Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted ascending) Filter |
|---|
| 3d-kinematics of vertical climbing in hominoids. | vertical climbing has played an important role in theories about the evolution of habitual bipedalism in early hominids and of locomotor specialization in hominoids. however, empirical data on vertical climbing in nonhuman primates are scarce, especially regarding kinematics. in this paper, the kinematics of flexed-elbow vertical climbing of four hominoid species are reported: western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), bonobos (pan paniscus), sumatran orangutans (pongo pygmaeus abelii), ... | 2005 | 15386239 |
| patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans and species recognition in the hominid fossil record. | it has been suggested that patterns of craniodental variation in living hominids (gorilla, homo, pan, and pongo) may be useful for evaluating variation in fossil hominid assemblages. using this approach, a fossil sample exhibiting a pattern of variation that deviates from one shared among living taxa would be regarded as taxonomically heterogeneous. here we examine patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans to determine 1) if these taxa share a pattern of dental va ... | 2004 | 15386248 |
| [studies in comparative anatomy; aorta of the gorilla]. | 1950 | 15432939 | |
| [comparative anatomy of the spleen, liver, intestinal tract, and kidneys of the gorilla]. | 1950 | 15432941 | |
| inverted repeat structure of the human genome: the x-chromosome contains a preponderance of large, highly homologous inverted repeats that contain testes genes. | we have performed the first genome-wide analysis of the inverted repeat (ir) structure in the human genome, using a novel and efficient software package called inverted repeats finder (irf). after masking of known repetitive elements, irf detected 22,624 human irs characterized by arm size from 25 bp to >100 kb with at least 75% identity, and spacer length up to 100 kb. this analysis required 6 h on a desktop pc. in all, 166 irs had arm lengths >8 kb. from this set, irs were excluded if they wer ... | 2004 | 15466286 |
| home-range use and intergroup encounters in western gorillas (gorilla g. gorilla) at lossi forest, north congo. | i present data on home-range use and types of intergroup encounters for one group (apollo) of western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) from a new study site in the republic of congo. the total home-range size of the focal group, which i calculated by superimposing a 100 m x 100 m grid over the mapped daily path traveled, was 11 km2. the majority (73%) of the group's home range was used exclusively, although at the periphery it overlapped with the ranges of three other groups. most encounters ( ... | 2004 | 15470740 |
| western gorilla diet: a synthesis from six sites. | the objective of this paper is to collate information on western gorilla diet from six study sites throughout much of their current range, including preliminary information from two sites (afi and lossi), where studies of diet have begun only recently. food lists were available from each site, derived from indirect signs of gorilla feeding (such as feces), with some observational data. important staple, seasonal, and fallback foods have been identified, and a number of striking similarities acro ... | 2004 | 15470742 |
| impact of ecological and social factors on ranging in western gorillas. | we examined the influence of ecological (diet, swamp use, and rainfall) and social (intergroup interaction rate) factors on ranging behavior in one group of western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) during a 16-month study. relative to mountain gorillas, western gorillas live in habitats with reduced herb densities, more readily available fruit (from seasonal and rare fruit trees), and, at some sites, localized large open clearings (swamps and "bais"). ranging behavior reflects these ecological ... | 2004 | 15470743 |
| within-group social relationships among females and adult males in wild western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | within-group female relationships, and relationships between females and adult males have not been described for wild western lowland gorillas. new data are presented here from mbeli bai in the nouabale-ndoki national park, republic of congo. nine groups were observed over a continuous 2-year period, and affiliative and agonistic interactions, as well as time spent by females and adult males in proximity to each other were recorded. affiliative behavior was extremely rare in the bai, and measure ... | 2004 | 15470744 |
| behavioral ecology of western gorillas: new insights from the field. | the papers in this issue are from a conference held in may 2002 at the max planck institute for evolutionary anthropology in leipzig, germany. this conference brought together researchers from all current western gorilla sites for the first time with the aim of synthesizing the most current information available on western gorilla behavioral ecology. our goal was to assess the degree of behavioral diversity in gorillas in light of our current understanding of social evolution. the articles inclu ... | 2004 | 15470745 |
| genetic variation in gorillas. | this review summarizes what is currently known concerning genetic variation in gorillas, on both inter- and intraspecific levels. compared to the human species, gorillas, along with the other great apes, possess greater genetic variation as a consequence of a demographic history of rather constant population size. data and hence conclusions from analysis of mitochondrial dna (mtdna), the usual means of describing intraspecific patterns of genetic diversity, are limited at this time. an important ... | 2004 | 15470746 |
