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A group of Bonobos

Male masturbation in primates evolved to cut chance of catching STIs

7 June 2023

Masturbation in male primates seems to have evolved to boost reproductive success and cut the chance of getting a sexually transmitted infection, but the picture isn’t so clear for females


Wild African primates have flame retardants in their faeces

23 May 2023

Four primate species in Uganda have been found to have 97 chemical pollutants in their faeces, which are associated with hormonal changes that can disrupt development and reproduction


Unlike in other primates, the human voice box has lost small tissue structures called vocal membranes, which may have been involved in the evolution of speech

Losing parts of our voice box may have helped humans evolve to speak

11 August 2022

Unlike people, 43 species of monkeys and apes are known to have so-called vocal membranes, which may prevent them from having precise voice control


Dryopithecus

Family tree of extinct apes reveals our early evolutionary history

16 March 2022

A new family tree of apes that lived in the Miocene between 23 and 5.3 million years ago reveals which are our close relatives and which are only distant cousins


Rhesus macaques

Living through a hurricane accelerated the ageing process for monkeys

7 February 2022

In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Caribbean communities, and we now know it had an impact on monkeys too - macaques that lived through the stressful experience have aged at an accelerated rate


A Black Howler monkey

Howler monkeys navigate using adaptable mental maps, just like humans

12 August 2021

Black howler monkeys move through their environment using mental maps that the primates modify and adapt as the landscape changes – a skill previously seen only in humans


Blurred picture of dead albino chimp

First known wild chimpanzee with albinism was killed by other chimps

29 July 2021

A baby chimpanzee was born with white fur and no pigmentation, the first time such an animal has been found in the wild. But the chimp was born into a community with high rates of infanticide, and killed within weeks


putty-nosed monkey

Female monkeys call to males when they see a predator approaching

10 April 2021

Female putty-nosed monkeys of West Africa will use calls to enlist the help of males when they see a leopard approach


chimpanzee

Chimpanzees seem to 'speak' in sentences of three or more calls

15 February 2021

The ability to combine multiple words to create new meanings is thought to be unique to humans, but a study of chimp calls hints that it isn't


orangutan

Orangutans create new ways to communicate with each other in captivity

4 February 2021

Using new expressions to convey meaning to other group members is a fundamental building block of complex language – and orangutans in captivity can do it


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