Scoop on Primates

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...

We're familiar with male bonding in human society.  Chums bumping chests at a football game, buddies hanging out around the barbecue, talking about cars, work and girls.  Guys going hunting together, sharing a beer, doing business together. Rarely do we think of male bonding as a non-human primate activity.  Yet, it is a phenomenon that has been documented among chimpanzees and is being talked about. We now know that chimps remain friends for a long time .