| effects of group dynamics and diet on the ranging patterns of a western gorilla group (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at bai hokou, central african republic. | this study describes how group dynamics and diet have influenced the ranging patterns of a western gorilla group at bai hokou, central african republic. the results are compared with those from an earlier study [cipolletta, international journal of primatology, 2003], when the same group was larger and undergoing the process of habituation to humans. data were obtained from maps of the gorillas' travel routes, direct observations, and analysis of fecal samples. through the years, the group has e ... | 2004 | 15470747 |
| social structure and life-history patterns in western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | life-history traits and ecological conditions have an important influence on primate social systems. most of what we know about the life-history patterns and social structure of gorillas comes from studies of eastern gorillas (gorilla beringei sp.), which live under dramatically different ecological conditions compared to western gorillas (gorilla gorilla sp.). in this paper we present new data on western gorilla social structure and life histories from four study sites, and make comparisons wit ... | 2004 | 15470749 |
| occupational health and gorilla conservation in rwanda. | the design and implementation of an employee health program for people who work with mountain gorillas in rwanda is described. this program aims to improve worker health and to reduce human-to-gorilla transmission of infectious disease. the program covered approximately 111 workers, generally healthy men and women 25-45 years old, including essentially all people in rwanda who have regular contact with gorillas. initial assessment included a questionnaire, medical examination, and local tests. u ... | 2004 | 15473088 |
| tau gene (mapt) sequence variation among primates. | filamentous tau deposits are a defining feature of a number of human neurodegenerative diseases. apes and monkeys have been reported to be differentially susceptible to developing tau pathology. despite this, only little is known about the organisation and sequence of tau from nonhuman primates. here we have sequenced tau exons 1-13, including flanking intronic regions, and the region in intron 9 that contains saitohin in chimpanzees, gorillas, and gibbons. partial sequences were obtained for cy ... | 2004 | 15474313 |
| natural simian foamy virus infection in wild-caught gorillas, mandrills and drills from cameroon and gabon. | a survey for the presence of simian foamy retroviruses (sfvs) was performed in 44 wild-caught apes and monkeys, including 27 gorillas, 11 mandrills and six drills, originating from south cameroon or gabon. combined serological and/or nested-pcr assays indicated sfv infection among five gorilla gorilla gorilla, seven mandrillus sphinx and two mandrillus leucophaeus. sequences of a 425 bp fragment of the integrase gene were obtained for 11 animals. phylogenetic studies indicated that strains from ... | 2004 | 15483245 |
| major histocompatibility complex and microsatellite variation in two populations of wild gorillas. | in comparison to their close relatives the chimpanzees and humans, very little is known concerning the amount and structure of genetic variation in gorillas. two species of gorillas are recognized and while the western gorillas number in the tens of thousands, only several hundred representatives of the mountain gorilla subspecies of eastern gorillas survive. to analyse the possible effects of these different population sizes, this study compares the variation observed at microsatellite and majo ... | 2004 | 15487998 |
| a case study of primiparous maternal and infant gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) behavior. | a primiparous mother and her infant were subjects of a longitudinal behavioral study at lincoln park zoo in chicago, illinois. from november 1998 to november 1999, we collected a total of 100 hr of focal nonhuman animal instantaneous point sampling and all occurrence data on the mother and her infant. after 8 months, we introduced the 4-member focal group to an 8-member gorilla group, thus providing an opportunity to study the effect of the introduction on mother-infant behavior. overall, time t ... | 2004 | 15498722 |
| common aspects of human and primate seronegative arthritis. | a 27-year-old female lowland gorilla developed an asymmetric oligoarthritis 3 months post-partum. there was no evidence of an antecedent gastrointestinal or genitourinary infection. serum was negative for rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibody. synovial fluid revealed 2000 white blood cells with negative cultures and polarized microscopy. studies on synoviocytes were the following: (1) facs analysis revealed surface expression of a b27-like epitope of the cells. (2) analysis of intracellular ... | 2004 | 15517649 |
| serial segmental duplications during primate evolution result in complex human genome architecture. | the human genome is particularly rich in low-copy repeats (lcrs) or segmental duplications (5%-10%), and this characteristic likely distinguishes us from lower mammals such as rodents. how and why the complex human genome architecture consisting of multiple lcrs has evolved remains an open question. using molecular and computational analyses of human and primate genomic regions, we analyzed the structure and evolution of lcrs that resulted in complex architectural features of the human genome in ... | 2004 | 15520286 |
| retrocyclins: using past as prologue. | retrocyclins are synthetic theta-defensins that were reconstructed from genetic blueprints that had remained unused for at least 7.5 million years. from phylogenetic studies, it appears that theta-defensins arose in old world monkeys, after that lineage had separated from the prosimians and new world monkeys. although some nonhuman primates continue to produce theta-defensin peptides today, homo sapiens and his gorilla, bonobo, and chimpanzee relatives do not. their inability to do so reflects t ... | 2004 | 15544532 |
