bonobos news stories on Newser

Medical Chimp-Testing May Be Over

Mark Russell — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:04:01 CST

Chimpanzees: valuable test subjects, or caged relatives who deserve better treatment? With a ban on all ape-testing now in Congress, the controversial practice dating back to the 1920s may soon be over, the New York Times reports. “Now is the time to get these chimps out of invasive research and...

Our Brains Are Shrinking

Mark Russell — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:46:00 CST

Today's human brain is 10% smaller than that of our Cro-Magnon ancestors, but scientists are divided on whether that means we are getting smarter or dumber. Some say it does represent a dumbing down, but that our increasingly complex society means individuals don't need as much intelligence to survive and...

Chimps Shake Heads 'No'

Kevin Spak — Thu, 06 May 2010 13:07:36 CDT

Saying “no” by shaking our heads back and forth may just be a habit we inherited from our evolutionary precursors. Researchers have filmed Bonobo chimps at the Leipzig Zoo shaking their heads in much the same way, the BBC reports. In one film, for example, a mother shakes her head...

Gorillas: Maybe Not as Gentle as We Thought

Wesley Oliver — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:55:55 CDT

King Kong aside, gorillas have somehow been able to hold onto their reputations as gentle giants, while myths about the belligerent chimpanzee and the promiscuous bonobo have long since been dispelled. But with new research into ape behavior, the last fable may fall, the Economist reports after primatologists studied apes...

Scientists Rethink the Bonobo

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:02:35 CDT

Bonobos—the chimp cousins revered by generations of naturalists for their peaceful, playful, apparently even eco-conscious attitudes—may not be quite as groovy as we've been led to believe. Much of the cult of bonobo has been built around data from animals in captivity, where, as one scientist says, "What...