Scoop on Primates

Assuming we agree the theory of mind applies to monkeys and apes, what could prevent us from thinking that, much like our early human ancestors, they too lend significance to external phenomena they have no control over?  Thunder, fire, the moon, the sun, waterfalls can stir awe, wonder or fear in humans.  Why couldn't the same natural phenomena stir similar emotions in animals? In "J.T., JR, The Biography of an African Monkey" (1928), Delia J. Akeley , first wife of the famous taxidermist Carl Akeley , recounts her life with J.T. the female vervet monkey she adopted and whom she studied.   She writes: "While the porters were busy cutting down the undergrowth to clear a site for the tents, I gathered an armful of flowers and maidenhair ferns.  I was arranging them in a paraffin tin (my safari vase) when J.T., who was tied to the limb of a tree, attracted my attention by her excited manner and peculiar cries.  In an effort to learn the cause of her agitation I ...

Thank you to all who submitted their drawings to celebrate primates. All the drawings submitted are absolutely fabulous! All these drawings are winners and I had to go back and modify a little the list of prizes in order to accommodate all them. I really love the fact that all these monkeys look really happy and smile... Most detailed and true to life drawing prizes go to:   Hailey, Elana, Cynthia, Loris and Celio. Hailey's drawing depicts three of the four great apes:  chimpanzee, gorilla and orangutan.  The fourth great ape missing from this drawing is the bonobo.  I love the expression on the face of each of these great apes.  Great work Hailey! Cynthia's drawing is just exploding with colors and the monkey in the center looks like a very happy individual.  He lives in a very green and sunny environment and his eyes are just beaming.  Beautiful work, Cynthia! Elana's drawing is also very colorful.  Her monkey is happy and seems to ...

I just finished reading Frans De Waal's "The Age of Empathy" and just recently listened to a lecture by Dr Robin Murphy entitled "Does Rule Making Make Us Human?" De Waal is a primatologist of world fame, Robin is a Darwinian psychologist. One studies primates, the other studies rats.  Both relate stories of animals showing real signs of empathy - such as sharing food, returning grooming, trying to rescue a fellow. Rats refusing to press a lever that would release food if the consequence is a fellow rat being shocked - Robin relates the story of a rat depriving himself of food for several days in order to avoid inflicting pain to his friend. De Waal argues that empathy is an innate ability that many animals have.  Empathy, he argues, implies having a sense of who we are and he relates experiments involving dolphins and primates able to recognize themselves in a mirror.  If a primate mother dies, other females take care of her orphan.  He even mentions cro...

In Ancient Egypt, hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) were the sacred monkeys - they were chosen as the representatives of Thoth, the messenger of the Gods.  Thoth was also represented as an Ibis bird. Hamadryas baboons are not native to Egypt, they are found in Somalia, Ethiopia, Erithrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.  How they got to Egypt is unclear. It is probable that they were imported from Nubia and then sold in Egypt as pets or to temples where they formed colonies. Baboons were not only chosen as the representatives of Thoth, but also as representatives of the Sun God Re.  This could be due to the fact that baboons bark at the rising sun. During the 26th Dynasty, sacred baboons were buried in the Ibis necropolis near Tuna-el-Gebel.  Some mummified baboons were also discovered by archeologists.

In the 1950s and 960s, many non-primate beings were used for space research.  They were the heroes of the time but their fleeting fame was only that.  They had to endure hours of testing in various machines so that someday mankind could set foot on the moon and launch into the exciting adventure that space exploration must be. A lot of these creatures died after their brief travel into space, others were sent out to labs to help humans in other ways.  Fortunately not all of them have a dismal fall, some chimps are lucky and have landed in a sanctuary called " Save the Chimps  " located in Fort Pierce, Florida, founded in 1997 by Carol Noon. Check out this footage from Universal News about Space Monkeys in the 1950s  . If you happen to have any images, old magazines of the time, please contact me as I am doing some research on the subject and would be interested in getting my hands on anything relating to this.  Thanks!

The discovery of "Ardi" in 1994 in Ethiopia may well have been the missing link scientists had been searching for.  This week scientists revealed the result of this 15 year long study. The partial skeleton of a female Ardipithecus ramidus, nicknamed "Ardi", is estimated to be about 4.4 million years old. This hominid seems to have been the ancestor to both humans and apes.  However, evidence shows that she did not knuckle-walk but walked standing upright.  This means that our ancestors walked straight over one million years ealier than previously thought.   This changes the theory that prevailed until now - i.e. humans must have been walking on all fours.  Since apes also descend from Ardi but they knuckle-walk, this also means that knuckle-walking is an adaptation and that therefore apes evolved as much as humans did. For more information read: Discovery in Ethiopia casts light on human origins - Reuters  . Discovery of "Ardi" sheds light on hu...