| nucleotide sequence comparison of a chromosome rearrangement on human chromosome 12 and the corresponding ape chromosomes. | chromosome rearrangement has been considered to be important in the evolutionary process. here, we demonstrate the evolutionary relationship of the rearranged human chromosome 12 and the corresponding chromosome xii in apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, and gibbon) by examining pcr products derived from the breakpoints of inversions and by conducting shotgun sequencing of a gorilla fosmid clone containing the breakpoint and a "duplicated segment" (duplicon). we confirmed that a pair o ... | 2005 | 15545719 |
| breakpoint analysis of the pericentric inversion between chimpanzee chromosome 10 and the homologous chromosome 12 in humans. | during this study, we analysed the pericentric inversion that distinguishes human chromosome 12 (hsa12) from the homologous chimpanzee chromosome (ptr10). two large chimpanzee-specific duplications of 86 and 23 kb were observed in the breakpoint regions, which most probably occurred associated with the inversion. the inversion break in ptr10p caused the disruption of the slco1b3 gene in exon 11. however, the 86-kb duplication includes the functional slco1b3 locus, which is thus retained in the c ... | 2005 | 15545720 |
| evolutionary breakpoint analysis on y chromosomes of higher primates provides insight into human y evolution. | comparative fish mapping of pac clones covering almost 3 mb of the human azfa region in yq11.21 to metaphases of human and great apes unravels breakpoints that were involved in species-specific y chromosome evolution. an astonishing clustering of evolutionary breakpoints was detected in the very proximal region on the long arm of the human y chromosome in yq11.21. these breakpoints were involved in deletions, one specific for the human and another for the orang-utan y chromosome, in a duplicativ ... | 2005 | 15545731 |
| the evolution of the azoospermia factor region azfa in higher primates. | clones of a pac contig encompassing the human azfa region in yq11.21 were comparatively fish mapped to great ape y chromosomes. while the orthologous azfa locus in the chimpanzee, the bonobo and the gorilla maps to the long arm of their y chromosomes in yq12.1-->q12.2, yq13.1-->q13.2 and yq11.2, respectively, it is found on the short arm of the orang-utan subspecies of borneo and sumatra, in yp12.3 and yp13.2, respectively. regarding the order of pac clones and genes within the azfa region, no d ... | 2005 | 15545732 |
| new insights into the evolution of chromosome 1. | a complex low-repetitive human dna probe (bac rp11-35b4) together with two microdissection-derived region-specific probes of the multicolor banding (mcb) probe-set for chromosome 1 were used to re-analyze the evolution of human chromosome 1 in comparison to four ape species. bac rp11-35b4 derives from 1q21 and contains 143 kb of non-repetitive dna; however, it produces three specific fish signals in 1q21, 1p12 and 1p36.1 of homo sapiens (hsa). human chromosome 1 was studied in comparison to its ... | 2005 | 15545733 |
| panels of somatic cell hybrids specific for chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and baboon. | the generation of panels of somatic cell hybrids specific for chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and olive baboon is reported. the chromosome content of each hybrid clone was characterized using reverse painting on human normal metaphases and by the use of appropriate sequence tag sites (stss), one for each chromosome arm. these resources can be advantageously exploited in the characterization of chromosome architecture of different primate species, with special reference to the discrimination of i ... | 2005 | 15545734 |
| comparative mapping of human claudin-1 (cldn1) in great apes. | the gene encoding claudin-1 (cldn1) has been mapped to human chromosome 3 (hsa3; 3q28-->q29) using a radiation hybrid panel. employing fluorescence in situ hybridization (fish) we here show that a human p1-derived artificial chromosome (pac) containing cldn1 detects the orthologous sites in chromosomes of the great apes, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. furthermore, the chromosomal position of cldn1 was determined in mouse chromosomes by fish. the position of fluorescent signals is confined t ... | 2005 | 15545735 |
| barking up the wrong ape--australopiths and the quest for chimpanzee characters in hominid fossils. | with the shift during the 1980s from a human-great ape ultimately to an orangutan-(gorilla-(human-chimp)) theory of relatedness, the search for chimpanzee-like features in early hominids intensified. reconstructions of early hominids became caricatures of chimpanzees, not only in soft tissue features (e.g. the nasal region), but in supposed bony structures (e.g. an anteriorly and especially superiorly protruding a supraorbital torus with a distinct posttoral sulcus behind). in spite of rampant > ... | 2004 | 15571084 |
| fast adaptive coevolution of nuclear and mitochondrial subunits of atp synthetase in orangutan. | nuclear and mitochondrial genomes have to work in concert to generate a functional oxidative phosphorylation (oxphos) system. we have previously shown that we could restore partial oxphos function when chimpanzee or gorilla mitochondrial dna (mtdna) were introduced into human cells lacking mtdna. however, we were unable to maintain orangutan mitochondrial dna in a human cell. we have now produced chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and baboon cells lacking mtdna and attempted to introduce mtdna from ... | 2004 | 15574809 |
