Rough childhoods have ripple effects for wild baboons. Duke Today, April 19, 2016. Numerous studies show that childhood trauma can have far-reaching effects on adult health; new research finds the same is true for wild baboons. Baboons that experience multiple misfortunes in early life grow up to live shorter adult lives, researchers report. The results show that early adversity can have long-term negative effects even in the absence of factors commonly evoked to explain similar patterns in humans, such as smoking, drinking or medical care. Picked up by New York Magazine, Pacific Standard, Washington Post, CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks, and Smithsonian Magazine.
Category Archives: primates
Fossil expert and primate conservationist Elwyn Simons dies at 85
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Fossil expert and primate conservationist Elwyn Simons dies at 85. Duke Today, March 9, 2016. Duke scientist-explorer Elwyn Simons, who studied living and extinct primates for more than 50 years, died in his sleep on Sunday, March 6, in Peoria, Arizona. He was 85. Widely regarded as the founder of modern primate paleontology, Simons was an expert on the history of primates leading up to humans. Simons’ fossil-hunting expeditions and primate conservation work took him all over the globe, from the badlands of Wyoming to the Egyptian desert and the rainforests of Madagascar. From 1961 to 2012, he led more than 90 field expeditions and wrote or coauthored more than 300 books and research articles. Picked up by The New York Times.
New way to detect human-animal diseases tested in lemurs
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New way to detect human-animal diseases tested in lemurs. Duke Today, Jan. 27, 2016. RNA sequencing is uncovering emerging diseases in wildlife that other diagnostic tests cannot detect. Researchers used a technique called transcriptome sequencing to screen for blood-borne diseases in Madagascar’s lemurs, distant primate cousins to humans. The animals were found to be carrying several previously unknown parasites similar to those that cause Lyme disease in humans. The approach could pave the way for earlier, more accurate detection of disease outbreaks that move between animals and people.
Gregarious chimps harbor richer gut microbiomes
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Gregarious chimps harbor richer gut microbiomes. Duke Today, Jan. 15, 2016. Spending time in close contact with others means risking catching germs and getting sick. But being sociable may also help transmit “good” microbes, finds a new study. Researchers monitored changes in the gut microbiomes and social behavior of chimpanzees over eight years in Tanzania. The number of bacterial species in a chimp’s GI tract increased when the chimps were more gregarious. The results help scientists understand the factors that maintain a healthy gut microbiome. Picked up by Quartz, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Futurity, The Scientist, Daily Mail, PBS News Hour and Popular Science.
Humans evolved to get better sleep in less time
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Humans evolved to get better sleep in less time. Duke Today, Dec. 14, 2015. Insomniacs take heart: Humans get by on significantly less sleep than our closest animal relatives. The secret, according to a new study of slumber patterns across 21 species of primates, is that our sleep is more efficient. Picked up by The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, the Daily Mail, BBC, Huffington Post, WPTV, News & Observer, Futurity, U.S. News & World Report and Voice of America.
Old World monkey had tiny, complex brain
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Old World monkey had tiny, complex brain. Duke Today, July 3, 2015. The brain hidden inside the oldest known Old World monkey skull has been visualized for the first time. The ancient monkey, known as Victoriapithecus, first made headlines in 1997 when its 15 million-year-old skull was discovered on an island in Kenya’s Lake Victoria. Now, X-ray imaging reveals that the creature’s brain was tiny but surprisingly wrinkled and complex. The findings suggest that brain complexity can evolve before brain size in the primate family tree. Picked up by NBC, Science News, the History Channel and the Huffington Post.
Lowly ‘new girl’ chimps form stronger female bonds
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Lowly ‘new girl’ chimps form stronger female bonds. Duke Today, May 21, 2015. Low-ranking “new girl” chimpanzees seek out other gal pals with similar status, finds a new study. The results are based on 38 years’ worth of daily records for 53 adult females in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, where Jane Goodall first started studying chimpanzees in the 1960s.
