monkeys

Paper on continuing orangutan population declines

harminka — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 02:48:09 -0500

Endangered wild orangutan (Pongo spp.) populations are declining more sharply in Sumatra and Borneo than previously estimated, according to new findings published this month by Great Ape Trust of Iowa scientist Dr. Serge Wich and other orangutan conservation experts in Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation.

Token-mediated economic choices in tufted capuchins

harminka — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:26:17 -0500

From paintings and photographs to coins and credit cards, we are constantly surrounded by symbolic artefacts. The mental representation of symbols – objects that arbitrarily represent other objects – ultimately affords the development of language, and certainly played a decisive role in the evolution of our hominid ancestors.

Monkey studies important for brain science

harminka — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:32:57 -0500

Studies with non-human primates have made major contributions to our understanding of the brain and will continue to be an important, if small, part of neuroscience research, according to a recent review published in the British medical journal, The Lancet.

Ugandan monkeys harbor evidence of infection with unknown poxvirus

harminka — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:19:59 -0500

Researchers report this month that red colobus monkeys in a park in western Uganda have been exposed to an unknown orthopoxvirus, a pathogen related to the viruses that cause smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox. Most of the monkeys screened harbor antibodies to a virus that is similar – but not identical – to known orthopoxviruses.

Who's bad? Chimps figure it out by observation

harminka — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:27:46 -0500

Chimpanzees make judgments about the actions and dispositions of strangers by observing others’ behavior and interactions in different situations. Specifically, chimpanzees show an ability to recognize certain behavioral traits and make assumptions about the presence or absence of these traits in strangers in similar situations thereafter.

Non-human primates convey meaning through call combinations

harminka — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:08:17 -0500

Researchers have made what they say is the first experimental demonstration that a primate other than humans conveys meaning by combining distinct alarm calls in particular ways. The study appears in the March 11th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.

Combination vaccine protects monkeys from ebola and Marburg viruses

harminka — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:27:43 -0600

An experimental, combination vaccine against Ebola and Marburg viruses using virus-like particles (VLPs) provides complete protection against infection in monkeys. Researchers from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) report their results today (Feb. 26) at the 2008 ASM Biodefense and Emerging Diseases Research Meeting in Baltimore, MD.

Study garners unique mating photos of wild gorillas

harminka — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:39:12 -0600

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology have released the first known photographs of gorillas performing face-to-face copulation in the wild. This is the first time that western gorillas have been observed and photographed mating in such a manner.

Prenatal exposure to alcohol, stress in monkeys can cause touch sensitivity

harminka — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 05:49:00 -0600

A new study on monkeys has found that moderate exposure to alcohol and stress during pregnancy can lead to sensitivity to touch in the monkeys’ babies. In human children, sensitivity to touch is one of a number of characteristics of the approximately 5 percent of children who over-respond to sensory information.

Island monkeys do not recognize big cat calls

harminka — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:23:19 -0600

Monkeys living on an island without big cat predators do not show any particular alarm when recorded tiger growls are played to them, according to research by a UC Davis graduate student. The pig-tailed langurs do, however, flee in a hurry from the sound of human voices.

Down to earth remedies for chimps

harminka — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:37:52 -0600

The deliberate ingestion of soil, or ‘geophagy’, has important health benefits for chimpanzees, according to Sabrina Krief and her colleagues from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. Far from being a dysfunctional behavior, geophagy has evolved as a practice for maintaining health amongst chimpanzees.

Scientists find cultural differences among chimpanzee colonies

harminka — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:32:44 -0600

Socially-learned cultural behaviour thought to be unique to humans is also found among chimpanzees colonies, scientists at the University of Liverpool have found.