Apes News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Bonobos Are More Aggressive Than Previously Thought, Study Shows

Apr. 12, 2024 — Chimpanzees and bonobos are often thought to reflect two different sides of human nature -- the conflict-ready chimpanzee versus the peaceful bonobo -- but a new study shows that, within their own communities, male bonobos are more frequently ...

First View of Centromere Variation and Evolution

Apr. 3, 2024 — A genomic study of human and selected nonhuman primate centromeres has revealed their unimaginable diversity and speed of evolutionary change. Although centromeres are vital to proper cell replication by assuring faithful transmision of genetic ...

Demand for Critical Minerals Puts African Great Apes at Risk

Apr. 3, 2024 — A recent study shows that the threat of mining to the great ape population in Africa has been greatly ...

Wild Bird Gestures 'After You'

Mar. 25, 2024 — A small-bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor), uses wing movements as a gesture to convey the message 'after you,' according to new research. When a mating pair arrives at their nest box with food, they will wait outside on perches. One will ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:51am EDT

Chimp Moms Play With Their Offspring Through Good Times and Bad

Mar. 14, 2024 — A recent study observing wild chimpanzees over a period of more than 10 years revealed that when food gets scarcer, the adults put play aside and focus on survival, while mother chimps continue to be ...

Change in Gene Code May Explain How Human Ancestors Lost Tails

Feb. 28, 2024 — A genetic change in our ancient ancestors may partly explain why humans don't have tails like ...

African Great Apes Predicted to See Frequent Extreme Climate Events in the Next 30 Years

Feb. 28, 2024 — African apes are already being exposed to climate change impacts, and will experience extreme events such as wildfires, heatwaves and flooding more ...

Physically Impaired Primates Find Ways to Modify Their Behaviors to Compensate for Their Disabilities

Feb. 20, 2024 — Primates show a remarkable ability to modify their behaviours to accommodate their physical disabilities and impairments, according to a new ...

Love Songs Lead Scientists to New Populations of Skywalker Gibbons in Myanmar

Feb. 14, 2024 — The love songs of the Skywalker gibbon alerted scientists to a new population of the endangered primate in ...

Great Apes Playfully Tease Each Other

Feb. 13, 2024 — Babies playfully tease others as young as eight months of age. Since language is not required for this behavior, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals. Now cognitive ...

How Food Availability Could Catalyze Cultural Transmission in Wild Orangutans

Feb. 5, 2024 — The proverb "necessity is the mother of invention" has been used to describe the source from which our cultural evolution springs. After all, need in ...

How Did Humans Learn to Walk? New Evolutionary Study Offers an Earful

Jan. 29, 2024 — A new study, which centers on evidence from skulls of a 6-million-year-old fossil ape, Lufengpithecus, offers important clues about the origins of bipedal locomotion courtesy of a novel method: ...

Predicting Others' Preference-Based Choices Is Cross-Cultural and Uniquely Human

Jan. 17, 2024 — Children across cultures can anticipate other individuals' choices based on their preferences, according to a new study. However, non-human great ...

New Research Sheds Light on an Old Fossil Solving an Evolutionary Mystery

Jan. 10, 2024 — Picrodontids -- an extinct family of placental mammals that lived several million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs -- are not primates as previously ...

The Extinction of the Giant Ape: Long-Standing Mystery Solved

Jan. 10, 2024 — The largest ever primate Gigantopithecus blacki went extinct when other Asian great apes were thriving, and its demise has long been a mystery. A massive regional study of 22 caves in southern China ...

Early Primates Likely Lived in Pairs

Jan. 3, 2024 — Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were ...

Can We Decode the Language of Our Primate Cousins?

Dec. 19, 2023 — Are we able to differentiate between the vocal emissions of certain primates? A team asked volunteers to categorize the vocalizations of three species of great apes (Hominidae) and humans. During ...

