Some monkeys in Panama may have just stumbled into the Stone Age
2 July 2018
One group of capuchins uses stone tools, but neighbouring groups do not – suggesting primates - including us - might enter the Stone Age simply by chance
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Premium
Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives
24 May 2018
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
Ape ‘midwives’ spotted helping female bonobos give birth
18 May 2018
When female bonobos went into labour, other females gathered around to keep them safe, swatting away flies and even seemingly trying to catch the baby as it emerged
Great tits avoid bad food after seeing grossed-out friends
18 December 2017
If a great tit eats something nasty, it will disgustedly wipe its beak on a branch – and other great tits watch and learn
Why do female monkeys spend so long looking at rugged males?
4 December 2017
Female monkeys spend more time staring at males that have highly masculine facial features, but we don’t know if they fancy them or fear them
Huge dose of brain chemical dopamine may have made us smart
23 November 2017
Two “thinking” regions of human brains are much richer in a neurotransmitter called dopamine than the equivalent brain regions in apes and monkeys
Sheep learn to recognise celebrity faces from different angles
8 November 2017
The animals were as good as humans at recognising mugshots of the same celebs from different angles, showing sophisticated brain processing of imagery
Natural history books that look inside the minds of animals
18 October 2017
Who says the thoughts and perceptions of animals are closed to us? Adrian Barnett finds out what it is like to be a...
Ravens can plan for future as well as 4-year-old children can
13 July 2017
The smart birds seem to have evolved this flexible cognitive ability independently from hominids as the two lineages diverged about 320 million years ago
Monkey mafia steal your stuff, then sell it back for a cracker
25 May 2017
Long-tailed macaques living near an Indonesian temple have learned how to steal human possessions, including cash, and then trade them for food
