Land Mammals, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 14, 2022

Monkeys: Facts about the largest group of primates

Monkeys are a large and diverse mammal group that includes most primates. Humans, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and other apes share an ancestor with monkeys but belong to a separate group of primates that diverged from monkeys millions of years ago. Monkeys are typically smaller than apes and usually have tails,...

May 4, 2022

Borneo has a hybrid 'mystery monkey,' and researchers are concerned

An unidentified monkey spotted in Borneo is a rare hybrid between two different species that are competing for forest space, a new study suggests. Researchers concluded that the mystery monkey is likely the offspring of a proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) and a silvery langur (Trachypithecus cristatus) — two distantly related...

Jul 13, 2022

Monkey Lip-Smacking Resembles Human Speech

The lip-smacking vocalizations gelada monkeys make are surprisingly similar to human speech, a new study finds. Many nonhuman primates demonstrate lip-smacking behavior, but geladas are the only ones known to make undulating sounds, known as wobbles, at the same time. (The wobbling sounds a little like a human hum would...

Aug 4, 2022

Pregnant Monkeys Miscarry to Avoid Infanticide

When a new male gelada monkey takes control of a reproductive group, he will typically kill off the babies of his predecessor. Now, new research shows that pregnant females have an adaptive strategy to minimize their losses: They spontaneously miscarry. In 1959, biologist Hilda Bruce first demonstrated the so-called Bruce...

Aug 4, 2022

'Monkey gang' member executed in Japan as marauding macaques run amok

A marauding monkey that’s been harassing people in Japan was recently tracked down and executed by a team of specially commissioned hunters. The macaque was part of a monkey gang that is responsible for more than 50 attacks in the city of Yamaguchi. For close to one month, a mob...

Aug 19, 2022

Monkeys in Indonesia use rocks as 'sex toys'

Monkeys in Indonesia get their rocks off using actual rocks, supporting what's known as the sex toy hypothesis, a new study finds. Researchers studying long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) found that the monkeys repetitively tapped and rubbed their genitals with stones to pleasure themselves, according to the study first reported by...

Oct 14, 2022

Chimps Learned Tool Use Long Ago Without Human Help

Chimpanzees learned to make and use stone tools on their own, rather than copying humans, new evidence suggests. And this means that chimps and humans likely inherited some of their sophisticated stone tool-use behaviors from a common ancestor, a report on the evidence claims. The handheld hammers were found at...

Nov 3, 2022

Wild chimps and gorillas can form social bonds that last for decades

To survive, animals compete for resources, be it food, mating partners or territory. But a ground breaking recent study shows chimpanzees and gorillas form friendships, some lasting at least 20 years. They play, eat and socialise together. It is the first study of its kind to see such long-term, peaceful...

Nov 8, 2022

Chimps are naturally violent, study suggests

For years, anthropologists have watched wild chimpanzees go ape and attack each other in coordinated assaults. But until now, scientists were unsure whether interactions with humans had brought on this violent behavior or if it was part of the apes' basic nature. A new, 54-year study suggests this coordinated aggression...

Dec 17, 2022

Three chimps shot dead and four remain on the loose after mysterious zoo escape

Three chimpanzees have been shot dead and four remain on the loose after mysteriously escaping from their enclosure in Sweden's Furuvik zoo. The animals sprung themselves from their enclosure at midday on Wednesday (Dec. 14) to be met with gunfire from staff, who zoo officials claimed would have been put...

Jun 7, 2023

Primates have been masturbating for at least 40 million years

Masturbation in primates is deeply rooted in evolution, with the behavior likely going back at least 40 million years, to the ancestor of all monkeys and apes, new research suggests. The study researchers found that masturbation is an ancient trait in primates and speculated that it may drive reproductive success....

Jul 3, 2023

Zoo monkey eats her baby's corpse after carrying it around for days

A monkey from a zoo in Europe was recently seen carrying around her baby's corpse for several days after it died. Then she devoured her own child. The mother's unusual actions may improve her chances of having another child in the future, experts say. In August 2020, the female drill...

Jul 10, 2023

Male monkeys on tiny island have way more sex with each other than females, scientists discover

Male rhesus monkeys on a tiny island in Puerto Rico have more sex with each other than they do with females, scientists have discovered. This behavior may be partially rooted in genetics, the team said. The researchers also found that male monkeys that had more sex with other males tended...

Sep 14, 2023

Human elbows and shoulders evolved as 'brakes' for climbing ape ancestors

Humans have ape ancestors to thank for their flexible shoulders and elbows, which may have evolved as a natural braking mechanism for tree-scaling. Scientists made the discovery while watching numerous videos of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) monkeys, which are much more distantly related to both chimps...

Jan 16, 2024

Meet 'Retro': The 1st ever cloned rhesus monkey to survive more than a day

Scientists in China have successfully cloned a rhesus monkey by providing the cloned embryo with a healthy placenta. The innovative technique could significantly increase the success rate of cloning, the researchers say. The monkey, named ReTro, is now three and a half years old and still doing well and growing...