primates

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Florida Zoo Loses 3 Apes to Intestinal Illness
At Florida Zoo,
'Profound
Heartbreak'
for 4 Apes
UPDATED
Sep 13, 2024 12:00 AM CDT

At Florida Zoo, 'Profound Heartbreak' for 4 Apes

A 4th ape dies of shigella at Jacksonville Zoo

(Newser) - The devastating shigella outbreak at a Florida zoo has claimed a fourth victim. A 3-year-old gorilla, Kevin, has died from the bacterial ailment that first claimed his grandmother, a 35-year-old gorilla, and then a pair of bonobo brothers at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, the zoo announced Tuesday. Kevin was...

On Monkey Island, It's Now Survival of the Nicest
On Monkey Island, It's
Now Survival of the Nicest
new study
Jun 24, 2024 11:11 AM CDT

On Monkey Island, It's Now Survival of the Nicest

Study suggests macaques off Puerto Rico getting along better after hurricane, out of necessity

(Newser) - A strange thing happened on Monkey Island after a massive hurricane ripped through: The usually quarrelsome monkeys became nicer to each other, a new study in Science suggests. As it turns out, it was a matter of survival, the BBC explains. Monkey Island is the nickname given to Cayo Santiago,...

In Sultry Mexico, Monkeys Fall 'Out of the Trees Like Apples'

More than 157 howler monkeys have perished in state of Tabasco due to heat wave

(Newser) - The number of heat-related howler monkey deaths in Mexico has risen to 157, the government said, with a tragically small number of the primates treated or recovering, the AP reports. Meanwhile, an animal park in northern Mexico confirmed it has received reports that at least a hundred parrots, bats and...

Study Upends Our Thinking on Bonobos


Study Upends
Our Thinking
on Bonobos
new study
Apr 15, 2024 11:20 AM CDT

Study Upends Our Thinking on Bonobos

They're not as peaceful as we thought, say researchers

(Newser) - Bonobos have long been thought of as "hippie chimps" in conservation circles because of their supposedly peaceful nature, notes the New York Times . A comprehensive new study, however, appears to have ended that.
  • The stats: Researchers found that male bonobos were nearly three times as likely as chimpanzees to
...

Scientists Say They Know What Killed Off Giganto
Scientists Say They Know
What Killed Off Giganto
new study
Jan 10, 2024 1:25 PM CST

Scientists Say They Know What Killed Off Giganto

Study says the largest great ape to ever live went extinct because of climate change

(Newser) - The largest primate to ever live roamed southeastern Asia for more than a million years—but left behind plenty of mystery. Despite 85 years of searching, the fossil record for Gigantopithecus blacki—or giganto—is made up of just four jawbones and 2,000 teeth, and scientists didn't know...

Denver Zoo Needed a Paternity Test. They Got a Famous Expert

Maury Povich announces father of 4-month-old orangutan Siska, to great fanfare

(Newser) - Maury Povich has shifted into retirement mode in recent years—he wrapped up his talk show in 2022, and he was recently presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys—but his services are apparently still in demand. At least at the Denver Zoo, which recruited the 84-year-old...

Getting Hot Flashes? Commiserate With a Chimp
Getting Hot
Flashes?
Commiserate
With a Chimp
NEW STUDY
Oct 27, 2023 12:06 PM CDT

Getting Hot Flashes? Commiserate With a Chimp

These primates go through menopause just like humans, some whales, researchers say

(Newser) - Female humans aren't the only mammals known to go through menopause, then live for many years after—some whale species also undergo the process, which is when menstruation stops for good. Now, in what the Washington Post calls a "landmark discovery," researchers say chimpanzees have also joined...

Zoo Cracks Down on Gorilla's Screen Time

It seems they really like visitors' cellphones

(Newser) - If you've ever had a kid, spouse, or decidedly boring date you couldn't drag away from their phone, the Toronto Zoo can commiserate. The Toronto Star reports that visitors have for some reason felt the urge to show Nassir the gorilla videos on their cellphones. "Nassir is...

Watch Chimp's Reaction to Seeing Sky for First Time

Vanilla in awe upon being released into the open in Florida, after 28 years of being kept in cages

(Newser) - Imagine being alive for nearly three decades without ever seeing the sun. That's been the fate of Vanilla, a former research chimpanzee who's spent her entire 28 years inside cages—until recently, when she was transferred to a Florida primates sanctuary and was released into the open for...