This week I want to share two very cool videos. The first one shows Bonobos having a lot of fun in their enclosure.  I wouldn't be surprised if trapeze artists take inspiration from these beautiful apes.  (Drum roll) And now watch the amazing " Spinning... Bonobos  ". The second is about the 7th gorilla run that took place in London on 9/28 to raise funds to save the endangered gorilla population. Enjoy and please leave a note on the blog if you know of other events like the Gorilla Run.

Yawning is contagious.  No doubt about it.  We've all experienced it.  I even yawned back and forth with my dog until I decided to leave the room to make it stop.  I am actually yawning just writing about yawning.  It is insane! Well, great apes are not immune to this debilitating habit that seems to spring out of nowhere for no apparent reason.  We yawn when we are tired, bored, anxious and ... when others yawn. Now, thanks to a study coming out of the  Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University  we have proof that chimpanzees do too.  When shown animated cartoon chimpanzee characters yawning, the real chimps yawned in response. Some suggest that yawning may have served a purpose, like signaling all individuals within a group that it was time to sleep.  This is certainly one way of looking at it. Others, like Professor Robert Provine at the University of Maryland who spent years studying phenomena like yawni...

Do you, like many people, occasionally procrastinate and put off to tomorrow what could be done right away?  I do it regularly at the end of the month, when bills need to be paid or when the oven needs cleaning or simply when instead of studying or working I'd rather watch reruns of old shows or play fetch with my dogs. Well, it turns out that this procrastination business is not just human.  Our fellow primates experience bouts of laziness too. In a recent study by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health near Washington DC, Dr. Barry Richmond and his team have succeeded the impossible.  They are putting lazy chimps at work and turning them into super heroes by giving them a chemical that blocks dopamine production. When I heard about it I had visions of Brave New World and human robots attached to their desks - working for nothing, never asking for vacation... For details, check out this article from the BBC News  .

Today,  I feel like talking about the primates I know and why I am so interested in them. My first encounter with primates was at the zoo as a child.  My father would say: "Let's go see your cousins, the chimps!"  Some kids may have been offended at the implied comparison between themselves and hairy, not so attractive primates.  I, on the other hand, was delighted. Then I grew up, went on my merry way to jobs around the globe that had nothing to do with primates. Until one day at the Los Angeles zoo... I was sketching near the gorilla enclosure, as I had done every week-end for the last month, when something unusual happened.  A female gorilla sat at the edge of the enclosure, looked at me straight in the eyes and smacked her lips a few times. She then extended her left hand in my direction, as if to offer one of the leaves she was eating and smacked her lips again.  She repeated her behavior the week-end after, so without thinking I smacked my lips back at her.  We went...

Chimps can live a long time - till their forties in captivity. Last Saturday, Zakayo , the poster boy of the Uganda Wildlife Education Center (UWEC) in Entebbe, celebrated his 44th birthday among his human and non-human primate friends. Zakyao has been a resident at the UWEC since 1976 and has made it his mission to take care of 8 other chimpanzees who became residents since their rescue.   Zakyao's reaching maturity is proof of the hard work the UWEC has been doing to preserve the declining population of chimpanzees. Zakayo likes to climb trees and likes to spend time with two females, Amida and Ruth, whom he is particularly fond of. Happy Birthday Zakayo and may many chimps live and prosper as you do!

Up until this week, the assumption was that homo sapiens evolved from a knuckle-walking primate ancestor.  It seemed logical enough.  Two of our wrist bones fused, thereby making it easier for our ancestors' gate to be more stable while knuckle-walking.  But this week, the shattering news reached those of us interested in primates.   Knuckle-walking?  Not so!  According to a new study published by Tracy Kivell and Daniel Schmidt, Independent evolution of knuckle-walking in African apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestors.   Homo sapiens, they say, descend from a tree-climbing ancestor who then came down and evolved to bipedalism. As a matter of fact, the authors argue the data they collected would indicate knuckle-walking evolved twice - thereby placing chimpanzees and bonobos in a different knuckle-walking category than gorillas.  They found that the wrist bone structure of gorillas is very different from that of chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest r...

The night of July 15, twin baby gibbons were ruthlessly stolen from  Parc Zoologique de Frejus in France.     Gibbons are an endangered species and like with other primates, the birth of twins is extremely rare.  The scoundrels who abducted the baby gibbons, who were still feeding on their mother's milk, put the life of these toddlers at risk.  They also left their mom in an acute state of distress.   Their only motivation is greed and they must be stopped.   Should anyone hear about baby gibbons for sale, they should report them immediately to their local authorities,  Interpol  and contact the  Frejus zoo  director Mr. Guy J. Masquefa at zoofrejus@orange.fr.  The babies have been separated from their mother for over three weeks.  The more time passes, the slimmer the hope of finding them alive. To report wild life crimes, you can contact  Interpol Wildlife Crime Working Group.