| a universal primer set for pcr amplification of nuclear histone h4 genes from all animal species. | to control the quality of genomic dna of samples from a wide variety of animals, a heminested pcr assay specifically targeting a nuclear gene has been developed. the histone h4 gene family comprises a small number of genes considered among the most conserved genes in living organisms. tissue samples from necropsies and from cells belonging to 43 different species were studied, eight samples from invertebrates and 35 samples from vertebrates covering all classes. ancient dna samples from three si ... | 2004 | 15601889 |
| species and sex identification of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), eastern lowland gorillas (gorilla beringei graueri) and humans. | methods for the identification of the sex and species of individuals from samples non-invasively taken from humans and gorillas were established. amplification of a segment of amelogenin (amg), which is an x-y homologous gene, using two pairs of primers from human amg, revealed both x- and y-specific bands. the possibility of sex identification was examined by typing the amg gene using hair and fecal samples from captive western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in japan and hair sample ... | 2005 | 15635453 |
| nuclear insertions help and hinder inference of the evolutionary history of gorilla mtdna. | numts are fragments of mitochondrial dna (mtdna) that have been translocated to the nucleus, where they can persist while their mitochondrial counterparts continue to rapidly evolve. thus, numts represent 'molecular fossils' useful for comparison with mitochondrial variation, and are particularly suited for studies of the fast-evolving hypervariable segment of the mitochondrial control region (hv1). here we used information from numts found in western gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and eastern goril ... | 2005 | 15643961 |
| inter- and intra-specific variation in the ontogeny of the hominoid facial skeleton: testing assumptions of ontogenetic variability. | in this paper we use geometric morphometric techniques to test two assumptions that are commonly made about variations in facial ontogeny: closely related species, or members of the same species, will share a common early post-natal ontogeny; and closely related species, or members of the same species, will share a common ontogenetic scaling trajectory. to test these assumptions we use four species of hominines: homo sapiens, gorilla gorilla, pan troglodytes and pan paniscus. the first assumptio ... | 2004 | 15646274 |
| a geometric morphometric assessment of hominoid crania: conservative african apes and their liberal implications. | this study examined the cranial affinities of all extant hominoids using 3d geometric morphometric analysis. a least squares procrustean superimposition was used to eliminate differences due to location, orientation, and size. because of a persistent correlation between centroid size and shape variation, an allometric size adjustment was also applied to these data. phenetic affinities were then examined through a battery of multivariate statistical analyses. results of this study indicate a stro ... | 2004 | 15646275 |
| craniofacial sexual dimorphism patterns and allometry among extant hominids. | craniofacial sexual dimorphism in primates varies in both magnitude and pattern among species. in the past two decades, there has been an increasing emphasis in exploring the correlations of these patterns with taxonomy and the variation in patterns within and among the craniofacial regions. scrutinising these relationships for hominids, we decompose the craniofacial morphology in five taxa: homo sapiens, pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla and pongo pygmaeus. 3d coordinates of 35 tra ... | 2004 | 15646280 |
| endoparasites of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at bai hokou, central african republic. | a coprologic study of free-ranging western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at bai hokou, dzangha-ndoki national park, central african republic (2 degrees 51'34''n, 16 degrees 28'03''e) was conducted from october 1999 to november 2000. all 75 fecal samples examined were positive for endoparasites, and each contained at least two species. parasites present included two genera of amoebae, entodiniomorph ciliates, including prototapirella gorillae, troglodytella spp., and gorillophilus th ... | 2004 | 15650099 |
| a genomic region evolving toward different gc contents in humans and chimpanzees indicates a recent and regionally limited shift in the mutation pattern. | dna sequences evolving differently in the human and chimpanzee genomes signal recent and regionally limited changes in the process of dna sequence evolution. here we present the comparison of 90 kb from the nonrecombining part of the human y chromosome to the corresponding part of the chimpanzee genome using gorilla as out-group. our results reveal a significant difference in the region-specific substitution process among the human and chimpanzee lineages. as a consequence, this region experienc ... | 2005 | 15703238 |
| evolution of human igh3'ec duplicated structures: both enhancers hs1,2 are polymorphic with variation of transcription factor's consensus sites. | the enhancer complex regulatory region at the 3' of the immunoglobulin heavy cluster (igh3'ec) is duplicated in apes along with four constant genes and the region is highly conserved throughout humans. both human igh3'ecs consist of three loci high sensitive (hs) to dnase i with enhancer activity. it is thus possible that the presence of structural divergences between the two igh3'ecs and of relative polymorphisms correspond to functional regulatory changes. to analyse the polymorphisms of these ... | 2004 | 15716094 |
