Oldest hominid skeleton sheds light on human origins Oct 2, 2009
Research into the Ardipithecus ramidus, nicknamed "Ardi," provides new insight into how hominids -- the family of "great apes" that includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans -- may share a common ancestor. A team of scientists from 10 countries participated in Ardi's discovery, and 11 reports on research into the find are published in the special issue of Science. (Yahoo! Asia News)
Mammalian Reproduction and Offsprin... Oct 2, 2009
Mammals that live in complex societies such as humans or apes will produce one baby every few years. Mammals that live shorter lives, like mice, invest less time in raising offspring and are capable of breeding at an incredible rate. (Suite101.com)
Meet Ardi, the 4.4-Million-Year-Old Hominid Oct 2, 2009
4-million-year-old human forebearer they say reveals that our earliest ancestors were more modern than scholars assumed and deepens the evolutionary gulf separating humankind from today's apes and chimpanzees. The highlight of the extensive fossil trove is a female skeleton a million years older than the iconic bones of Lucy, the primitive female figure that has long symbolized humankind's beginnings. (Fox News)
Oldest "Human" Skeleton Found--Disproves "Missing Link Oct 2, 2009
The fossil puts to rest the notion, popular since Darwin's time, that a -like missing link resembling something between humans and today's apes would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree ... Ardi instead shows an unexpected mix of advanced characteristics and of primitive traits seen in much older apes that were unlike chimps or gorillas () ... As such, the skeleton offers a window on what the last common ancestor of humans and living apes might have been like. (National Geographic)
Pre-human ancestor lived 4.4 mil years ago Oct 2, 2009
Scientists believe that humans and apes both descended from a "last common ancestor," an even more primitive primate that lived between 7 million and 9 million years ago ... "Ardi was not a knuckle-walker (like apes)," Lovejoy said. (AZCentral -- News)
Various Methods of Mammalian Locomo... Oct 2, 2009
Biped animals such as humans or apes will often keep one foot on the ground to maintain balance during walking. Quadrupedal animals such as the cat or horse will keep three feet on the ground while walking. (Suite101.com)
Ardi the Ethiopian fossil 'earliest human ancestor' Oct 2, 2009
Some of the characteristics of the animal's skeleton are said to echo features seen in very ancient apes; others presage traits seen in later, more human-like species ... And because many of Ardipithecus' traits do not appear in modern-day African apes, it suggests this common ancestor may have existed much further back in time than had previously been supposed - perhaps seven or nine million years ago ... Comparisons with modern chimp and gorilla anatomy also underline just how much these... (BBC News -- Africa)
Oldest pre-human revealed Oct 2, 2009
In male chimps and other modern apes, the canines are long and sharp and built for aggressive slashing, White explained. In one of the Science papers published today, Owen C. Lovejoy, a renowned biological anthropologist at Kent State University in Ohio, argues that Ardi's teeth offer strong evidence that the Ardipithecus tribe had already evolved to become pair-bonded. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Science)
Study Finds That Crows Can Remember Your Face Oct 1, 2009
"They have very large brains for their body size that are on the same parallel as apes and monkeys," says Marzluff. Marzluff's work is being highlighted in a documentary "A Murder of Crows" airing October 11, 2009 on CBC. Marzluff explains he and his team used masks to test the bird's intelligence. (FOX61, CT)
Darwin was right - up to a point Sep 30, 2009
In a view considered almost heretical by ultra-Darwinists such as Richard Dawkins, Conway Morris suggests that evolution cannot explain everything in biology, that the idea of evolution as entirely random is flawed, and that convergent evolutionary processes had to produce intelligence - as they have, not only in humans but apes, crows and dolphins ... Sophisticated intelligence where you can use imagination, think ahead, identify alternatives has evolved independently a number of times,... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Opinion)
Hyenas Cooperate, Problem-solve Better Than Primates Sep 30, 2009
2, 2006) The great apes are the smartest of all nonhuman primates, with orangutans and chimpanzees consistently besting monkeys and lemurs on a variety of intelligence tests, Duke University Medical Center. (Aug. (Science Daily)
Loud and In Living Colour Sep 30, 2009
Black Rock Band Living Colour Releases New Album, The Chair in the Doorway. Wednesday, September 30, 2009. (Slate)
Baby orangutan to make debut this weekend at Audubon Zoo Sep 24, 2009
