Primate news

[ghostexorcist]

New research on Twa Pygmies of Uganda in Africa has shed light on the evolution of our feet. The Twa are able to climb trees just as well as chimpanzees. This is because the unusually long muscles of their calves provides extra flexibility to their ankles, which can bend up to a 45 degree angle (the same as chimps). The length of the calf muscles is the result of practice not mutation. The muscles stretch over the course of their lives. This discovery has helped anthropologists understand why the Australopithecines (southern apes) had human feet but had long ape-like arms, shoulder blades, and curved fingers. Scholars can't say for certain whether they climbed trees regularly, but nothing about their (our) foot design would hinder this ability.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/...evolution/

[ghostexorcist]

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...173312.htm (Bonobos Will Share With Strangers Before Acquaintances)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...130217.htm (Developmental Delay May Explain Behavior of Easygoing Bonobo Apes)

I found the second link very interesting because it opens a window into our own cognitive development. There is far more material on chimps than there is on bonobos. I'm thinking about making bonobos my research focus, however, there are only 10,000 - 50,000 of the little buggers left in the wild. That means there may not be that many left for me to study once I become a researcher. This article says our ape cousins may be "extinct within the next century":

* http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/...nford.html (Primatologist warns of possible great ape extinction)

[Dom]

(07-01-2013 04:53 PM)ghostexorcist Wrote:  * http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...173312.htm (Bonobos Will Share With Strangers Before Acquaintances)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...130217.htm (Developmental Delay May Explain Behavior of Easygoing Bonobo Apes)

I found the second link very interesting because it opens a window into our own cognitive development. There is far more material on chimps than there is on bonobos. I'm thinking about making bonobos my research focus, however, there are only 10,000 - 50,000 of the little buggers left in the wild. That means there may not be that many left for me to study once I become a researcher. This article says our ape cousins may be "extinct within the next century":

* http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/...nford.html (Primatologist warns of possible great ape extinction)

That is bad. Is there no conservation attempt going on?

[ghostexorcist]

(07-01-2013 04:56 PM)Dom Wrote:  That is bad. Is there no conservation attempt going on?

There are several reserves that house semi-wild ape populations, but they reside in war torn areas. Another problem is that people living in areas where feral ape communities live have resorted to capturing them for "bush meat" because they have little food.

[ghostexorcist]

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...Monkeys%29 (Owl Monkeys Who 'Stay True' Reproduce More Than Those With Multiple Partners)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...Monkeys%29 (Parasites of Madagascar's Lemurs Expanding With Climate Change)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...Monkeys%29 (Better Outlook for Dwindling Black Macaque Population in Indonesia)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Benefits of Social Grooming in Wild Chimpanzees: Hormone Oxytocin Facilitates Cooperation)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...Monkeys%29 (HIV-Like Viruses in Non-Human Primates Have Existed Much Longer Than Previously Thought)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...Monkeys%29 (Primates, Too, Can Move in Unison)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Tooth Development and Weaning in Chimpanzees Not as Closely Related as Once Thought)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Bonobos Predisposed to Show Sensitivity to Others)

These last three especially interesting to me because they deal with culture.

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Chimp See, Chimp Learn: First Evidence for Chimps Improving Tool Use Techniques by Watching Others)

* http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/10/bonobo-tool/ (Bonobo Females Handier With Tools Than Males)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/200...131437.htm (Primate Archaeology Sheds Light On Human Origins)

You can read the full paper here. One of my professors was a co-author.

[panterasr9]

Listen here boi i didnt come from no stinkin monkey! maybe you did but not me I was created by god. (I have been told that before) lol

[ghostexorcist]

(31-01-2013 08:03 PM)panterasr9 Wrote:  Listen here boi i didnt come from no stinkin monkey! maybe you did but not me I was created by god. (I have been told that before) lol

My mom pulls the "I didn't come from a monkey" too anytime I try explaining evolution to her. That's kind of sad since she has a college degree.

[panterasr9]

Isn't neat that all that education can't break a fairytale?! She is not the only on. I had a pretty educated guy at work tell me that scientist were getting as far away from evolution as possible. I lold and went online and printed a paper that 95% of all scientist believe in evolution. He looked at it gave me a glare and all he could say is (that wont wash). He continues and says they are not taking into account the bible. I was thinking yeah the bible doesn't talk about cars or helicopter's or alot of things that doesn't mean they are not real. Some people.

[ghostexorcist]

(31-01-2013 07:07 PM)ghostexorcist Wrote:  * http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Chimp See, Chimp Learn: First Evidence for Chimps Improving Tool Use Techniques by Watching Others)

* http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...--+Apes%29 (Chimpanzees Learn a More Efficient Tool Technique by Watching Others)

This seems to related to the one I posted yesterday evening.

[kim]

(07-01-2013 05:04 PM)ghostexorcist Wrote:  

(07-01-2013 04:56 PM)Dom Wrote:  That is bad. Is there no conservation attempt going on?

There are several reserves that house semi-wild ape populations, but they reside in war torn areas. Another problem is that people living in areas where feral ape communities live have resorted to capturing them for "bush meat" because they have little food.

Extinct?

They are our relatives... why don't people get this?