The Newly Discovered And Nearly Extinct Tapanuli Orangutan Species

This orangutan skull has large upper teeth and a shallow face, which differs from the two previously known species. (Credit: Matthew G. Nowak)

Up to today, there were two known Orangutan species, both critically endangered. There are about 4,000 more Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) than Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) currently living in the Indonesian rainforest. A new orangutan family member, the Tapanuli orangutans (Pongo tapanuliensis), was described in a paper published Thursday in Current Biology. And with less than 800 individuals, that makes... Continue Reading →

November 2, 2017

Orangutan Genome Sequenced

The orangutan genome has been sequenced and published in today's Nature. The paper, "Comparative and demographic analysis of orang-utan genomes," is open access for you to read for yourself. I'll be highlighting some of the high points in this post. Devin Locke, a structural geneticist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri,... Continue Reading →

January 26, 2011

Great Apes LOL Like Human Too

A baby orangutan being tickled. Photo from Discovery News. We're not the only species that are capable of laughing according to new study. Great apes are able to laugh like humans too, and they do it frequenty. This finding suggests that the last common ancestor of humans and apes also laughed around 10 to 16... Continue Reading →

June 8, 2009

Orangutans Are Shockingly Closer To Extinction

Anthropology.net blogger German Dziebel sent me this link about the dim future of orangutans in Indonesia, Brunei, and Malaysia. Afarensis has also covered this news. The results of a new survey of orangutan populations have been published in the journal Oryx. I don't have access to the early advance view of the paper, but one... Continue Reading →

July 7, 2008

Orangutan from Borneo photographed using a spear tool to fish

Tool use among orangutans was first documented by Carel van Schaik. In 1994, Carel observed orangutans developing tools to help themselves eat, while conducting field work in Gunung Leuser National Park, in the northwest Sumatra. Specifically the orangutans were using sticks to pry open pulpy fruits that have "Plexiglas needles" capable of delivering a painful... Continue Reading →

April 29, 2008