primates – News Stories About primates - Page 2

This Is the
Longest-Nursing
of Any Primate

study says

May 18, 2017 9:59 AM CDT

This Is the Longest-Nursing of Any Primate

Orangutans set a record, researchers find

(Newser) - Orangutans nurse their young for up to eight years or longer, a new study finds—a record for primates. As National Geographic notes, it's difficult to study orangutans in the wild since they're so often out of sight in trees, but it's important for conservationists to know...

Want to Know If You're Wrong? Ask an Ape

Apes May Be Able
to 'Read Minds'

NEW STUDY

Apr 6, 2017 6:55 PM CDT

Apes May Be Able to 'Read Minds'

And know if humans are harboring false beliefs

(Newser) - Now even the great apes are getting in on debunking "fake news"—or, to be more specific, fake beliefs. German researchers have found that the primates can tell when a human is wrong about something, and can even help to remedy the situation, which in this case was...

Fruit May Be the Key to
Primates' Big Brains

New Study

Mar 28, 2017 5:13 PM CDT

Fruit May Be the Key to Primates' Big Brains

Study finds link between brain size in primates and those who eat fruit

(Newser) - An apple a day can keep the doctor away, but that's nothing compared to what it can do for primates, at least according to a study published Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution . Scientists have long hypothesized that primates evolved large brains because they needed them for complex social...

'Major Extinction Event' Could Hit Primates

Primate Study Finds It's
'Worse Than We Thought'

NEW STUDY

Jan 20, 2017 7:13 AM CST

Primate Study Finds It's 'Worse Than We Thought'

75% are in decline, 60% at risk of extinction

(Newser) - "It's worse than we thought 10 years ago," a researcher says following a "landmark" study on the world's primates that found many could go extinct in the next 50 years. Primatologists studied every primate species—all 504 of them—and found 75% are in decline,...

Scientists Have Made
Paralyzed Monkeys Walk

NEW STUDY

Nov 10, 2016 6:38 PM CST

Scientists Have Made Paralyzed Monkeys Walk

'The whole team was screaming as we watched'

(Newser) - In what could someday prove to be a major step forward for people with spinal cord injuries, scientists out of Switzerland are reporting in the journal Nature that they've gotten paralyzed monkeys to walk again. NPR describes the surgery on the rhesus macaques thusly: A neurosurgeon "placed electrodes...

Study Finds Humans Are
Really Good at Sleeping

Dec 15, 2015 2:05 PM CST

Study Finds Humans Are Really Good at Sleeping

We may have evolved to sleep less and deeper than our primate ancestors

(Newser) - Ever wonder why your cat sleeps all day while you're stuck with the measly seven hours you can cram in between Scandal and your morning commute? As it turns out, you're just way better at sleeping than your furry friend. According to a study in Evolutionary Anthropology, humans...

Your Dog Forgot the
Hug You Just Gave Him

new study

Feb 27, 2015 8:42 AM CST

Your Dog Forgot the Hug You Just Gave Him

Study finds animals have short short-term memory spans

(Newser) - When it comes to short-term memory, animals have very short ones indeed. A new meta-analysis examined more than 90 memory experiments carried out on 25 species encompassing birds, mammals, and bees. Researchers at Stockholm University and Brooklyn College found that for dogs, events are forgotten after about two minutes—and...

For Monkeys,
Love Means
Chucking Rocks

Jan 15, 2014 1:43 AM CST

For Monkeys, Love Means Chucking Rocks

Female capuchins have a rather painful way of signaling mates

(Newser) - Good news for male capuchin monkeys wondering why females are always throwing rocks at them: They're actually attracted to you (the bad news probably goes unsaid here). Researchers studying the sex lives of monkeys in Brazil's Serra de Capivara national park found that amorous female capuchins whine and...

Humans Became
Monogamous to
Stop Infanticide

Humans Became Monogamous to Stop Infanticide

Study finds the origins of monogamy are not so romantic

(Newser) - Scientists believe they may have discovered the reason most humans, at least in theory, are so wedded to the idea of monogamy, and the answer ain't "true love." As a species, we became predominantly monogamous so other humans wouldn't kill our babies, according to a new...

Oldest Primate Fossil Found

Jun 5, 2013 5:45 PM CDT

Oldest Primate Fossil Found

Tiny creature from 55M years ago discovered in ancient Chinese lake

(Newser) - A tiny, funny-looking creature that scampered around what is now China some 55 million years ago might help rewrite the book on primates, reports the BBC . Scientists have concluded that little Archicebus achilles—it weighed about an ounce and was maybe 8 inches long—is the world's oldest primate...

