Gibbons seem to be all the rage, lately. A new biophysics paper on the gait of Gibbon bipedalism has been the most recent news that I have caught in my search of current events in primatology. The paper, “The dynamics of hylobatid bipedalism: evidence for an energy-saving mechanism?” was published four days ago in the [...]
Entries from July 2006
July 21, 2006
NHGRI to sequence the Gibbon genome
The white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus leucogenys) will be the next species of primate to get its genome sequenced by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in Bethesda, Maryland, accoridng to ScienceNOW Daily News. After decoding the human and chimpanzee sequence, the NHGRI has seen how the benefits of related genomes have helped medicine and other [...]
July 19, 2006
Ape Meat Sold in U.S., European Black Markets
Bushmeat is the term coined and commonly used for the meat of terrestrial wild animals, killed for subsistence or commercial purposes throughout the humid tropics of the Americas, Asia and Africa. Bushmeat species include apes, other primates, ungulates, rodents, birds and some invertebrates. The act of hunting bush meat is very common in sub-Saharan Africa’s [...]
July 18, 2006
Unethical Primate Research
While I don’t intend to shock what little reader base this site already has, there definately is a necessity to show videos like these to raise questions about the ethics of primate research. This video goes behind the scenes to uncover the mistreatment of mostly macaques at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center. Matt Rossell [...]
July 16, 2006
Cell Phones & Mining, new threats to Gorilla Populations
On the coat tails of yesterday’s news on the threats to chimpanzee populations are two related articles on threats to gorilla populations. The first article from The Independent integrates many various sources to alarm us with news that…
“… within a decade, three of the four sub-species of the great ape could be wiped out.”
And by [...]
July 15, 2006
Jane Goodall reminds us about the dangers to Chimpanzee Populations
Jane Goodall recently spoke on The World Today about the threats toward chimpanzee populations with Conor Duffy, a correspondent for the show. What she had to say about where the chimpanzee population was one hundred years ago, where it was when Jane Goodall started her research, and where it is now is very depressing.
“it was [...]
July 12, 2006
Gorilla susceptibility to Ebola virus
Should you be reading this blog, I assume you have a general understanding that primates are highly social mammals. Great apes, like humans, gorillas, and chimpanzees express even more complex social behaviors.
There are many consequences that living in social groups have towards survivability of the individuals of the group. Sociobiologists have often expressed that groups [...]
July 11, 2006
Kanzi playin’ Pacman
Here’s a video of Kanzi, a famous bonobo now at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, playing Pacman. He definately gets into it and is more skilled than I at this game. Kanzi is an impressive ape all around, not only is he a legit gamer but he also has mastered the language board and [...]
July 10, 2006
Chimp Haven recieves AAALAC accreditation
I want to congratulate Chimp Haven for earning full accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC). This accreditation is the gold standard for animal care and Chimp Haven recieved “exemplary” status in more than half of the inspected areas, which included feeding and veterinary processes, maintenance, and administration.
I’m [...]
July 3, 2006
Rest In Peace, Kuja
Normally, I wouldn’t dedicate a post to the death of a great ape for many reasons. One is that there are too many deaths to cover, and the frequency of morbid news isn’t something I’m going for on this blog. The other is that great apes are just a few of the many species of [...]
