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All tagged primates
Humans have been kissing each other – for one reason or another – for thousands of years. Evolutionary psychologist Adriano Lameira wants to know why, so he’s been spying on our kissing cousins (other apes) to see if they offer any clues that might reveal the purpose, if any, of a good smooch.
Researchers have found that female gibbons sometimes move in ways that look for all the world like dancing. Zoologist Kai Caspar and colleagues have analyzed these stylized movements in a study to be published in the journal Primates (a preprint is available here).
The zookeepers at London Zoo are gushing like new parents, because in a way they are. “To say we’re happy about this new arrival would be a huge understatement,” says primate section manager Kathryn Sanders. “We’ve all been walking around grinning from ear to ear.”
Observing the natural world every day is a task that is always educational, often wondrous, and sometimes a little gross. Case in point, an article published this week in the Journal of Zoology: “A review of nose picking in primates with new evidence of its occurrence in Daubentonia madagascariensis.”
Long-tailed macaque monkeys at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Bali have a lot of time on their hands and they’re not wasting it. Apparently the animals, male and female, are using stone tools as masturbatory aids.
