Primates

A Wild Female and Male Orangutan Teamed Up To Murder Another Orangutan

Anthropologists in Borneo observed a rare instance of a female and a male orangutan teaming up—to kill another female orangutan. This is the first observed time a female-female conflict in orangutans has turned lethal, and the way the it went down changes what we thought we knew about orangutan behavior. Primates, being known jerks, attack…

Ethicists Voice Concerns Over Creation of Humanized ‘Autistic’ Monkeys

Researchers in China have genetically engineered monkeys to exhibit autistic-like behaviors, including impaired social skills and increased anxiety. This research is poised to improve our understanding of brain disorders, but ethicists say the harm endured by these monkeys is simply not worth it. Monkeys are increasingly being used as models for human diseases, and for…

Humans Sleep a Lot Less Than Any Other Primate

Forget studies that show that we are lazy, fried cheese-fed, cubicle dwellers. Or, at least forget the “lazy” part. Out of all the primates, humans distinguish themselves by getting the least amount of sleep. Here’s a novel idea about why humans are playing with iPads while the rest of our close family is still throwing…

New research suggests humans have more “primitive” hands than chimps. The study, while controversial, raises some provocative questions about the origin of human toolmaking and the importance of specialized hands. Image: Denise Morgan, University of Utah

We Still Don’t Know Why Men Find Ovulating Women More Attractive

Are you in a public place? Look around. Can you tell whether any of the women you see are ovulating, just by looking at them? Neither can anybody else. But several small studies have suggested that men nevertheless find women’s faces more attractive when they’re most fertile. No one knows what signals the men are…

Why Don’t Humans Have as Much Hair as Other Primates?

Although there is no definitive account of why we lost our body hair when every other primate is covered with the stuff, there are a handful of compelling theories that may explain our hairless condition. One early explanation for why we, alone, are the only relatively “naked” apes was the aquatic ape hypothesis. First floated…

Even Wild Chimps Like To Get Drunk Now And Then

Turns out that African apes and humans have more in common than previously thought. Observations made in the jungles of Guinea show wild chimps sipping alcoholic tree sap from leaf sponges, followed by some characteristically drunken behaviors. A 17-year investigation led by Kimberley Hockings from Oxford Brookes University and the Centre for Research in Anthropology…

Anthropologists Have Discovered a Totally New Human Ancestor

There’s a new branch on the human family tree. Anthropologists say they’ve found a new human ancestor, who lived 3.5 million years ago, right beside Australopithecus afarensis on the plains of what is now Ethiopia. Casts of the upper and lower jaw. Credit: Laura Dempsey You may have heard of the species of human ancestor…

Understanding Chimpanzee Intelligence Can Shed Light On Our Own

It’s hard to study intelligence in humans — our cultures are incredibly complex, and what counts as “smart” is defined as much by our societies as it is by our genes. So some researchers have turned to chimpanzees to understand what actually gives rise to intelligence in the brain. A century of scientific investigation into…

Monkeys Make The Same Bad Gambling Decisions That Humans Do

Humans have a remarkable ability to see patterns where none exist. In the hot-hand phenomenon we perceive streaks of wins or losses where the data, in truth, are random. New research shows that monkeys are subject to the same bias, which might suggest that the bias is evolutionarily adaptive, and maybe even rational. The moniker…

China Commands an Army of Trained Monkeys

There has been a long tradition of employing animals in military operations. The latest example might be China’s troop of macaque soldiers. According to a report in the Washington Post, the People’s Liberation Army revealed that they’ve trained a small troop of macaques at one of their air bases, somewhere in northern China. From the…

Are any animals truly monogamous?

As Henry Reich explains in this installment of Minute Earth, yes, monogamy does exist in the animal kingdom – though fewer creatures practice it than you probably realize. Monogamy is observed in just over a quarter of primates and only around 3–5% of mammals, overall. How it evolved in humans is still the subject of…

These Monkeys Always Give Birth to Twins – How Do They Do It?

Unlike all other primates, clawed New World Monkeys almost always give birth to twins. But why? It turns out these animals have a unique set of adaptations that make it possible — and could prove useful to humans as well. We spoke to the lead scientist of the new study to understand how it all…

Monkeys Remember “Words” Used by Their Ancestors Centuries Ago

In the mid-1600s, green monkeys from Africa were introduced to the West Indies island of Barbados. Despite living a predator-free life for centuries, the Barbados population still responds to an ancestral alarm call that means, roughly translated, “Run up a tree or a leopard will eat you!” Life-Saving Alarms One of the primary benefits of…

Are Humans Hardwired to Detect Snakes?

The “snake detection theory” holds that snakes played a significant role in the evolution of humans and other primates. They molded our brains, shaped our visual systems, and helped us survive. Now there is new evidence to back up this unusual theory, which explains both our agile minds and our uncanny ability to sense the…

Marmosets Have Conversations That Sound Strikingly Human

Marmosets are fluffy, 8-inch-long monkeys native to South America. They are also very polite. New research shows that these little mammals carry on lengthy, back-and-forth discussions without interrupting one another. This is a conversation style adopted by only one other kind of primate: humans. The Cooperative Monkey Marmosets are a group of monkeys that include…

Evidence that wild orangutans are scary smart

Humans pride ourselves on our ability to make plans for the future. But it turns out that we’re not the only animals who think ahead. Scientists have observed wild orangutans planning their travel routes a day in advance, and communicating their itinerary to community members. In the last decade, research has begun to show that…

How did monogamy evolve?

From an evolutionary standpoint, monogamy doesn’t seem to make much sense – especially for males. And yet, it’s practiced by a significant number of mammalian species, including humans. Now, in a fantastic example of science in progress, two newly published studies with divergent conclusions seek to explain why. Top image by Adia Speer via CreativeButterflyXX…

Like humans, chimps and orangutans remember their past

Sometimes a particular smell, flavor or other sensory cue can trigger a flood of distant memories. New research shows chimpanzees and orangutans have similar capacities for this kind of episodic memory — they’re able to accurately recall an event that happened three years prior. The results suggest, once again, that we’re just not as unique…

Primates shows us what it takes to make it as a scientist

Whether you’re looking for a graphic novel about the early breakthroughs in primate research, an account of the rigors of fieldwork, or just a scientific version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Louis Leakey as a slightly horny Willy Wonka, this is the book for you. The book is called Primates: The Fearless Science…