Scientist's Monkey Research Is Put on Blast: 'I'm Horrified'

PETA, animal behavior experts slam Harvard's Margaret Livingstone for her work; others defend her

(Newser) - A Harvard neuroscientist is drawing backlash for her studies on infant monkeys, as is the scientific journal that referenced the research. Per Science , Margaret Livingstone has studied the primates for more than four decades, specifically monkeys' vision. In some of the experiments she's done, in order to see how...

Researchers Work to Improve Screen Time for ... Monkeys

Encounters with audio, visual stimuli to help build better 'interactive enrichment systems'

(Newser) - Saki monkeys may prefer to listen to music more than the rain and appear more keen to watch underwater scenes than those featuring earthly worms, according to new research, which combined monkeys, screens, and speakers. Researchers at Scotland's University of Glasgow and Finland's Aalto University set up a...

Scientists Have Bad News for Our Plans to Defy Aging
Scientists Have Bad News
for Our Plans to Defy Aging
NEW STUDY
Jun 18, 2021 11:22 AM CDT

Scientists Have Bad News for Our Plans to Defy Aging

Big international study looks at mortality patterns among primates

(Newser) - You can stop looking for the fountain of youth now. It does not exist, according to new research, which finds it’s likely impossible to slow the rate of aging due to biological constraints. While that might seem like a foregone conclusion, an unprecedented study brought together scientists from 42...

A 'Duet' in the Forest Is Great News for Rarest Primate

A male Hainan Gibbon was heard singing with a female, and that's good news

(Newser) - Villagers heard it first: A male gibbon singing a duet with a female on tropical Hainan island off the coast of China. It means that love is in the air, or at least the gibbon version of it, and in this case, it's big news, reports the BBC . That'...

Sexy Male Lemurs Have Natural Perfume


Lemurs Are
Masters of
'Stink Flirting'
NEW STUDY
Apr 17, 2020 12:11 PM CDT

Lemurs Are Masters of 'Stink Flirting'

Males secrete a natural scent, possibly the first sex pheromone found in a primate

(Newser) - The act of dabbing fragrance on your wrist in the hope of attracting a potential partner isn't strictly human, apparently. Ring-tailed lemurs attract mates in much the same way, only naturally, according to Japanese researchers, reports the Guardian . The lemurs have scent glands on their wrists and shoulders, used...

'Shocking' Find Made at Government Labs

PETA demands an audit at all National Institutes of Health laboratories

(Newser) - Mice cooked to death. Primates holed up in a room with 24-hour-a-day lights. An owl, denied veterinary care, that dies in a cage. These are among the 31 incidents uncovered through a freedom-of-information request about animal-welfare failures in government labs in 2018 and 2019—labs where official inspections are never...

Texas Has a Problem Primate —and a Giant Mystery

Unconfirmed run-ins with an ornery chimp, monkey, or other creature reported in Texas

(Newser) - No one knows where it came from, how it got out, or even for sure what it is (or if it is)—but an animal said to be on the loose in Texas is causing a ruckus. The New York Times perfectly explains the current confusion in the Lone Star...

Koko, the Gorilla Who Knew Sign Language, Dies at 46

She captivated the world with her ability to communicate

(Newser) - Koko, the beloved gorilla who captivated many with her ability to communicate through sign language, has died at age 46. The western lowland gorilla died in her sleep Tuesday morning, NPR reports. Born at the San Francisco Zoo on July 4 , 1971, Koko was chosen as an infant to work...

That Bonobo That Likes You? It Really Thinks You're a Jerk

Scientists say this ape species appears to prefer 'hinderers' to 'helpers'

(Newser) - Scientists have long wondered about the "prosocial" activity of bonobos, noting how the apes appear to be more sharing and cooperative than other primates such as chimps, per the Los Angeles Times . But humans may still have them beat after a new study out of Duke University suggests bonobos...

Study Claims Discovery of New, Highly Endangered Great Ape

It's a frizzy-haired, smaller-headed orangutan

(Newser) - A remote population of frizzy-haired orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra seems to be a new species of primate, scientists say. But the newest member of the family tree of advanced animals that include humans may not be around much longer, the AP reports. Their numbers are so small,...

Another Hurricane Maria Victim: Monkey Island

It's one of the world's most important sites for primate research

(Newser) - As thousands of troops and government workers struggle to restore normal life to Puerto Rico, a small group of scientists is racing to save more than 1,000 monkeys whose brains may contain clues to some of the most important mysteries of the human mind. One of the first places...

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