| cataract surgery with foldable intraocular lens implants in captive lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | two juvenile, male, captive-born lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) with the same father but different mothers developed bilateral cataracts. the cataracts were surgically removed within 6 yr and 3 mo, respectively, of diagnosis, and foldable intraocular lenses were implanted. although vision was not restored in one eye with a mature, 6-yr-old cataract in gorilla a, surgical intervention on the other eye was performed before a complete cataract developed, and vision was fully restored. g ... | 2004 | 15732594 |
| lineage-specific expansions of retroviral insertions within the genomes of african great apes but not humans and orangutans. | retroviral infections of the germline have the potential to episodically alter gene function and genome structure during the course of evolution. horizontal transmissions between species have been proposed, but little evidence exists for such events in the human/great ape lineage of evolution. based on analysis of finished bac chimpanzee genome sequence, we characterize a retroviral element (pan troglodytes endogenous retrovirus 1 [pterv1]) that has become integrated in the germline of african g ... | 2005 | 15737067 |
| catarrhine primate divergence dates estimated from complete mitochondrial genomes: concordance with fossil and nuclear dna evidence. | accurate divergence date estimates improve scenarios of primate evolutionary history and aid in interpretation of the natural history of disease-causing agents. while molecule-based estimates of divergence dates of taxa within the superfamily hominoidea (apes and humans) are common in the literature, few such estimates are available for the cercopithecoidea (old world monkeys), the sister taxon of the hominoids in the primate infraorder catarrhini. to help fill this gap, we have sequenced the en ... | 2005 | 15737392 |
| gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and orangutans (pongo pygmaeus) encode relevant problem features in a tool-using task. | two important elements in problem solving are the abilities to encode relevant task features and to combine multiple actions to achieve the goal. the authors investigated these 2 elements in a task in which gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and orangutans (pongo pygmaeus) had to use a tool to retrieve an out-of-reach reward. subjects were able to select tools of an appropriate length to reach the reward even when the position of the reward and tools were not simultaneously visible. when presented with ... | 2005 | 15740427 |
| australopithecus anamensis: a finite-element approach to studying the functional adaptations of extinct hominins. | australopithecus anamensis is the stem species of all later hominins and exhibits the suite of characters traditionally associated with hominins, i.e., bipedal locomotion when on the ground, canine reduction, and thick-enameled teeth. the functional consequences of its thick enamel are, however, unclear. without appropriate structural reinforcement, these thick-enameled teeth may be prone to failure. this article investigates the mechanical behavior of a. anamensis enamel and represents the firs ... | 2005 | 15747349 |
| osteocalcin protein sequences of neanderthals and modern primates. | we report here protein sequences of fossil hominids, from two neanderthals dating to approximately 75,000 years old from shanidar cave in iraq. these sequences, the oldest reported fossil primate protein sequences, are of bone osteocalcin, which was extracted and sequenced by using maldi-tof/tof mass spectrometry. through a combination of direct sequencing and peptide mass mapping, we determined that neanderthals have an osteocalcin amino acid sequence that is identical to that of modern humans. ... | 2005 | 15753298 |
| the hominoid proximal radius: re-interpreting locomotor behaviors in early hominins. | studies of fossil hominins are traditionally taxonomically narrow and often exclude comparisons with hylobatids. hence, results of functional analyses of postcrania, interpreted as indicating that early hominins are "african-ape-like" in their postcranial skeletons and positional behaviors, may reflect an artifact of inadequate taxonomic and morphological breadth of the comparative sample. to address this problem and better understand early hominin positional behaviors, this study included hylob ... | 2005 | 15788187 |
| knuckle-walking anteater: a convergence test of adaptation for purported knuckle-walking features of african hominidae. | appeals to synapomorphic features of the wrist and hand in african apes, early hominins, and modern humans as evidence of knuckle-walking ancestry for the hominin lineage rely on accurate interpretations of those features as adaptations to knuckle-walking locomotion. because gorilla, pan, and homo share a relatively close common ancestor, the interpretation of such features is confounded somewhat by phylogeny. the study presented here examines the evolution of a similar locomotor regime in new w ... | 2005 | 15861420 |
| evidence for natural selection in the havcr1 gene: high degree of amino-acid variability in the mucin domain of human havcr1 protein. | the family of genes encoding t-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing proteins (tim), which are cell-surface molecules expressed in cd4(+) t helper cells, has important roles in the immune system. here, we report three unusual patterns of genetic variation in the human hepatitis a virus cellular receptor 1 gene (havcr1) that are similar to patterns observed in major histocompatibility complex loci. first, levels of polymorphism in exon 4 of havcr1 were exceptionally high in humans (nucl ... | 2005 | 15889130 |
| sexual dimorphism in the japanese cranial base: a fourier-wavelet representation. | an approach, computational shape analysis (csa), is presented here which utilizes a fourier-wavelet representation to numerically describe shape features of biological forms. two elements are involved: 1) elliptical fourier functions (effs), to provide estimates of global aspects, and 2) continuous wavelet transforms (cwts) to generate an objective estimate of localized features. effs are computed, using a set of pseudohomologous points, to create a precise analog of the boundary. this computed ... | 2005 | 15895430 |