Apes Remember Friends They Haven't Seen for Decades

Dec. 18, 2023 — Apes recognize photos of groupmates they haven't seen for more than 25 years and respond even more enthusiastically to pictures of their friends, a new study finds. The work, which demonstrates ...

New Algae Species Rewrites Understanding of Reef Systems

Nov. 6, 2023 — An international team of marine scientists has identified and officially named four species of algae new to science, challenging previous taxonomical assumptions within the Porolithon genus. The ...

Fossils Tell Tale of Last Primate to Inhabit North America Before Humans

Nov. 6, 2023 — Paleontologists have shed light on the long-standing saga of Ekgmowechashala, based on fossil teeth and jaws found in both Nebraska and China. Ekgmowechashala is the last primate found in the fossil ...

New Secrets About Cat Evolution Revealed

Nov. 2, 2023 — By comparing genomes of several cat species, the project has helped researchers understand why cat genomes tend to have fewer complex genetic variations (such as rearrangements of DNA segments) than ...

Chimpanzees Use Hilltops to Conduct Reconnaissance on Rival Groups, Study Finds

Nov. 2, 2023 — Research on neighboring chimpanzee communities in the forests of West Africa suggests a warfare tactic not previously seen beyond humans is regularly used by our closest evolutionary ...

Researcher Finds Proof of Menopause in Wild Chimpanzees

Oct. 26, 2023 — A team of researchers studying the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in western Uganda's Kibale National Park for two decades has published a report showing that females in this population can ...

New Study Reveals Similarities Between Chimpanzee and Human Language Development

Oct. 17, 2023 — Scientists examining the evolutionary roots of language say they've discovered chimp vocal development is not far off from ...

Extinct Ape Gets a Facelift, 12 Million Years Later

Oct. 16, 2023 — A new study has reconstructed the well-preserved but damaged skull of a great ape species that lived about 12 million years ago. The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, may be crucial to ...

Scientists Unveil Detailed Cell Maps of the Human Brain and the Nonhuman Primate Brain

Oct. 12, 2023 — A group of international scientists have mapped the genetic, cellular, and structural makeup of the human brain and the nonhuman primate brain. This understanding of brain structure allows for a ...

Killing Remains a Threat to Bornean Orangutans

Oct. 10, 2023 — New research has found despite considerable conservation efforts, the illegal killing of critically endangered orangutans on Borneo may be an ongoing threat to the species. ...

Colorful Primates Don't Have Better Color Vision, Study Finds

Sep. 22, 2023 — Primate species with better color vision are not more likely to have red skin or fur coloration, as previously ...

Human Shoulders and Elbows First Evolved as Brakes for Climbing Apes

Sep. 5, 2023 — Researchers report that the flexible shoulders and elbows that allow us to throw a football or reach a high shelf may have evolved as a natural braking system that let our primate ancestors get out ...

Bonobos Grow Similarly to Humans

Aug. 24, 2023 — Parents with children in adolescence know this all too well: one minute 'the little ones' are just up to your shoulder, and all of a sudden, they're growing over your head. Until now, ...

Urban Great Tits Have Paler Plumage Than Their Forest-Living Relatives

Aug. 17, 2023 — A new study shows that urban great tits have paler plumage than their countryside counterparts. Since the yellow pigment of the breast feathers of great tits comes from the food they eat, the paler ...

How Orangutans Respond to Novelty in the Wild

Aug. 15, 2023 — Humans like to discover. Presented with something we've never seen before, most of us will be compelled to explore and learn more about it. The same can't exactly be said for our closest ...

Size Does Matter: Group Size and Mating Preferences Drive Deeper Male Voices

July 11, 2023 — Group size and mating preferences may have caused male primates, including humans, to evolve deeper voices than females. The findings can help to shed light on social behavior in humans and their ...

More Menu Choices: Migrant Orangutans Learn a Lot About Food by Watching the Locals

July 10, 2023 — Migrant male orangutans on Borneo and Sumatra learn about unfamiliar foods in their new home range by 'peering' at experienced locals: intensely observing them at close range. This is what ...