A baby orangutan is ready to make her first public appearance, while veterinarians and cardiologists team up in a unique medical program that has man and the great apes working together. 3-month-old Menari is getting her final medical exam before her big public appearance on Saturday. (WWLTV.com, LA)
'Barcodes' tackle bush meat trade Sep 19, 2009
"Conservationists are particularly worried about the impact on the more vulnerable species, which are the larger, more slowly reproducing species such as great apes, or elephants.". As well as causing problems for conservation there are health concerns over eating species like apes which are closely related to us, as there is a risk of transmitting diseases. (BBC News -- South Asia)
House Republican campaign chief: 'Speaker now likening genuine opposition to assassination'... Sep 18, 2009
Capitol Briefing - Republicans Denounce Pelosi for Warning Against 'Incitement. Get the latest on House and Senate votes. (The Drudge Report)
"The Newlywed Game" Goes Gay Sep 17, 2009
Primate definition: any of various omnivorous mammals of the order Primates, comprising the three suborders Anthropoidea (humans, great apes, gibbons, Old World monkeys, and New World monkeys), Prosimii (lemurs, loris, and their allies), and Tarsioidea (tarsiers), esp. distinguished by the use of hands, varied locomotion, and by complex flexible behavior involving a high level of social interaction and cultural adaptability. (CBS News)
Conscious 'Metacognition' In Nonhuman Animals? Sep 15, 2009
He says "comparative psychologists have studied the question of whether or not non-human animals have knowledge of their own cognitive states by testing a dolphin, pigeons, rats, monkeys and apes using perception, memory and food-concealment paradigms. "The field offers growing evidence that some animals have functional parallels to humans' consciousness and to humans' cognitive self-awareness," he says. Among these species are dolphins and macaque monkeys (an Old World monkey species). Smith... (Science Daily)
The object of our desire Sep 12, 2009
Partly because it's very, very good but largely because when it was first mounted, back in 1947, it starred Superman's dad, the old bird from Cocoon, Zira from Planet of the Apes and the man who had the big nose from the American Express television commercials. Opening night was, as you might expect, swirling with the artistic cognoscenti, fafa-ing and rhubarb-ing around the Sydney Theatre. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Obama: 'The Time for Games Has Passed' Sep 11, 2009
jus' like the other apes ... tho' otha apes CLEARLY have higher I.Q.s than ur munkeyASS. (Slate)
Chimps pack specialized tool kits, scientists say Sep 11, 2009
However, the variety of techniques the apes have used has perplexed scientists for decades ... Tool-watching tools To better understand chimpanzee tool use, researchers from the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project spent a total of more than nine years investigating several communities of the apes throughout an 146 square mile area in Nouabal-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo ... "Our main difficulties were getting enough observations of apes in a habitat with dense vegetation, where one... (MSNBC -- Environment)
Top 5 Best and Worst Airplane Movies Sep 10, 2009
And while "Airport" doesn't have a line to touch Heston's immortal words from "Planet of the Apes" ("Take your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"), it did allow him to say the semi-immortal, "Climb, baby, climb!". "Baby" of course, was a 747 -- filled with oddballs, like an elderly movie goddess, a singing nun and assorted drunks -- all saved by our hero after a midair collision. (ABC News -- Business)
NOT FROM AFRICA: SKULL THAT REWRITES THE HISTORY OF MAN... Sep 9, 2009
A skull that rewrites the history of man - Science, News - The Independent. from The Independent & The Independent on Sunday. (The Drudge Report)
Counting Duplicated Genome Segments Now Possible Sep 7, 2009
The researchers noted that several human genes with the most variable copy numbers correspond to a torrent of segmental duplications that occurred within the common ancestor of apes and humans ... The ability to accurately and systematically determine the absolute copy number for any genomic segment is a notable step, the researchers added, toward a true and complete picture of individual genomes and how the genome shapes a person's characteristics. (Science Daily)
Zoo volunteers help explain mysteries of the genome Sep 7, 2009
" When Dr Badge and his team started the sampling programme at Twycross, they liaised with the Zoo vet, Nic Masters, to take mouth swabs from chimpanzees that had been anaethetised for routine vet procedures. However, Kris Hern, the Deputy Head of African Apes and Training Co-ordinator at Twycross, had a better suggestion. She thought that the chimpanzees could be trained to be swabbed. Dr Badge welcomed this opportunity to get more regular samples from more of the chimpanzees, since many of... (EurekAlert!)