| use and manufacture of tools to extract food by captive gorilla gorilla gorilla: experimental approach. | 2005 | 15900106 | |
| growing number of drug resistant strains dominates at retroviruses conference. drug resistance is an 800-pound gorilla. | the new york city man who recently was infected with multidrug resistant hiv and progressed rapidly to aids continues to fascinate and worry hiv clinicians, researchers, and public health officials. while officials debate the wisdom of widely publicizing this case, they agree that it brings into focus the need for continued prevention messages and surveillance of new infections. | 2005 | 15912613 |
| primate spondyloarthropathy. | spondyloarthropathy is a common occurrence in old world primates, with only limited presence in new world monkeys. clearly distinguished from rheumatoid arthritis, this erosive arthritis afflicts 20% of great apes, baboons, and rhesus macaques and had been increasing in frequency. habitat-dependent infectious agent diarrhea-induced reactive arthritis is implicated on a background of genetic predisposition. a gorilla-derived therapeutic preventative approach has possible application in human clin ... | 2005 | 15918992 |
| a comparative analysis of temporomandibular joint morphology in the african apes. | a number of researchers have suggested a functional relationship between dietary variation and temporomandibular joint (tmj) morphology, yet few studies have evaluated tmj form in the african apes. in this study, i compare tmj morphology in adults and during ontogeny in gorilla (g.g. beringei, g.g. graueri, and g.g. gorilla) and pan (p. paniscus, p. troglodytes troglodytes, p.t. schweinfurthii, and p.t. verus). i test two hypotheses: first, compared to all other african apes, g.g. beringei exhib ... | 2005 | 15927660 |
| the art and design of genetic screens: mouse. | humans are mammals, not bacteria or plants, yeast or nematodes, insects or fish. mice are also mammals, but unlike gorilla and goat, fox and ferret, giraffe and jackal, they are suited perfectly to the laboratory environment and genetic experimentation. in this review, we will summarize the tools, tricks and techniques for executing forward genetic screens in the mouse and argue that this approach is now accessible to most biologists, rather than being the sole domain of large national facilitie ... | 2005 | 15951745 |
| mountain gorilla tug-of-war: silverbacks have limited control over reproduction in multimale groups. | to determine who fathers the offspring in wild mountain gorilla groups containing more than one adult male silverback, we genotyped nearly one-fourth (n = 92) of the mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei) living in the virunga volcanoes region of africa. paternity analysis of 48 offspring born into four groups between 1985 and 1999 revealed that, although all infants were sired by within-group males, the socially dominant silverback did not always monopolize reproduction within his group. ... | 2005 | 15964984 |
| punctuated duplication seeding events during the evolution of human chromosome 2p11. | primate genomic sequence comparisons are becoming increasingly useful for elucidating the evolutionary history and organization of our own genome. such studies are particularly informative within human pericentromeric regions--areas of particularly rapid change in genomic structure. here, we present a systematic analysis of the evolutionary history of one approximately 700-kb region of 2p11, including the first autosomal transition from pericentromeric sequence to higher-order alpha-satellite dn ... | 2005 | 15965031 |
| identification of dna of human origin based on amplification of human-specific mitochondrial cytochrome b region. | species-specific differences in a non-polymorphic region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene appear to be large enough to allow human-specific amplification of forensic dna samples. we therefore developed a pcr-based method using newly designed primers to amplify a 157-bp portion of the human mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. the forward and reverse primers were designed to hybridize to regions of the human mitochondrial cytochrome b gene with sequences differing from those of chimpanzee by 26 ... | 2005 | 15978336 |
| comparison of arthritis characteristics in lowland gorilla gorilla and mountain gorilla beringei. | gorilla gorilla and the less-studied g. beringei occupy very different, geographically separate habitats. we studied the occurrence of various forms of arthritis to examine possible nature/nurture causality. the macerated skeletons of 38 g. beringei and 99 g. gorilla individuals were examined macroscopically for the presence of articular and osseous pathologies. contrasting with only isolated osteoarthritis and infectious arthritis was the frequent occurrence of a form of erosive arthritis assoc ... | 2005 | 16015662 |
| progressive proximal expansion of the primate x chromosome centromere. | previous studies of the pericentromeric region of the human x chromosome short arm (xp) revealed an age gradient from ancient dna that contains expressed genes to recent human-specific dna at the functional centromere. we analyzed the finished sequence of this human genomic region to investigate its evolutionary history. phylogenetic analysis of >1,500 alpha-satellite monomers from the region revealed the presence of five physical domains, each containing monomers from a distinct phylogenetic cl ... | 2005 | 16030148 |
