The conundrum of man and his domination of everything..

This article sums up the state of affairs relating to human kind and their ability to dominate and destroy that which is around them.  It saddens me to read this article and I hope that future generations understand the beauty and value of that which they are so priviledged to be surrounded by.  I only hope that my opportunity to do my thesis in this my honours year on primate behaviour (and future research) will bring to light the wonder and nature of the great apes and the need to conserve and look after them.  Over and above beauty and that which we honestly don't need.  

I still have hope.

http://bioenergy.checkbiotech.org/news/cost_biofuel_boom_destroying_indonesia’s_forests

Orangutans Learn to Whistle

Orangutans in captivity have been known to copy their keepers whistling!  This provides some real insights into how language may have developed in humans.  And as this article suggests is changing the way we see primates and their abilities. This demonstrates that despite the idea that primate tend to have fixed sounds, this may not always be the case.

http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Orangutans-spontaneous-whistling-opens-new-chapter-in-study-of-evolution-of-speech.aspx

Dialect in Pygmy Marmoset - New World Primate

One of the smallest primates has been found to have dialects in Ecuador, South America!  So humans are not alone and this does not constitute as autopomorphy (unique characteristic of humans)!  

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/01/090128-primate-language-dialects-missions.html

The wonder of Endangered Cotton-top Tamarins

Although these tamarins at the Wisconsin Research Centre are going into retirement after 30 years of giving us behavioural research, they have contributed to the wealth of knowledge about their pair bonding, the paternal contribution to rearing and so much more about this incredible new world primate.

Thanks to Snowden these primates were spared invasive reseach as he preferred to retire his colony than subject them to invasive probing for the sake of science.  Funding required his team to conduct more invasive research than they had been exposed to over the last 30 years.  Thank you Snowden.  

http://www.news.wisc.edu/16186

Capuchins tool use in the wild! Cognitive abilities

Great news from Fragaszy and colleagues, they have found that capuchins not only use tools in Brazil but they also choose the most effective ones for job!  I think that is great news, we are learning more about our distant relatives, and its changing the way we view them and can understand ourselves.  This is why evolutionary psychologists really need to take field studies into account and begin to engage in them more to understand and theorise about our origins and its effects on us today.

http://www.physorg.com/news152984550.html

Costa Rica - Monkey Madness and Rainforest

The research project in Costa Rica was incredible!  Professor Paul Garber led the research and course and was instrumental!  We had a 6.2 richter scale earthquake, I was peed on by a howler monkey, poked in the eye by a moving branch and was out of action for the day, was attacked by mosquitos the size of a quarter and had rice and beans 3 times a day!  But without these experiences I wouldn't have loved the rainforest as much as I did.  In terms of laterality in capuchin monkeys, they dragged us through streams, revines, dense fern forest, and swamps, but they did not show significant evidence for laterality.  However, the preliminary data I found suggested juveniles hung from their tails more, and had a propensity for using their left hand.  By contrast matures used their right hand more and did not hang from  branches as much.  Thus suggesting that the propensity to use the right hand may change over the lifetime of the individual.  It was so interesting to watch the capuchins in their natural habitat and the day before the earthquake there was a slight tremor (which I did not feel) they were going bananas, barking and jumping on the branches.  I thought there may have been a jaguar...... only to find out it was a tremor in preparation for the earthquake the next day!  They are described as destructive foragers and indeed, you can hear them when they are around.  They search in bromeliads, tear bark off with their teeth and hands and throw bark and termite nests at you.  In fact, one student had some faeces thrown at him!!  Apparently, the local women don't bathe in the river anymore as many of the male capuchins come down to watch them!  So how different are we really.........  not much!  And in terms of laterality I ask myself why they would be, overall, ambidextrous? Well, it makes sense as they are energy maximisers they need to find as much energy giving food as they can in the shortest space of time.  In so doing, by grabbing flying insects etc with two hands makes them more efficient.  I would love to undertake research over  a longer period of time and to understand the differing groups in various habitats....... maybe for my PhD in Bioanthropology!  I had the experience of a life time!