Endless forms most beautiful Sep 6, 2009
IN his epic book On the Origin of the Species, Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) proposed that man shared a common ancestor with apes instead of appearing fully formed and perfect ... The History of the World features grand landscapes and scenes of prehistory inspired by the then fledgling science of geology and palaeontology ... In the minds of the public, Darwin is closely identified with the concept of humans descending from apes, and the exhibitions The Descent of Mankind section examines... (The Star Online, Malaysia)
Chimpanzees Use 'Tool Kits' To Catch Ants Sep 3, 2009
"The use of tool sets is rare and has most often been observed in great apes," said Sanz ... "There is an urgency to learn about these behaviours as the existence of the apes in the Congo Basin is threatened by commercial logging, bushmeat hunting, and emerging diseases.". (Science Daily)
Australian art takes evolutionary turn Sep 2, 2009
It's a browsing book, in which the entries perhaps two or three to a double page are cleverly and usefully subtitled: Coprolite industry: how dino dung saved England , Hunting hypothesis: how apes killed a theory , Insect societies: most ancient social communities , Kidd, Benjamin: survival value of religion. The entries that Milner has chosen and written cover the conventional and the quirky. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Novel Genes: What Makes Us Uniquely Human Sep 2, 2009
They found that these DNA sequences in several species of apes and monkeys contained differences that would likely disable a protein-coding gene, suggesting that these genes were inactive in the ancestral primate. The authors also note that because of the strict set of filters employed, only about 20% of human genes were amenable to analysis. (Science Daily)
One-tank trip: Columbia, S.C. Aug 28, 2009
In other areas of the compound you'll find lions, leopards, apes and rare lemurs. A visit to the Botanical Garden reveals more than 4,000 species of flora and fauna across 70 acres. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Are humans impossible to ape? Aug 27, 2009
Movements sprang up such as the Great Ape Project, founded in 1993 by the bioethicist Peter Singer, which argued that apes should be awarded some basic rights ... This activity led to two conclusions: that humans and apes were not that different, and that if 98 ... I don't understand why conservation of the great apes has become synonymous with human rights and their similarity to us, whereas conservation of wetlands or a million other species doesn't carry any such conflations. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
We have punks and jerks among us, but we also have angels Aug 26, 2009
Makes you wonder if it isn't the apes that should be insulted by the idea of Darwinian descent. Perhaps I'm extra sensitive on this matter because my brother has spent his life as a volunteer fireman and I know the kind of courage and dedication it takes to voluntarily run toward something most of us run from. (Anchorage Daily News)
Gaping Gila Monsters, Buzzing Insects, Clambering Ungulates: New Finds From Germany's Messel Pit Aug 26, 2009
(July 1, 2009) A new fossil primate from Myanmar (previously known as Burma) suggests that the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, not Africa as many researchers. (Apr. (Science Daily)
Poll: Awesome or awful? Aug 23, 2009
Poll: 'Avatar' trailer = Awesome or awful. "This is great!" says the blue dude with the spooky eyes in the for "," the first new big flick from "King of the Oscars" (""). (The Drudge Report)
Key Feature Of Immune System Survived In Humans, Other Primates For 60 Million Years Aug 23, 2009
(July 20, 2006) The ability to spot venomous snakes may have played a major role in the evolution of monkeys, apes and humans, according to a new hypothesis by Lynne Isbell, professor of anthropology at UC. (Apr. (Science Daily)
W.H. Backs Right to Guns Outside Events Aug 20, 2009
Charleton Heston is dead and the Planet of the Apes isn't real ... Charleton Heston is dead and the Planet of the Apes isn't real ... Charleton Heston may be dead but according to the coveted & beloved bogus theory of evolution this is the Planet of the Apes when neanderthals dare not look up the name of Lon Horiuchi. (CBS News -- Politics)
Dogs Can Think Like Two-Year-Old Ch... Aug 20, 2009
The upper limit of dogs ability to learn language is partly based on a study of a border collie named Rico who showed knowledge of 200 spoken words and demonstrated fast-track learning, which scientists believed to be found only in humans and language learning apes, he said. Dogs Can Add Up. (Suite101.com)
How Intelligent are Dolphins? Aug 20, 2009
Dolphins or cetaceans have large brains, significantly larger than those of monkeys and apes and second only to the human brain ... According to a 2007 study of dolphin intelligence, dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror, a rare ability that has only been demonstrated in elephants, great apes and humans. (Suite101.com)
Click to watch: One Michael Vick, Two Opinions Aug 18, 2009
