beast. Entries supporting these appealing creatures were reluctantly rejected.) If we now narrow our sights to the `top ten animal loves' the figures emerge as follows: i. Chimpanzee (13-5 per cent). x. Monkey (i3 per cent). 3. Horse (g per cent). 4. Bushbaby (8 per cent). 5. Panda (7-5 per cent). 6. Bear (7 per cent). 7. Elephant (6 per cent). 8. Lion (5 per cent). g. Dog (4 per cent). io. Giraffe (x-5 per cent). It is immediately clear that these preferences do not reflect powerful economic or aesthetic influences. A list of the ten most important economic species would read very differently. Nor are these animal favourites the most elegant and brightly coloured of species. They include instead a high proportion of rather clumsy, heavy-set and dully coloured forms. They are, however, well endowed with anthropomorphic features and it is to these that the children are responding when making their choices. This is not a conscious process. Each of the species listed provides certain key stimuli strongly reminiscent of special properties of our own species, and to these we react automatically without any realisation of what it is exactly that appeals to us. The most significant of these anthropomorphic features in the top ten animals are as follows: i. They all have hair, rather than feathers or scales. x. They have rounded outlines (chimpanzee, monkey, bushbaby, panda, bear, elephant). 3. They have flat faces (chimpanzee, monkey, bushbaby, bear, panda, lion). 4. They have facial expressions (chimpanzee, monkey, horse, lion, dog). 5. They can `manipulate' 198
small objects (chimpanzee, monkey, bushbaby, panda, elephant). 6. Their postures are in some ways, or at some times, rather vertical (chimpanzee, monkey, bushbaby, panda, bear, giraffe). The more of these points a species can score, the higher up the top ten list it comes. Non-mammalian species fare badly because they are weak in these respects. Amongst the birds, the top favourites are the penguin (o.8 per cent) and the parrot (o.2 per cent). The penguin achieves the number one avian position because it is the most vertical of all the birds. The parrot also sits more vertically on its perch than most birds and it has several other special advantages. Its beak shape gives it an unusually flattened face for a bird. It also feeds in a strange way, bringing its foot up to its mouth rather than lowering its head, and it can mimic our vocalisations. Unfortunately for its popularity, it lowers itself into a more horizontal posture when walking and in this way loses points heavily to the vertically waddling penguin. Amongst the top mammals there are several special points worth noting. Why, for instance, is the lion the only one of the big cats to be included? The answer appears to be that it alone, in the male, has a heavy mane of hair surrounding the head region. This has the effect of flattening the face (as is clear from the way lions are portrayed in children's drawings) and helps to score extra points for this species. Facial expressions are particularly important, as we have already seen in earlier chapters, as basic forms of visual communication in our species. They have evolved in a complex form in only a few groups of mammals-the higher primates, the horses, the dogs and the cats. It is no accident that five of the top ten favourites belong to these groups. Changes in facial expression indicate changes in mood and this provides a valuable link between the animal and ourselves, even though the correct significance of the expressions is not always precisely understood. As regards manipulative ability, the panda and the elephant are unique cases. The former has evolved an elongated wrist bone with which it can grasp the thin bamboo sticks on which it feeds. A structure of this 199
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THE NAKED APE by Desmond Morris A B
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is intend
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INTRODUCTION THERE are one hundred
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some respect. If they were healthy,
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CHAPTER ONE ORIGINS THERE is a labe
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we put it, it looks out of place. E
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The primate group, to which our nak
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Faced with a new environment, our a
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complex manoeuvres could be develop
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The brightest stars in the carnivor
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a pack of African hunting dogs it i
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the night, but the contrast is neve
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in the dirt of the den or lair. Aft
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was a process of differential infan
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eating it, each have their own part
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Male and female hunting apes had to
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feature was its naked skin, which l
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home bases, its dens became heavily
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vital missing links in our ancient
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first appears. A great deal will de
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CHAPTER TWO SEX SEXUALLY the naked
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phase, privacy is sought and the su
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summatory act of sperm ejaculation
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the arteries pumping blood into the
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activity. Once the climax has been
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old females will have experienced o
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stay put and mind the babies while
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-the female remains responsive to t
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mucous surfaces permanently exposed
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areas in other animals where there
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Any body relationship, they feel, s
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At some point, back in our ancestry
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sexual contacts. In this particular
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This may also explain why the male
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lengths to render her as sexually r
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ised his sex life. The contemporary
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apology being proportional to the d
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enlarges it, imitating in this way
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ituation where the female is produc
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and avoids being attacked. A subord
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object lacking these signals. Secon
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is that the prolonged period of inf
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on the fundamental sexual structure
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CHAPTER THREE REARING THE burden of
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is not enough for the infant's lips
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mother, either instinctively or by
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apid during the first two years of
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onwards. It may even clasp on to he
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unlike the verbal signals, they eme
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mother's face and to distinguish he
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oth frighteningly odd and at the sa
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friendly, but if we greet them by l
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We develop the vital bond of attach
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andom and unco-ordinated. The cryin
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CHAPTER FOUR EXPLORATION ALL mammal
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But the reverse is actually the cas
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are combined, one with another, to
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equired no reward-it was its own re
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Writing, a formalised offshoot of p
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and clothing, in furniture and cars
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contacts immensely difficult and wi
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epeatedly bite themselves, or pull
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on the other hand, of vital signifi
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in respiratory activity. Breathing
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under the extreme conditions of agg
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formalised into rhythmic twistings
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sdditional energy on it, and it is
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the grooming itself. Monkeys make g
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signal. (With the arm bent and held
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intensities of it are expressed in
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mechanisms. Many moths have a pair
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Page 145 and 146: such a situation can be seen to per
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Page 153 and 154: frequent accompaniment of wailing o
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Page 157 and 158: in profusion. This is usually expla
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Page 161 and 162: grounds. It is a predominantly masc
Page 163 and 164: elements of challenge, luck and ris
Page 165 and 166: Another interpretation is that we h
Page 167 and 168: If they appeal to our old primate w
Page 169 and 170: disposal, we might be expected to r
Page 171 and 172: giving an impression of great conce
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Page 175 and 176: is it aesthetically pleasing. Its f
Page 177 and 178: significance of the hair. In its re
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Page 181 and 182: it is a strong dose of security tha
Page 183 and 184: If the environment becomes too cold
Page 185 and 186: CHAPTER EIGHT ANIMALS UP to this po
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Page 189 and 190: substitute space-traveller. No othe
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Page 197 and 198: The unexpected discovery here is th
Page 199 and 200: on its back. It must be stressed he
Page 201 and 202: This cannot be explained solely on
Page 203 and 204: spiders being nasty, hairy things.
Page 205 and 206: symbolically, scientifically or aes
Page 207 and 208: tendencies; that if we have to beco
Page 209 and 210: Heart-beat response: Salk, 1966. Gr
Page 211 and 212: BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBROSE, J. A., `The s
Page 213 and 214: MILES, W. R., 'Chimpanzee behaviour
Page 215: Mimikry der Primaten'. Die Naturwis
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