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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

Three baboons sitting on a tree, looking at the camera
To Mate or Not to Mate? Baboons’ Inbreeding Defense Is Biased
Saugat Bolakhe | Mar 25, 2022 | 3 min read
Researchers find that wild baboons are generally good at avoiding inbreeding, but that it’s more likely to occur with paternal than maternal relatives.
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.
macaque in zoo enclosure
Leading Japanese Primate Research Center is Closing
Chloe Tenn | Oct 19, 2021 | 2 min read
Kyoto University is shuttering its Primate Research Institute after its director was dismissed for misuse of funding.
ABOVE: A pair of Labroides dimidiatus cleaner fish cleaning a puffer fish
Cleaner Fish Alter Behavior if Partners Can See Them “Cheating”
Chloe Tenn | Oct 7, 2021 | 4 min read
A study of feeding behavior suggests the fish feed differently in front of their partners—a behavioral feature also found in primates.
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.
US Confirms World’s First SARS-CoV-2 Cases in Gorillas
Max Kozlov | Jan 12, 2021 | 2 min read
Zoo officials say the captive primates are recovering, but scientists worry the virus could spread quickly through dwindling wild populations.
Unravelling Memory’s Mysteries: A Profile of Elizabeth Buffalo
Diana Kwon | May 1, 2020 | 9 min read
Studying nonhuman primates, the University of Washington neuroscientist has identified important features of the neural underpinnings of learning and memory.
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.
Infant Monkeys Died in Accidental Poisoning at UC Davis Lab
Catherine Offord | Jun 18, 2019 | 2 min read
The seven primates came into contact with a dye that was used on their mothers, documents reveal.
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.
Monkeys Cloned by Dolly-the-Sheep Technology
Catherine Offord | Jan 24, 2018 | 2 min read
The approach, which has never before been successfully attempted in primates, could lead to improved animal models for human biology and disease.
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.
Image of the Day: Jungle Jedi
The Scientist | Jan 22, 2017 | 1 min read
The newly identified Skywalker gibbon (Hoolock tianxing) is threatened with extinction, along with roughly 60 percent of primate species worldwide.
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.  
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