Hello, this is what I'm talking about, the continual crimes against humans, then we have people going apes about dogs. I'm not for hurting any living thing but lets check all mis treatments, thank you StilBil2. (CBS News -- 60 minutes)
Monkey See, Monkey Do: Imitation Breeds Bonding Aug 17, 2009
The study reconfirms the notion that imitation is not uniquely human (past research has also shown that apes and monkeys easily recognize when they are being copied), and that our affinity for it may have roots in our evolution. What has never been precisely understood, though, is why we like to be parroted so much. (Time.com)
Life has new meaning in the Himalayas Aug 15, 2009
Finding new mammal species, especially primates - the order of beings that include lemurs, apes, monkeys and, allegedly, us humans - is ranked high in the "very rare" list among scientists worldwide. "The Arunchal macaque is also one of the highest-dwelling primates in the world, and certainly of all macaques, occurring between 1,600 meters and 3,500 meters about sea level," said the WWF report. (Asia Times Online)
Climbing To New Heights In The Forest Canopy Aug 13, 2009
This surprising discovery may explain the evolutionary edge that encouraged the tiny ancestors of modern humans, apes and monkeys. (Feb. (Science Daily)
Tarzan reconsidered in Paris exhibit Aug 12, 2009
The story of Tarzan was born in 1912 with the novel "Tarzan of the Apes." After the death of his parents, Lord and Lady Greystoke, who had been abandoned on the African coast by mutineers, Tarzan was adopted by a tribe of apes and his adventures began. The series of 22 books has been published in 56 languages and sold more than 15 million copies. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Weird News)
Are Ghanaians Stupid for Believing in God? Aug 12, 2009
It does not contain any evidence of the mythical Big Foot, which is supposed to be the transitional stage in mans evolution from apes. All evidence purported to establish the missing link theory have turned out to be hoax. (Ghana Web, Ghana)
What Lies Beneath Aug 11, 2009
The secular left claims we are evolutionary accidents who managed to crawl out of the slime and by "natural selection" stand erect and over millions of years outsmart our ancestors, the apes. If that is your belief, then you probably think health care should be rationed. (Townhall.com)
Rooks Use Stones And Water To Catch A Worm Aug 10, 2009
Christopher Bird of the University of Cambridge, lead author of the paper, highlighted the importance of the findings, stating: "Corvids are remarkably intelligent, and in many ways rival the great apes in their physical intelligence and ability to solve problems. The only other animal known to complete a similar task is the orang-utan. "This is remarkable considering their brain is so different to the great apes. Although it has been speculated in folklore, empirical tests are needed to examine... (Science Daily)
Renowned canine researcher puts dogs' intelligence on par with 2-year-old human Aug 9, 2009
"The upper limit of dogs' ability to learn language is partly based on a study of a border collie named Rico who showed knowledge of 200 spoken words and demonstrated 'fast-track learning,' which scientists believed to be found only in humans and language learning apes," Coren said. Dogs can also count up to four or five, said Coren. (EurekAlert!)
Click to read:Sotomayor Becomes First Hispanic Justice Aug 9, 2009
Ignoring the apes who think otherwise, half the population of this country, of this world, are women and therefore, the Supreme Court should be half women if this nation professes freedom and equality. It's not like it was a century ago, no big well of brilliant female legal minds then. (CBS News)
Clever rooks repeat ancient fable Aug 7, 2009
Christopher Bird, co-author on the paper, added: "Corvids are remarkably intelligent, and in many ways rival the great apes in their physical intelligence and ability to solve problems.". Please turn on JavaScript. (BBC News -- Science)
Orangutans only musicians in the animal world Aug 6, 2009
When youre walking the forest and you meet an orang-utan that not habituated to humans, theyll start giving kiss squeaks and breaking branches, says Madeleine Hardus, a primatologist at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, who has spent years documenting the practice among wild apes in Indonesian Borneo ... To determine if the leaves make a difference, Harduss team recorded a total of 813 calls produced by nine apes, and then measured the pitch of the different kinds of... (India Times, India -- Health/Science)
Orangutan ruse misleads predators Aug 6, 2009
The apes employ the leaf trick when they are threatened by predators, according to scientists observing them ... This is used to ward off predators, giving them the impression the apes are a bigger target ... The apes make the sounds in response to approaches by snakes, clouded leopards, tigers or humans. (BBC News -- Science)
Orangutans Kiss Leaves to Sound Bigger and Badder? Aug 5, 2009
Sometimes the apes use just their lips; sometimes they kiss their fingers ... So perhaps, the new study says, the orangutans are trying to fool predators into thinking the apes are bigger than they actually are. (National Geographic)