| neural connectivity and cortical substrates of cognition in hominoids. | cognitive functions and information processing recruit discrete neural systems in the cortex and white matter. we tested the idea that specific regions in the cerebrum are differentially enlarged in humans and that some of the neural reorganizational events that took place during hominoid evolution were species-specific and independent of changes in absolute brain size. we used magnetic resonance images of the living brains of 10 human and 17 ape subjects to obtain volumetric estimates of region ... | 2005 | 16076478 |
| a 3d quantitative comparison of trapezium and trapezoid relative articular and nonarticular surface areas in modern humans and great apes. | the structure and functions of the modern human hand are critical components of what distinguishes homo sapiens from the great apes (gorilla, pan, and pongo). in this study, attention is focused on the trapezium and trapezoid, the two most lateral bones of the distal carpal row, in the four extant hominid genera, representing the first time they have been quantified and analyzed together as a morphological-functional complex. our objective is to quantify the relative articular and nonarticular s ... | 2005 | 16085278 |
| glucocerebrosidase recombinant allele: molecular evolution of the glucocerebrosidase gene and pseudogene in primates. | glucocerebrosidase is a lysosomal enzyme that hydrolyses the beta-glycosidic linkage of glucocerebroside, a ubiquitous sphingolipid present in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. deleterious mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene result in gaucher disease, the most prevalent lysosomal storage disease. humans have one glucocerebrosidase functional gene and pseudogene that were located 16 kb apart on chromosome 1q21 and share 96% overall sequence similarity. recombination between the two gen ... | 2005 | 16102985 |
| flow cytometric sorting of fresh and frozen-thawed spermatozoa in the western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | we adapted flow cytometry technology for high-purity sorting of x chromosome-bearing spermatozoa in the western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). our objectives were to develop methodologies for liquid storage of semen prior to sorting, sorting of liquid-stored and frozen-thawed spermatozoa, and assessment of sorting accuracy. in study 1, the in vitro sperm characteristics of gorilla ejaculates from one male were unchanged (p > 0.05) after 8 hr of liquid storage at 15 degrees c in a non ... | 2005 | 16104034 |
| relative numerousness judgment and summation in young and old western lowland gorillas. | the relationship between age, relative numerousness judgment, and summation was investigated in 11 western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). experiments 1 and 2 evaluated the gorillas' ability to select the larger of 2 food quantities before and with training. the majority of gorillas did not reliably select the larger quantity in experiment 1 until receiving training to do so in experiment 2. experiment 3 evaluated their ability to select the larger of 2 pairs of quantities. all goril ... | 2005 | 16131257 |
| evolutionary mechanisms shaping the genomic structure of the williams-beuren syndrome chromosomal region at human 7q11.23. | about 5% of the human genome consists of segmental duplications or low-copy repeats, which are large, highly homologous (>95%) fragments of sequence. it has been estimated that these segmental duplications emerged during the past approximately 35 million years (myr) of human evolution and that they correlate with chromosomal rearrangements. williams-beuren syndrome (wbs) is a segmental aneusomy syndrome that is the result of a frequent de novo deletion at 7q11.23, mediated by large (approximatel ... | 2005 | 16140988 |
| independent intrachromosomal recombination events underlie the pericentric inversions of chimpanzee and gorilla chromosomes homologous to human chromosome 16. | analyses of chromosomal rearrangements that have occurred during the evolution of the hominoids can reveal much about the mutational mechanisms underlying primate chromosome evolution. we characterized the breakpoints of the pericentric inversion of chimpanzee chromosome 18 (ptr xvi), which is homologous to human chromosome 16 (hsa 16). a conserved 23-kb inverted repeat composed of satellites, line and alu elements was identified near the breakpoints and could have mediated the inversion by brin ... | 2005 | 16140991 |
| diet and seasonal changes in sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees at kahuzi-biega national park. | based on 8 years of observations of a group of western lowland gorillas (gorilla beringei graueri) and a unit-group of chimpanzees (pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) living sympatrically in the montane forest at kahuzi-biega national park, we compared their diet and analyzed dietary overlap between them in relation to fruit phenology. data on fruit consumption were collected mainly from fecal samples, and phenology of preferred ape fruits was estimated by monitoring. totals of 231 plant foods (116 ... | 2006 | 16142424 |
| the role of taste in food selection by african apes: implications for niche separation and overlap in tropical forests. | ripe fruit eating shapes the behavior of most of the apes. gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) are very different sizes and, consequently, have been traditionally viewed as ecologically distinct, but few studies have explored the behavioral and physiological foundations of their diets. debate continues on the extent that large-bodied gorillas may be less selective and more opportunistic fruit eaters than chimpanzees. taste responses have been predicted to relate to body ... | 2006 | 16151604 |
| size and shape dimorphism in great ape mandibles and implications for fossil species recognition. | sexual dimorphism is an important source of morphological variation, and species differences in dimorphism may be reflected in magnitude, pattern, or both. while the extant great apes are commonly used as a reference sample for distinguishing between sexual dimorphism and intertaxic variation in the fossil record, few studies have evaluated mandibular dimorphism in these taxa. in this study, percentage, degree, and pattern of mandibular dimorphism are evaluated in pongo, gorilla, and pan. mandib ... | 2006 | 16161147 |
