Smart chimps make smart babies, dumb chimps need help

Inherited smarts: Studies show that chimpanzees' cognitive abilities are strongly influenced by genetics. The findings may help shed light on the rise of intelligence in humans. - File photo

Scientists discover that chimpanzees inherit much of their intelligence from their parents, although other factors also play a part.

If you’re a chimp, the smarts you have are in large part the smarts you were born with, according to a new study that put 99 chimpanzees through a battery of intelligence tests. The findings, published in the journal Current Biology, show that many cognitive abilities are strongly influenced by genetics — and may help shed light on the rise of intelligence in humans.