chimpanzee

Researchers found that adult wild chimpanzees have developed a certain immunity against malaria parasites
05/29/2013 - 06:36

Wild great apes are widely infected with malaria parasites. Yet, nothing is known about the biology of these infections in the wild. Using faecal samples collected from wild chimpanzees, an international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin has now investigated the effect of the animals’ age on malaria parasite detection rates. The data show a strong association between age and malaria parasite positivity, with significantly lower detection rates in adult chimpanzees. This suggests that, as in humans, individuals reaching adulthood have mounted an effective protective immunity against malaria parasites.

 

more
When it comes to food, chimps only think of themselves
08/15/2012 - 13:38

A sense of fairness is an important part of human behaviour, yet a research team involving Queen Mary, University of London found it did not evolve from our closest living relatives.

more
Researchers discover why humans began walking upright
03/23/2012 - 20:06

Most of us walk and carry items in our hands every day. These are seemingly simple activities that the majority of us don't question. But an international team of researchers, including Brian Richmond at the George Washington University, have discovered that human bipedalism, or walking upright, may have originated millions of years ago as an adaptation to carrying scarce, high-quality resources. This latest research was published in this month's Current Biology.

more
Before Sounding an Alarm, Chimps Consider the Knowledge of Their Audience
12/29/2011 - 12:06

It's a basic rule of effective communication: Consider your audience. According to a new research report, that rule of thumb is not lost on wild chimpanzees. Researchers now show that chimpanzees are more likely to make an alarm call about the presence of a snake when others in the group are unaware of the apparent danger they face.

more
"Junk DNA" Defines Differences Between Humans and Chimps
10/25/2011 - 11:41

For years, scientists believed the vast phenotypic differences between humans and chimpanzees would be easily explained – the two species must have significantly different genetic makeups. However, when their genomes were later sequenced, researchers were surprised to learn that the DNA sequences of human and chimpanzee genes are nearly identical. What then is responsible for the many morphological and behavioral differences between the two species?

more
Long bone shape: a family affair
10/04/2011 - 09:05

Although humans and chimpanzees move quite differently, muscle attachment sites at their thighbones are similar. This result, which has recently been published by anthropologists of Zurich University in the scientific journal "Anatomical Record", has major consequences for the interpretation of fossil hominin finds.

more