Primatology.net

Well hot dang, I was reading Omni Brain the other day, where Steve broke the news that Atlanta Zoo’s orangutans play video games. But I didn’t post about it, not because it ain’t primatology related news, but because there wasn’t a video to support it. In my mind, if I can’t see it, it is less real. I think Steve operates in the same way because in his post he made a call to locate the video. One hasn’t surfaced yet, but I figured that since Engadget and Digg have posted about this news, its legitimate enough to follow suite.

From Australia’s The Age, “Gaming apes wow zoogoers” the basis of this behavior is explained,

“…Two Sumatran orangutans are part of new Zoo Atlanta research that uses computer games to study the cognitive skills of the primates.

The best part? Visitors to the US zoo get to watch their every computer move.

The orangutans play the games on a touch screen built into a tree-like structure in the habitat to blend in with their environment. Visitors watch from a monitor in front of the orangutan exhibit.”

The orangs actually have two games to play, one where its a matching game based on selecting,

“identical photographs or match orangutan sounds with photos of the animals. Correct answers mean food pellets.

There also is a painting game where they can draw pictures by moving their hands and other body parts around the screen. Printouts of their masterpieces are on display in the zoo.

The computer games test the animals’ memory, reasoning and learning, spitting out sheets of data for researchers at the zoo and Atlanta’s Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, a partner in the project.”

I like this project. I think it gives us an insight into how complex these great apes are. I hope it does raise awareness that orangutans are really endangered, as intended by the zoo officials. Another side benefit, is that this is a unique form of enrichment for the orangutans. Definitely not the the traditional ‘hide and go seek’ method of placing treats in puzzles, but equally as challenging.

I was thinking maybe one day we can get Kanzi, the Pacman playing chimp, to play these two orangutans? Perhaps we can have a LAN-party or something?

Photos from Cheeta the chimpanzee‘s 75th birthday are making the rounds on the internet. So far Digg and Neatorama put up some links to the photos. I’ve rounded some of the more adorable ones, from here, but if anyone has others to share, please link us up.

Science just published a whole slew of papers, posters, news articles, and the like on the Rhesus Macaque because the macaque genome, the first monkey genome to be sequenced, has been unveiled today.

I haven’t read all of the content in this special issue, but from what I have skimmed so far it’s all focused on the genome, of course, but also mobile DNA, genetic relations between two macaque populations, the roles of macaques in biomedical research etc. Rhesus macaques have been used as a model organism in biology for quite sometime, and this special edition of Science pays homage to this magnificent Old World monkey.

I’ve rounded up the links, if you’d like to click around and read some more about these monkeys:

• A Barrel of Monkey Genes
• Boom Time for Monkey Research
• Evolutionary and Biomedical Insights from the Rhesus Macaque Genome
• Mobile DNA in Old World Monkeys: A Glimpse Through the Rhesus Macaque Genome
• Poster: The Macaque Genome
• Evolutionary Formation of New Centromeres in Macaque
• Demographic Histories and Patterns of Linkage Disequilibrium in Chinese and Indian Rhesus Macaques

If you can’t check out all the content, I understand. I’ll be upset, but I’ll get over it. At the very minimum, you should check out the interactive poster that aids in

“exploration, as well as embedded video featuring seven scientists discussing the importance of the macaque and its genome sequence in studies of biomedicine and evolution. We have also created an accompanying teaching resource, including a lesson plan aimed at teachers of advanced high school life science students, for exploring what a comparison of the macaque and human genomes can tell us about human biology and evolution. These items are free to all site visitors.”

I’ve included a screenshot of to wet your monkey lovin’ appetite:

Thanks to afarensis, I woke up this morning to find news that the very same chimps that use spears to hunt, have been observed to use caves during hot days, to avoid the heat. These chimpanzees live in a region of Senegal where it is mostly an,

“arid savanna habitat dominated by open grassland and sparse woodland. Chimpanzees in these areas exhibit a range of behaviors not found elsewhere.

Pruetz noted that cave use is just one of several strategies the chimpanzees use to cope with their difficult environment, where both shade and water are critical resources.”

Jim Moore, an anthropologist, from UC Davis takes this observation and asks,

“a whole set of questions, given that this behavior isn’t seen in other regions of Africa… ‘Are they right at the edge of what chimpanzees can handle in terms of temperature … or is it a cultural thing?’”

The National Geographic news article goes to quote a couple anthropologist/primatologists who state that this behavior hasn’t been observed in another ape species, but before we say this is a novel-pseudo hominid caveman behavior, let’s first remember many other species of animals, such as predatory cats retreat to caves and shade to avoid the heat. So when I read that, William McGrew of Cambridge University in England says,

“This is one of those cases in which the apes genuinely surprise us, exceeding our expectations and imaginations.”

I begin to question how much comparative analysis he has done, if any? Sometimes I worry that when people put out press releases like this, they over analyze a simple behavior, failing to see that most other species do retreat to caves and shaded cover to avoid the heat.

Don’t get me wrong, the combination of the spear usage and cave dwelling in this population of chimpanzees is borderline human behavior, but I believe spear using is more definitively a novel behavior, than retreating to caves to avoid the heat.

From John Lynch, of the blog Stranger Fruit, I got note that tomorrow will be Cheeta, the chimpanzee’s birthday. Cheeta will be 75 years old tomorow, making him the oldest, known mind you, living non-human primate.

I speak on the behalf of everyone here at Primatology.org, on wishing him a happy birthday with many more enjoyable years to come. If you would like to give a gift to Cheeta, please consider donating to the CHEETA sanctuary, which also cares for other ex-movie primates.

Exactly two weeks ago, I was standing in the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico reading the latest Discover magazine interview with Jane Goodall. I was thoroughly captivated but it didn’t warrant me to spend the outrageously inflated airport prices for the magazine. I’m glad to share that Discover has put up the interview up on their site.

The interview answers a lot of basic questions about Jane Goodall’s research and life history with the chimpanzee’s of Gombe, with a lot of attention towards violence and behavior, as well as conservation efforts. There are some questions that make me wanna shake my head in embarrassment that a journalist would ask that. But I appreciate the following quote, because as you may have noticed, I’m currently involved in correcting a lot of reductionist misconceptions about non-human primates and their relates to humans:

“What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language. Chimps have something like the beginning of morality, but once you have language—once you can discuss something and talk about it in the abstract and take lessons from the past and plan for the future—that is what makes the difference.”

For those aspiring female primatologists out there, Jane also gives an insight into her life as a female scientist.

And here is a photo of Jane with Flint as a baby:

Last night, I caught news that Brazilian courts are considering giving chimpanzees human rights, and following suite, Austria may as well give non-human great apes human rights. This may sound alright and dandy, maybe even give some empathy and fuel towards the conservation effort of Great Apes, but I don’t like this news one bit.

Why you ask?

Well, I don’t feel like summarizing my arguments that I announced a year ago, around the very same time, when the government of Spain issued a bill which called for human rights to other primates… but you can read my comments here. Even recently, in this forum thread, I have argued that non-human primates are not humans.

Humans and other primates do share an evolutionary history, but we are not the same, and I feel that part of the problem with these human rights bills for primates, is that many people have a misconception that primates are our direct ancestors, where we share a monophyletic lineage, which is not completely true.

Don’t get me wrong, I do want to see conditions improve for primates both in the wild and in capitivity, but I do not feel that by giving them rights that will do anything. Maybe violators of these ‘human rights’ placed on primates might be brought to justice… but my gut feeling is that this is all a misdirected effort.

How do you feel about this? Should primates have human rights? If so, which primates… and how does one choose?