Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Girona, associate professor Serra Húnter and principal investigator of the Comparative Minds research group
Gilberto and Tomás are two macaques trained to synchronise their movements with the rhythm of a metronome, who were also able to tap to a musical beat, according to a study published in Science. This result contradicts the vocal learning hypothesis, according to which only species capable of complex vocalisations can perceive and follow a musical rhythm.
English ethologist Jane Goodall died on Wednesday at the age of 91 in California (United States), where she was participating in a lecture tour. This was announced by the Jane Goodall Institute on its social media. ‘Dr Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,’ the statement said. Her observations and analysis of chimpanzees in the wild over decades were a milestone in primatology.
Some animal species, such as parrots or dolphins, appear to address each other by imitating sounds from the receiver. However, animals addressing each other by individual names has only been observed in humans. Now, an international team of researchers says that African elephants can communicate through name-like calls and do not appear to rely on imitation to do so. According to the authors, who publish their results in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the finding would imply that they have some degree of symbolic thinking.
A study published in Science Advances analyses population data for great ape species in mining areas in 17 African countries and shows that their habitats overlap, endangering the apes' survival. The study also reveals a considerable information gap: 97% of the mining areas contain no population data for these animals.
Chimpanzees can learn a new skill by observing each other — a phenomenon known as social learning — according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour. The findings suggest that chimpanzees may have the capacity for cumulative cultural evolution, which was previously considered to be an exclusively human trait.
A special issue published in the journals Science and Science Advances shares for the first time the genomes of hundreds of primates, representing 86% of known genera. One of the papers -co-led by the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and the Pompeu Fabra University- analyzes the relationship between the genes of these animals and the risk of suffering from certain diseases such as cancer in humans.
An international study published in the journal PNAS has associated deforestation and climate change with different species of monkeys and lemurs that usually live in trees spending more time on the ground. This implies that they would be exposed to a greater number of hazards. The research has taken place in 47 species in different parts of the Americas and Madagascar.