Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 23, 2020

Adorable monkeys caught commiting grisly act of cannibalism

Screams sounded from the treetops just before a baby capuchin monkey tumbled to its death. Soon after, a few of the infant's relatives gathered to consume the lifeless corpse — and scientists saw the whole thing. Researchers have observed this particular population of white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) for more...

Nov 25, 2020

The world's newest monkey species was found in a lab, not on an expedition

The discovery of the Popa langur, a medium-sized leaf-eating monkey found in central Myanmar, was recently announced by scientists. It is estimated there are just 200 to 250 of these monkeys, which will likely mean the new species is classed as critically endangered. This find was announced just a week...

Dec 30, 2020

Murder hornets and monkey cannibals: 10 times nature freaked us out in 2020

Stomach-bursting eels! Tongue-devouring sea lice! Nature can be the best at being the absolute worst, and 2020 gifted us with a petrifying parade of shudder-inducing science. From baby-eating cannibal monkeys to vampire parasites, here are 10 times this year when nature proved that it was positively horrific. You're welcome. Bone-eaters...

Jan 12, 2021

Zookeepers mourn death of world's oldest orangutan

The world's oldest known orangutan, a 61-year-old Sumatran female called Inji, has died at her home at the Oregon Zoo. Although her exact birth date is unknown, Inji had been at the zoo since 1961 and was suspected to be a 1-year-old at the time, according to a statement from...

Mar 19, 2021

Bored chimps at Czech zoos video chat during lockdown

Zookeepers at two zoos in the Czech Republic set up big screens in chimpanzee enclosures to allow their bored chimps to interact with each other via video calls. The FaceTime experiment was set up to help stimulate the chimps, who have missed interacting with visitors during lockdown. The screens were...

Apr 7, 2021

Chimpanzees: Intelligent, social and violent

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), also known as chimps, are one of our closest living relatives and members of the great ape family, along with gorillas, orangutans, bonobos and humans. Chimps share 98.7% of their DNA with humans and have a lot of the same traits. They are known for being intelligent,...

Apr 9, 2021

These endangered monkeys kept getting hit by cars. Scientists had a clever solution.

Endangered primates that are frequently killed by cars while trying to cross the road in a national park in Zanzibar have been given a lifeline after speed bumps were put in to slow down traffic. Zanzibar red colobuses (Piliocolobus kirkii) are small primates with a white coat, red back and...

May 20, 2021

Jane Goodall says humanity's 'disrespect of the natural world' brought on the pandemic

Legendary primatologist Jane Goodall says the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for humans to develop a new, more sustainable relationship with nature, according to news reports. We basically brought this [pandemic] on ourselves by our disrespect of the natural world, forcing animals closer to people, making it easier for...

May 21, 2021

Florida airport monkeys are the descendants of zoo escapees

Much-beloved wild African monkeys that live near the Fort Lauderdale airport are the descendants of a bunch of zoo escapees from 1948. Local lore long held that the monkeys (Chlorocebus sabaeus) may have descended from a failed private zoo, but a new genetic study and historical deep dive into the...

Jul 22, 2021

Albino chimp baby murdered by its elders days after rare sighting

Researchers in Uganda made a rare sighting of an albino chimp in the wild, but only days before the young ape died at the hands of older chimps in its community. The scientists described the grisly encounter in a recent study, published July 16 in the American Journal of Primatology,...

Jul 22, 2021

Chimpanzee troop beats and kills infant gorillas in unprecedented clash (Video)

Scientists have witnessed chimpanzees killing gorillas for the first time in two shocking attacks caught on video at a national park in Gabon on the west coast of Central Africa, a new study finds. The researchers, from Osnabrück University and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, were...

Aug 14, 2021

Chimps use 'hi' and 'bye' greetings, just like humans

Chimps and bonobos signal hello and goodbye to one another when entering and exiting social encounters, a new study finds. In other words, these apes, which share about 99% of humans' DNA, politely greet and bid adieu to each other, just like humans do. Until now, this behavior hasn't been...

Oct 13, 2021

Leprosy identified in wild chimpanzees for the first time

Scientists have detected leprosy in wild chimpanzees for the first time, and the symptoms resemble those in infected people. A team of researchers recently found leprosy-infected chimps in unconnected populations in two West African countries: Guinea-Bissau and the Ivory Coast. Facial lesions in several of the animals looked like those...

Jan 22, 2022

Monkey 'queen' led a violent coup to become her troop's first female leader. Now her reign is in jeopardy.

In southern Japan, a young female macaque has upended societal norms by seizing control of her 677-member troop through a violent primate coup. Now, her hard-won empire could come crumbling down around her due to one unstoppable force: mating season. Meet Yakei, a 9-year-old female living in a Japanese macaque...

Feb 9, 2022

Amazing video shows a mom chimp medicating her child's wound with insects

Scientists have released stunning footage of chimpanzees using insects to treat wounds on themselves and others. The video was captured by Alessandra Mascaro, a volunteer at the Loango Chimpanzee Project in the rainforest of Gabon, and marks the first recorded instance of this behavior. Mascaro recorded the footage while following...