Baboons' Lip-Smacking:
Precursor to Speech?

Apr 9, 2013 5:01 PM CDT

Baboons' Lip-Smacking: Precursor to Speech?

Geladas of Ethiopia smack their lips to make human-like sound

(Newser) - Might this be a hint of how human speech came to be? Researchers at the University of Michigan say wild monkeys of Ethiopia known as geladas smack their lips together and make gutteral noises to produce a sound like our speech, reports PBS . The pattern of these "wobbles" follows...

HIV's Origins
Stretch Back
Millions of Years

study says

Jan 25, 2013 7:44 AM CST

HIV's Origins Stretch Back Millions of Years

Earlier work suggested HIV 'cousins' were much more recent

(Newser) - "Cousins" of the HIV virus are millions of years old—not tens of thousands, as previous research has suggested, according to a new study. Researchers in Seattle examined HIV-like viruses in a range of primates. Genetic changes in monkey and ape immune systems point to the development of such...

New Monkey Species Found

Sep 13, 2012 1:00 AM CDT

New Monkey Species Found

'Lesula' found in remote Congo jungle

(Newser) - A remote jungle in the Congo has yielded a new species of monkey, the first to be found in almost 30 years. Scientists discovered the lesula in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Lomami forest basin after spotting an unusual monkey being kept as a pet in a small forest...

Smugglers
Busted With
Primates in
Their Skivvies

Sep 10, 2012 9:12 AM CDT

Smugglers Busted With Primates in Their Skivvies

Lorises headed to Dubai from Bangkok

(Newser) - Is that a slender loris in your pants, or are you just happy to see me? In this case, it was the former: Three United Arab Emirates men headed to Dubai from Bangkok were caught with small primates in their underwear. Two were carrying mammals called slender lorises, Sri Lanka...

DC Zoo Animals Sensed Quake

Aug 25, 2011 3:43 AM CDT

DC Zoo Animals Sensed Quake

Apes starting climbing seconds before ground started shaking

(Newser) - In a mysterious phenomenon that has been observed since ancient times, animals at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, appear to have sensed Tuesday's earthquake before humans did. Seconds before the ground began to shake, gorillas and orangutans dropped their food, grabbed their young, and climbed as high as...

Monkeys Create Own
Language Sign

Aug 5, 2011 3:22 AM CDT

Monkeys Create Own Language Sign

Mandrills invent way to sign 'do not disturb'

(Newser) - Monkeys at a British zoo have developed a way of saying "leave me alone" that doesn't involve biting or flinging poop. The mandrills cover their eyes—much like in the "see no evil" gesture—when they desire solitude, and their fellow monkeys respect the signal, the Telegraph...

Ad Campaign Targets Primates

Monkey See, Monkey Buy?

Jun 28, 2011 8:26 AM CDT

Ad Campaign Targets Primates

Researchers believe billboards will influence monkeys' food choice

(Newser) - Sex sells even when the target audience isn't human, according to a primatologist and two ad execs cooking up the first-ever ad campaign aimed at monkeys. The team plans to create two "brands" of food for capuchin monkeys and heavily advertise one in advance to see if advertising...

Feds Halt New Tests on
Aging Lab Chimps

Jan 7, 2011 3:22 AM CST

Feds Halt New Tests on Aging Lab Chimps

New Mexico chimps win reprieve

(Newser) - Some 186 elderly chimpanzees formerly used in invasive research have been given a temporary reprieve from more experiments. The National Institutes of Health, which had planned to transfer the chimps from their home at an NIH facility in New Mexico to a Texas research facility, has announced that the chimps...

Young Chimps
Play With 'Dolls'

Dec 22, 2010 2:00 AM CST

Young Chimps Play With 'Dolls'

Girl chimps treat sticks like infants, boy treat them like weapons

(Newser) - If you have any juvenile chimps on your Christmas list, a new study has made your shopping a breeze. Researchers have observed wild chimps using sticks as toys, and boy and girl chimps treat the sticks very differently, CNN reports. Young female chimps appeared to treat the sticks like dolls,...

Team
Deciphers
Orangutan
Sign Language

Jun 18, 2010 2:09 AM CDT

Team Deciphers Orangutan Sign Language

Gestures analyzed to compile 'orangutan dictionary'

(Newser) - A bite of the air, blowing a raspberry, or a backroll means "playtime" in orangutan, say researchers who have completed the most extensive study yet of great ape gestures. The team deciphered the meanings of 40 common orangutan gestures that the animals—the least vocal of the great apes—...