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Woman and baby chimpanzee face to face, as if they were talking to each other
Could a Less Complex Larynx Have Enabled Speech in Humans?
A paper argues that the evolutionary loss of a thin vocal membrane in the larynx may have facilitated oral communication.  
Could a Less Complex Larynx Have Enabled Speech in Humans?
Could a Less Complex Larynx Have Enabled Speech in Humans?

A paper argues that the evolutionary loss of a thin vocal membrane in the larynx may have facilitated oral communication.  

A paper argues that the evolutionary loss of a thin vocal membrane in the larynx may have facilitated oral communication.  

primate, evolution

Fossils of African Fauna
African, Arabian Mammals Didn’t Escape Grande Coupure Extinction
Chloe Tenn | Nov 8, 2021 | 2 min read
More than two-thirds of mammals in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula went extinct during the Eocene-Oligocene transition some 30 million years ago, a study finds.
silhouette of a chimpanzee swinging against a blue sky
Alu Leap May Explain Why Apes Don’t Have Tails
Annie Melchor | Sep 23, 2021 | 2 min read
A transposable element that jumped into the TBXT gene, which is linked to tail morphology, appears to be to blame for our missing appendage.
Image of the Day: Brains and Braincases
Emily Makowski | Oct 18, 2019 | 1 min read
The skull changed shape in different ways than the brain during evolution, according to a new comparative study.
bonobo diet nutrition evolution human anthropology iodine deficient greens eat vegetables plants herbs omnivorous
Image of the Day: Side Salad
Chia-Yi Hou | Jul 2, 2019 | 1 min read
Bonobos eat their aquatic greens, perhaps to get their daily dose of iodine.
chimpanzee testes
Why Chimpanzees Have Big Testes, and Mandrills Have Small Ones
Katarina Zimmer | Apr 16, 2019 | 4 min read
For primates, males’ fancier ornaments are linked with smaller testes, according to a new comparative study.
The Mirror Test Peers Into the Workings of Animal Minds
Carolyn Wilke | Feb 21, 2019 | 5 min read
Nearly 50 years after its development, only a handful of creatures have passed the self-awareness exam. A new attempt with fish highlights a debate over the test’s use and meaning.
Why Are Modern Humans Relatively Browless?
Jim Daley | Jul 1, 2018 | 4 min read
The function of early hominins’ enlarged brow ridges, and their reduction in size in Homo sapiens, have puzzled paleoanthropologists for decades.
Monkey Hybrids Challenge Assumptions of What a Species Is
Jim Daley | May 3, 2018 | 4 min read
A study finds two species of guenon monkeys in Tanzania have been mating and producing fertile offspring for generations.
Ecologists Welcome Seventh Great Ape Species into Our Family
Katarina Zimmer | Nov 2, 2017 | 2 min read
The Tapanuli orangutan has been identified as the newest species of great ape, but also likely the most endangered. 
Study: Diet Contributes to Brain Size
Diana Kwon | Mar 29, 2017 | 2 min read
The results of a historical primate behavior analysis suggest that species with fruit-filled diets evolved larger brains.
Baboons Can Make Sounds Found in Human Speech
Diana Kwon | Jan 12, 2017 | 2 min read
The findings suggest language may have started to evolve millions of years earlier than once thought.  
Falling Out of the Family Tree
Jef Akst | Mar 1, 2015 | 3 min read
A mutation in an ethanol-metabolizing enzyme arose around the time that arboreal primates shifted to a more terrestrial lifestyle, perhaps as an adaptation to eating fermented fruit.
Drunk Monkeys
Jef Akst | Feb 28, 2015 | 1 min read
UC Berkeley biologist Robert Dudley explains his "drunken monkey" hypothesis for how humans developed a taste for alcohol.
On the Other Hand
Bob Grant | Sep 1, 2014 | 10+ min read
Handedness, a conspicuous but enigmatic human trait, may be shared by other animals. What does it mean for evolution and brain function?
Drunks and Monkeys
Robert Dudley | Jun 1, 2014 | 3 min read
Understanding our primate ancestors’ relationship with alcohol can inform its use by modern humans.
 
Book Excerpt from The Drunken Monkey
Robert Dudley | May 31, 2014 | 4 min read
In Chapter 3, "On the Inebriation of Elephants," author Robert Dudley considers whether tales of tipsy pachyderms and bombed baboons have any basis in scientific truth.
Bipedal Beginnings
Tracy Vence | Dec 4, 2013 | 1 min read
Re-examination of a thigh bone from one of the earliest putative hominins could impact scientists’ understanding of the origins of human bipedalism, a study suggests.
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