Search Results for: Primates
- Life
Fossils suggest early primates lived in a once-swampy Arctic
Teeth and jawbones found on Ellesmere Island, Canada, suggest that two early primate species migrated there 52 million years ago.
By Freda Kreier - Animals
Bizarre aye-aye primates take nose picking to the extreme
A nose-picking aye-aye’s spindly middle finger probably reaches all the way to the back of the throat, CT scans suggest.
- Archaeology
A spider monkey’s remains tell a story of ancient diplomacy in the Americas
A 1,700-year-old spider monkey skeleton unearthed at Teotihuacan in Mexico was likely a diplomatic gift from the Maya.
By Freda Kreier - Humans
Why humans have more voice control than any other primates
Unlike all other studied primates, humans lack vocal membranes. That lets humans produce the sounds that language is built on, a new study suggests.
By Asa Stahl - Anthropology
Fossil finds put gibbons in Asia as early as 8 million years ago
Specimens from China raise questions about the evolutionary ID of an even older ape tooth from India.
By Bruce Bower - Life
These science discoveries from 2022 could be game changers
Gophers that farm, the earliest known hominid, a strange hybrid monkey and the W boson's mass are among the findings awaiting more evidence.
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Good with tools? You may be a cockatoo
Editor in chief Nancy Shute talks about smart animals, from tool-using cockatoos to "self-aware" fish.
By Nancy Shute - Animals
A ‘mystery monkey’ in Borneo may be a rare hybrid. That has scientists worried
Severe habitat fragmentation caused by expanding palm oil plantations may have driven two primate species to mate that wouldn’t have otherwise.
- Anthropology
7-million-year-old limb fossils may be from the earliest known hominid
An earlier report on one of the bones of a 7-million-year-old creature that may have walked upright has triggered scientific misconduct charges.
By Bruce Bower - Animals
Cockatoos can tell when they need more than one tool to swipe a snack
Cockatoos know when it will take a stick and a straw to nab a nut in a puzzle box. The birds join chimps as the only known nonhumans to use a tool kit.
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- Health & Medicine
Western wildfires’ health risks extend across the country
As western wildfires become more common, hazardous smoke is sending people — especially children — to emergency rooms on the East Coast.
By Megan Sever