Due to severe budget cuts mandated by Mass. Governor Deval Patrick, the Franklin Park Zoo may have to close its doors and euthanize some of its residents, zoo officials announced on July 10.   Gov. Patrick specified these are only a fraction of a substantial $150 million cut aimed at rebalancing the State budget.   The zoo, which operates on more than 10 million dollars a year, has been receiving 60% of its funding from the State, most of which will disappear.  These are terrible news not only for an institution that was created in 1913, but also for many Bostonians who may no longer be able to bring their families to an affordable hang out in these tough economic times.  On July 11, zoo officials corrected the scary statement they had made the day before.  What they meant was that the State would have to take care of the animals and may have to destroy some of them; the zoo would not euthanize any. Whether the zoo or the State end up destroying the animals is a serious matter that we ...

When tickled, everyone laughs.  Those of us who know some animals quite intimately will agree that they do show signs exhibiting something similar to glee and joy.  Sometimes I could swear my dog is laughing. He's got a great sense of humor and enjoys playing tricks on me. Scientists at the University of Portsmouth, England, are now shedding some light on the origins of laughter.  Marina Davila Ross, head of the research, recorded human baby laughs and analyzed them in comparison to sounds great apes make when they are tickled, thereby revealing the roots of laughter. You can learn more about it, view and hear apes laughing at the links below. " Tickling Apes Reveals Laughter's Origins " - usnews.com " Tickled apes yield laughter clue " - bbc news " Apes Laugh, Tickle Study Finds " - national geographic news.

Scientists think that the split between the primates that became anthropoids and the lower primates occurred over 40 million years ago.  Ida, who was discovered in the fossil-rich region of Messel in Germany, could be just that - a primate in transition, one of those primates who gave rise to our own ancestors.  This is why her discovery is so important.  The recovered skeleton is complete, which is also a rare occurrence and should prove to be a wealth of information for paleontologists. Below are links to an article published in time.com (the layman version) and the original paper published in PLoS One (for those of you who want all the details). Ida: Humankind's Earliest Ancestor!  (time.com)   Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel (PLoS One)

Who wouldn't prefer a generous guy to a rat? Obviously not chimpanzee females.  They like their man to share a bite with them once in a while and they'll never forget him for it. Males are just regular joes, they see this transaction as an investment.  I give you some meat, you give me "love". Chimpanzee males are apparently so patient, that, not only do they offer meat to sexually receptive females, but also to those who have not responded to their advances yet. They're thinking long term investment.   This has now been documented in a paper written by two primatologists from Leipzig, Germany, Cristina Gomes and Christophe Boesch. More info at the Science Now website in this article:  Chimps Trade Meat for the Chance of Sex.   You may also remember an article written by Michael Gumert (see post from January), that demonstrated a similar practice among long-tailed macaques.

Seven years after her first visit, Dr Jane Goodall will return to Boise, Idaho, to talk about conservancy at the zoo.  According to Steve Burns, the zoo Director, "charismatic animals" can help convince humans to be more careful about the environment, thereby ensuring the stability of our ecosystem and the stability of society at large. For more information, read this great interview of Dr Goodall at IdahoStateman.com . The St Louis City website also has a very interesting article relating to social unrest in Madagascar and how it can impact negatively the ecosystem there and put species. already at risk, closer to the brink of extinction, including primates such as the sifaka lemurs. More bad news, according to a recent study by renowned primatologist Birute Galdikas who addressed a large audience of students at New Mexico State University in March, orang-utans are not much longer for this world, unless we, humans, do something about it right now. Some of the steps she rec...

An article published this week in the Birmingham Examiner and based on research conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology indicates that the latest census show a 90% decrease in the wild chimpanzee population in Ivory Coast. The reasons are deforestation, the growth in human population, poaching and civil war. The surviving population is mainly located in protected areas, such as the Tai National Park, which will lose external financial support in 2010. Read the article in the Birmingham Examiner . For more info, visit the site of the  Planck Institute . Visit this link for information on Ivory Coast and Tai National Park .

Is Religion opposed to evolution? As far as Buddhism is concerned, there is no opposition.  As indicated by the Dalai Lama in his new book "The Universe in a Single Atom", if a buddhist concept goes against scientific proof, then science must be accepted.  For more info, check out this review from the New York Times . In the speech he gave at Harvard University in 1993, Daisaku Ikeda , another Buddhist scholar, said: " Buddhism provides a philosophical basis for the symbiotic coexistence of all things.  Among the many images in the Lotus Sutra, a particularly compelling one is the merciful rain that falls everywhere, equally, moistening the vast expanse of the earth and bringing forth new life from all the trees and grasses, large and small.  This scene, depicted with the vividness, grandeur, and beauty characteristic of the Lotus Sutra, symbolizes the enlightenment of all people touched by the Buddha's Law.  At the same time, it is a magnificent tribute to the rich...