Critter News

JUNE 16, 2010

I recently was escorted through a large primate research laboratory by its director. The director informed me that not only spit is apt to fly in such a situation; and at his urging we retreated. How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?

Animal 100

Animal Medical Research Apes Research 100

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 16, 2012

which was a comparative look at apparent, visible, often in your face biomass we observe when we as diurnal primates look around us. A while back I asked the question, How much bird is there, anyway? I had noted that if you took a quick look around you’d think there were a lot of birds and very few mammals. Makes you think.

Cats 181

Cats Boston Ferrets Killing 181

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Even among our primate relatives, whoa are generally very smart, “Theory of Mind” is found in only a few species. A number of research projects have sought to determine if some of these human brain abilities are found in other animals. It turns out, for example, that “Theory of Mind” is very rare in the animal kingdom.

Abandon 228

Abandon Abandoning Abandonment Research 228

Critter News

DECEMBER 9, 2010

NASA has also announced its intention to “undertake a comprehensive review of the agency's current research and technology development plans to see how they align with the President's plan for human spaceflight,” the findings of which “will inform [its] decision making moving forward.”

Experience 100

Experience Experiments Monkeys Squirrels 100

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 26, 2021

And apart from local people, primate researchers sometimes spot it, but it is a species seen by fewer than ten living birders. Watson’s style is dry and highly informative, the kind I would expect of, let’s say, a colonial army officer with a penchant for natural history.

Congo 264

Congo Africa South Africa Madagascar 264

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2016

Primates are exceptional among the mammals, living amphibians (which represent only a small part of the original amphibian family tree) are pretty noisy too. One of the key features of birds, and I use the term “key” literally, is vocalization. Very few other vertebrates use sound so socially and so critically.

Groups 169

Groups Collecting Primates Bats 169

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2014

This was the idea originally proposed to explain unbelievably huge sexual swellings in primates, to let males know who the females are. Birds (or other animals) need to be whacked on the head with some over the top obvious signal of something important or they won’t notice it.

Breeders 200

Breeders Breeding Birds Groups 200

10,000 Birds

JULY 28, 2022

The landlocked Republic of the Congo (former French Congo; not to be confused with much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Belgian Congo) is sometimes informally called Congo-Brazzaville, after its capital city. Mammals include Western Lowland Gorilla, Forest Elephant and Forest Buffalo, and eleven diurnal primates.

Central African Republic 289

Central African Republic Congo Gabon Gorillas 289

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 6, 2018

Utilizing a mixed bag of human and primate sex studies, literature, myth, and the Old Testament, Prum muses on the evolution of the penis, the female orgasm, male-female sexual conflict and same-sex relationships. Much of this, as Prum himself admits, is speculative and it is far less compelling than the ornithological chapters.

Ducks 100

Ducks Research Animal Stud 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 15, 2015

Very little information was available at the time, so we hired a car and off we went, following the few tips we had managed to gather but mostly our noses. And wow, what a trip we had! Official estimates suggest that logging is proceeding at about four million cubic meters per annum – four times the sustainable rate.

Ghana 192

Ghana Hunters Gambia Guinea 192

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 30, 2023

But maybe bringing up a cuckoo brings good karma, who knows … After the initial posting, Andrew Bailey informed me that after a split, the babbler above is now Grey-hooded Babbler. Yes, you can get that information! At Sepilok, it can be hard to avoid taking photos of some non-birds, such as primates.

Woodpeckers 208

Woodpeckers Birds Eggs India 208

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 30, 2020

Further chapters detail wildlife watching opportunities for primates, birds, reptiles, turtles, butterflies and dragonflies; a description of the parks and reserves by habitat type; and a wildlife watching calendar to help plan a trip.

Sri Lanka 199

Sri Lanka Whales Whaling Leopards 199