Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 20, 2020

1st-ever footage of giant pandas mating in the wild is not 'cute and cuddly'

A pair of aggressive male giant pandas roar ferociously on the ground beneath a female perched in a tree, in the first-ever footage of panda courtship and mating in the wild. For nearly three years, nature filmmakers Yuanqi Wu and Jacky Poon followed pandas in China's Qinling Mountains, hoping to...

Dec 8, 2020

Giant pandas have winter poop parties, rolling around in horse manure

It seems only fitting that 2020 would be the year when we learn that giant pandas, arguably the cutest of all bears, enthusiastically roll in horse manure — the fresher the better — leaving their entire bodies liberally covered in fresh feces. But the pandas are doing it for a...

Jul 21, 2022

World's oldest male panda dies at 35 after weeks of 'deteriorating health'

An An, the oldest-ever male panda in captivity, has died at the age of 35 in a Hong Kong amusement park. The giant panda was euthanized after his health deteriorated over the course of several weeks, according to a statement from the Ocean Park theme park, where An An lived...

Oct 19, 2016

Monkeys Break Rocks, Show Humans Aren't So Special

It's said that an infinite number of monkeys sitting at an infinite number of typewriters would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. New research finds that a noninfinite number of monkeys holding a noninfinite number of rocks might at least produce something like stone tools. Capuchin monkeys banging rocks against...

Oct 27, 2016

Hairy Liaisons: Ancient Chimps and Bonobos Hooked Up

Chimpanzees and bonobos are two species separated by about 2 million years and one impassible river that divides their range. New research, however, reveals that these two great-ape species mixed their genes in the ancient past. In at least two separate events, about 200,000 and 500,000 years ago, chimpanzees (Pan...

Dec 8, 2016

Rump Recognition: Chimps Remember Butts Same as Faces

Chimpanzees can recognize each other from behind. While chimps remember faces as well, new research has found that the primates recognize the buttocks of their kin just as well as humans recall familiar faces. Not only that, but our hairy relatives also seem to utilize the same type of brain...

Dec 11, 2016

Why Don't Monkeys Talk Like Us?

There is little doubt that non-human primates like Koko the gorilla are very intelligent. Koko, for example, uses sign language to communicate with people, telling them that she loves her pet cats, Miss Black and Miss Grey. Koko, however, is noticeably the strong and silent type, at least when it...

Dec 22, 2016

Happy Birthday, Colo! World's Oldest Gorilla Celebrates 60th

The first gorilla born in human care turned 60 today (Dec. 22) at her home in the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio. Colo, whose name is a combination of Columbus and Ohio, is a western lowland gorilla, and is the oldest gorilla in the world. Born in 1956, she...

Dec 22, 2016

Colo, World's Oldest Gorilla, Turns 60 (Photos)

Ripe old age (Image credit: Grahm S. Jones/Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)Colo, the world's oldest gorilla, celebrates her 60th birthday on December 22, 2016, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Columbus, Ohio. Hello, world! (Image credit: Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)December 22, 1956: Colo, a western lowlands gorilla, was born at...

Jan 12, 2017

New 'Skywalker' Gibbon Named for 'Star Wars' Hero

In a galaxy not so far way, there's a new Skywalker in town. A new gibbon species was discovered in southwest Asia, and scientists have named it for the famous Star Wars character. The species' Star Wars-inspired name is connected both to the gibbon's high treetop home, and the mysticism...

Jan 12, 2017

Baboons Vocalizations Hint at Origins of Human Speech

A baboon's grunt is different from its bark, and new research has found that the primates use five distinct vowel-like soundsthat were previously thought to be unique to modern humans. The ability to create clear vowel sounds is connected to the origins of speech, according to researchers. However, previous research...

Jan 17, 2017

Goodnight, Colo! Oldest Gorilla in the US Dies in Sleep

The world's oldest known gorilla has died peacefully in her sleep, just a month after celebrating her 60th birthday. At her death, Colo, the first gorilla to be born in captivity, had outlived the average gorilla by 20 to 30 years, according to her keepers. In her long time on...

Jan 20, 2017

Facts About Baboons

Baboons are some of the most identifiable of the monkey world. They have tufts of hair on either side of their faces and large, hairless bottoms that can turn red. These old-world monkeys also do not have prehensile tails like some other monkeys, which means they don't use their tail...

Jan 27, 2017

How NASA's Satellite Data Could Help Protect Chimps

Chimpanzees are in crisis, but NASA may be able to help: The agency recently announced a partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, in hopes of helping chimpanzee conservation efforts. One hundred years ago, more than 2 million chimpanzees were in the world. Now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature...

Feb 1, 2017

Chimps Kill, Mutilate and Cannibalize Member of Own Group

A male chimpanzee named Foudouko met a horrific end when members of his former community in the wild in Senegal attacked and killed him, then mutilated and partly cannibalized his body, a new study finds. It's not uncommon for chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) to attack and kill chimps in neighboring groups,...