Malaria may have come from chimps - study Aug 4, 2009
Ayala's team sampled blood samples from 94 chimpanzees in Cameroon and Ivory Coast to find the apes' version of the parasite. "The closest known relative of P. falciparum is a chimpanzee parasite, Plasmodium reichenowi," they wrote. (AlertNet)
Uganda: New HIV Strain Found Aug 4, 2009
These were HIV and its equivalent in apes, SIV.. The strain was a "significant" match with SIVgor - an immune deficiency virus found in gorillas. (allAfrica.com)
Actor Wahlberg 'weds girlfriend' Aug 3, 2009
A series of high-profile movies followed, among them remakes of The Italian Job and Planet of the Apes. Oscar-nominated for The Departed in 2007, he will next be seen in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
New strain of AIDS virus found in patient from Cameroon Aug 3, 2009
She said she had no contact with apes or bush meat, a name often given to meat from wild animals in tropical countries. The woman shows no signs of AIDS though she still carries the virus, the researchers said. (Boston Globe)
Why is the military a sacred cow? Aug 1, 2009
dante wrote on Jul 31, 2009 8:49 PM:" Cornelius: [reading from the sacred scrolls of the apes] Beware the beast Man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death. ......we will ALWAYS need the military. heed these words from... (Bismarck Tribune, ND)
Orangutans swing for their dinner Jul 29, 2009
The team observed how the apes managed to reach the ripe fruits at the end of narrow unstable branches without falling down, by swinging flexibly. Unlike other primates, which move through trees at a regular pace with fixed body positions and stretched limbs, the orangutans were seen to travel both upright and horizontally, above and under branches, holding on with both their hands and feet. (BBC News -- Science)
Like Tarzan, Orangutans Glide Through Trees Jul 29, 2009
But in fact these great apes, native to the jungles of Malaysia and Indonesia, climb and swing nimbly through the canopy more than 100 feet in the air, their fleet-footed acrobatics allowing them to make their home in the treetops and access remote food sources, like the fruit at the very ends of branches ... If that happens, the orangutan could follow the first of the great apes to disappear. (Time.com)
The Intelligence Of Animals Jul 27, 2009
In some species, especially elephants, great apes and marine mammals, the old phrase "dumb animal" borders on heresy ... The only other creatures thought to have this ability include apes ... "Yeah. And that shapes their creativity, because they're like, 'Well, I'm gonna try this then. And I'm gonna try this and see if I can get a whistle with this.". (CBS News)
Why do we have fingernails? Jul 26, 2009
Monkeys, apes and lemurs spend a lot of time in trees, and broad fingertips help give them the strong grip needed to climb trunks and hang underneath branches. Of course, other animals, like cats and squirrels, climb trees, too. (Why Files)
South Africa acts against rhino poachers Jul 25, 2009
What do elephants, rhinos, great apes, bears, big cats, sharks, parrots and marine turtles have in common. They're all threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. (MSNBC -- International)
Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' Trailer Debuts Jul 24, 2009
plays the villainous Red Queen, who is most famous for the line "Off with their heads!" Like Depp, has worked with Burton in a number of films including "Sweeney Todd," "Corpse Bride," "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "Big Fish," and "Planet of the Apes.". 1. (ABC News)
Tracy Morgan keeps climbing: Film, book, Emmy nomination Jul 23, 2009
"His jokes are not the standard jokes. He does pitch-perfect renditions of dialogue from all the Planet of the Apes movies. The wackiness is not gone completely, but man, he comes to work. This dude knows this is his shot. ". Morgan says he still goes out but stays away from alcohol. (USA Today -- Life)
Chimps die from AIDS-like disease after viral infection... Jul 23, 2009
But, until now, SIV was thought to be unable to wreck apes' immune systems in the same way that HIV causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans ... But a paper published in the British journal Nature by primatologists working in Gombe National Park in Tanzania has found for the first time that apes are vulnerable ... At any one time, between 10 and 20 percent of the apes were SIV-positive. (The Drudge Report)
Jeff Vrabel: Leave the mermaids alone, senator Jul 21, 2009
Creating human-animal hybrids, which permanently alter the genetic makeup of an organism, will challenge the very definition of what it means to be human and is a violation of human dignity and a grave injustice," Brownback said, adding, "A PLANET WHERE APES EVOLVED FROM MAN. " Needless to say, this story has caused about 80 percent of political bloggers to lose their Red Bulled minds in near-hysteric glee, though nearly all of their joke-posts were decorated with an image of the Little Mermaid,... (Medfield Press, MA)
