Cotton-top Tamarin Monkey

This post considering the evolutionary origins of numerical cognition, specifically in terms of the approximation of large numbers, is meant as a companion to this week's series on the developmental origins of numerical cognition and developmental dyscalculia, at Child's Play. What are the origins of number representation in the mind? Are there any innate building blocks that contribute to our understanding of mathematics and number, or must everything be learned? Number is an important domain of human knowledge. Many decisions in life are based on quantitative evidence, sometimes with life…