Big butts aren’t everything to male baboons
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Big butts aren’t everything to male baboons. Duke Today, April 20, 2015. While the female baboon’s big red bottom may be an eyesore to some, it has an aphrodisiac effect on her mates. Biologists have long thought that baboon males prefer females with bigger backsides as the mark of a good mother, but a Duke study reveals that the size of a female’s swollen rump doesn’t matter as much as previously thought. Picked up by the Washington Post and Fox News.
Being born in lean times is bad news for baboons
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Being born in lean times is bad news for baboons. Duke Today, April 2, 2015. The saying ”what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may not hold up to scientific scrutiny. Baboons born in times of famine are more vulnerable to food shortages later in life, finds a new study. The findings are important because they help explain why people who are malnourished in early childhood often experience poor health as adults.
Baboon friends swap gut germs
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Baboon friends swap gut germs. Duke Today, March 16, 2015. The warm soft folds of the intestines are teeming with thousands of species of bacteria that help break down food, synthesize vitamins, regulate weight and resist infection. If they’re so key to health, what factors shape an individual’s gut microbial makeup? Previous studies have pointed to the food we eat, the drugs we take, genetics, even house dust. Now, a new study in baboons suggests that relationships may play a role, too. Picked up by The Scientist.
Boy or girl? Lemur scents have the answer
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Boy or girl? Lemur scents have the answer. Duke Today, February 24, 2015. Dozens of pregnancy myths claim to predict whether a mom-to-be is carrying a boy or a girl. Some say you can tell by the shape of a woman’s bump, or whether she craves salty or sweet. Even ultrasound doesn’t always get it right. But for lemurs, the answer is in the mother’s scent. Picked up by the Daily Mail and Discover Magazine.
Apes prefer the glass half full
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Apes prefer the glass half full. Duke Today, Feb. 11, 2015. Humans aren’t the only species to be influenced by spin. Our closest primate relatives are susceptible, too. For example, people rate a burger as more tasty when it is described as “75 percent lean” than when it is described as “25 percent fat,” even though that’s the same thing. A Duke University study finds that positive and negative framing make a big difference for chimpanzees and bonobos too. Picked up by the Daily Mail and Scientific American.
Chimps with higher-ranking moms do better in fights
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Chimps with higher-ranking moms do better in fights. Duke Today, Jan. 28, 2015. For chimpanzees, just like humans, teasing, taunting and bullying are familiar parts of playground politics. An analysis of twelve years of observations of playground fights between young chimpanzees in East Africa finds that chimps with higher-ranked moms are more likely to win.
Lady baboons with guy pals live longer
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Lady baboons with guy pals live longer. Duke Today, September 10, 2014. Numerous studies have linked social interaction to improved health and survival in humans, and new research confirms that the same is true for baboons. A long-term study of more than 200 wild female baboons finds that the most sociable females live two to three years longer than their socially isolated counterparts. Socializing with males gave females an even bigger longevity boost than socializing with other females, the researchers found. Picked up by the Daily Mail.
Supportive moms and sisters boost female baboon’s rank
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Supportive moms and sisters boost female baboon’s rank. Duke Today, July 30, 2014. A study of dominance in female baboons suggests that the route to a higher rank is to maintain close ties with mom, and to have lots of supportive sisters. Picked up by TIME Magazine.
Nearly 50 years of lemur data now available online
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Nearly 50 years of lemur data now available online. Duke Lemur Center, July 24, 2014. A 48-year archive of life history data for the world’s largest and most diverse collection of endangered primates is now digital and available online. The Duke Lemur Center database allows visitors to view and download data for more than 3600 animals representing 27 species of lemurs, lorises and galagos — distant primate cousins who predate monkeys and apes — with more data to be uploaded in the future. Picked up by io9 and BBC News.
Lemur supermodels strike a pose for Photo Ark project
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Lemur supermodels strike a pose for Photo Ark project. Duke Lemur Center, June 20, 2014. Lemurs don’t sit still for portraits. They sniff the lights. They scent mark the camera lens. They relieve themselves in the middle of the photo shoot. But that doesn’t faze National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, whose latest lemur photos — taken at the Duke Lemur Center — are now available for viewing.
Genome sequences show how lemurs fight infection
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Genome sequences show how lemurs fight infection. Duke Today, May 30, 2014. Coquerel’s sifakas are the only lemur species out of 17 at the Duke Lemur Center to fall prey to Cryptosporidium, a waterborne illness that causes weakness and diarrhea. Young sifakas are more likely to get sick, but if researchers can harness next-generation sequencing technology to figure out how older animals manage to fight the infection, they might be able to develop vaccines that provide infants the same protection. Picked up by National Geographic.
Animals with bigger brains, broader diets have better self control
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Animals with bigger brains, broader diets have better self control. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, April 24, 2014. The largest study of animal intelligence to-date finds that animals with bigger brains and broader diets have better self-control. The results are part of a long history of research aimed at understanding why some species are able to do things like make and use tools, read social cues, or even understand basic math, and others aren’t. By convincing animal experts across the globe to conduct the same set of experiments, researchers were able to test ideas about how cognitive differences in the animal kingdom came to be in a much more rigorous way than has been possible before. Picked up by The New York Times and the National Science Foundation.
Hot flashes? Thank evolution
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Hot flashes? Thank evolution. Duke Today, July 29, 2013. A study of mortality and fertility patterns among seven species of wild apes and monkeys and their relatives, compared with similar data from hunter-gatherer humans, shows that menopause sets humans apart from other primates. Picked up by Science News.
Personality test finds some mouse lemurs shy, others bold
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Personality test finds some mouse lemurs shy, others bold. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. June 18, 2013. Anyone who has ever owned a pet will tell you that it has a unique personality. Yet only in the last 10 years has the study of animal personality started to gain ground with scientists. Now researchers have found distinct personalities in the grey mouse lemur, the tiny, saucer-eyed primate native to the African island of Madagascar. Picked up by Futurity, Audubon Magazine and National Geographic Magazine.
Primate hibernation more common than previously thought
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Primate hibernation more common than previously thought. Duke Today, May 2, 2013. Until recently, the only primate known to hibernate as a survival strategy was a creature called the western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, a tropical tree-dweller from the African island of Madagascar. But it turns out this hibernating lemur isn’t alone. In a new study, researchers report that two other little-known lemurs — Crossley’s dwarf lemur and Sibree’s dwarf lemur — burrow into the soft, spongy rainforest floor in the eastern part of Madagascar, curl up and spend the next three to seven months snoozing underground. Picked up by Futurity, New Scientist and Nature World News.
DNA says lemur lookalikes are two new species
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DNA says lemur lookalikes are two new species. Duke University Lemur Center. March 26, 2013. Scientists have identified two new species of mouse lemur, the saucer-eyed, teacup-sized primates native to the African island of Madagascar. The new study brings the number of recognized mouse lemur species to 20, making them the most diverse group of lemurs known. Picked up by Science Magazine, Scientific American, Futurity, the Duke Chronicle and NBC News.
The safer sex? For a little-known primate, a new understanding of why females outlive males
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The safer sex? For a little-known primate, a new understanding of why females outlive males. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. February 28, 2013. After observing an endangered lemur for more than two decades in the wild in Madagascar, Patricia Wright of Stony Brook University had a hunch that females were living longer than males. What could explain the gender gap? By taking a closer look at dispersal behavior across the lifespan, researchers think they have a clue. Picked up by Futurity.
Parasites of Madagascar’s lemurs expanding with climate change
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Parasites of Madagascar’s lemurs expanding with climate change. Duke Lemur Center, January 23, 2013. Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns in Madagascar could fuel the spread of lemur parasites and the diseases they carry. The results will help researchers predict where disease hotspots are likely to occur, and prepare for them before they hit. Picked up by Duke News, Futurity, and RedOrbit.