| evolutionary conservation of 5' upstream sequence of nine genes between human and great apes. | nucleotide sequences of nine 5' upstream gene regions for human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan were determined. we estimated nucleotide differences (d) for each region between human and great apes. the overall d was 0.027 (ranged from 0.004 to 0.052). rates of nucleotide substitution were estimated by using d and divergence times of human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan. the overall rate of nucleotide substitution between human and other hominoids was estimated to be 0.52-0.85 x 10(-9). ... | 2005 | 16172534 |
| the use of live apes in research in the twenty-first century. | a literature-based survey was conducted on the use of live apes in research between 2000 and 2003. the 599 studies identified and considered were grouped according to area of research, taxonomy and geographic location of the work. the results suggested that behaviour/cognition, conservation and various applications related to virology (most notably, hepatitis and hiv) were the most frequent areas of research. of the studies, 73% were classified as non-invasive, whereas 27% were classified as inv ... | 2005 | 16180986 |
| mhc-f dna sequences in bonobo, gorilla and orangutan. | the major histocompatibility complex (mhc)-f class ib locus shows a limited polymorphism, and the function of its mainly intracellular protein is not clear. we have identified human leucocyte antigen (hla)-f orthologous dna sequences in pongidae in order to study the mhc-f gene evolution and its products' function. hla-f orthologous cdna transcripts are found in chimpanzee and in the new primate species studied (bonobo, gorilla and orangutan). analyses of the predicted amino acid sequences and t ... | 2005 | 16185322 |
| first observation of tool use in wild gorillas. | descriptions of novel tool use by great apes in response to different circumstances aids us in understanding the factors favoring the evolution of tool use in humans. this paper documents what we believe to be the first two observations of tool use in wild western gorillas (gorilla gorilla). we first observed an adult female gorilla using a branch as a walking stick to test water deepness and to aid in her attempt to cross a pool of water at mbeli bai, a swampy forest clearing in northern congo. ... | 2005 | 16187795 |
| optimal storage conditions for highly dilute dna samples: a role for trehalose as a preserving agent. | dna extraction from trace samples or noninvasively collected samples often results in the recovery of low concentration solutions of dna that are prone to dna degradation or other loss. because of the difficulty in obtaining such samples, and their potentially high value in wildlife and forensic studies, it is critical that optimal methods are employed for their long-term storage. we assessed the amplification yield of samples kept under different storage conditions with the addition of potentia ... | 2005 | 16225214 |
| dental microwear and diets of african early homo. | conventional wisdom ties the origin and early evolution of the genus homo to environmental changes that occurred near the end of the pliocene. the basic idea is that changing habitats led to new diets emphasizing savanna resources, such as herd mammals or underground storage organs. fossil teeth provide the most direct evidence available for evaluating this theory. in this paper, we present a comprehensive study of dental microwear in plio-pleistocene homo from africa. we examined all available ... | 2006 | 16226788 |
| the axon guidance receptor gene robo1 is a candidate gene for developmental dyslexia. | dyslexia, or specific reading disability, is the most common learning disorder with a complex, partially genetic basis, but its biochemical mechanisms remain poorly understood. a locus on chromosome 3, dyx5, has been linked to dyslexia in one large family and speech-sound disorder in a subset of small families. we found that the axon guidance receptor gene robo1, orthologous to the drosophila roundabout gene, is disrupted by a chromosome translocation in a dyslexic individual. in a large pedigre ... | 2005 | 16254601 |
| discovery of human inversion polymorphisms by comparative analysis of human and chimpanzee dna sequence assemblies. | with a draft genome-sequence assembly for the chimpanzee available, it is now possible to perform genome-wide analyses to identify, at a submicroscopic level, structural rearrangements that have occurred between chimpanzees and humans. the goal of this study was to investigate chromosomal regions that are inverted between the chimpanzee and human genomes. using the net alignments for the builds of the human and chimpanzee genome assemblies, we identified a total of 1,576 putative regions of inve ... | 2005 | 16254605 |
| the behavioral ecology of sympatric african apes: implications for understanding fossil hominoid ecology. | the behavioral ecology of the great apes is key evidence used in the reconstruction of the behavior of extinct ape and hominid taxa. chimpanzees and gorillas have been studied in detail in the wild, and some studies of their behavioral ecology in sympatry have also been been carried out. although the two ape species have divergent behavior and ecology in important respects, recent studies have shown that the interspecific differences are not as stark as previously thought and subsequently urge n ... | 2006 | 16283423 |
| sva elements: a hominid-specific retroposon family. | sva is a composite repetitive element named after its main components, sine, vntr and alu. we have identified 2762 sva elements from the human genome draft sequence. genomic distribution analysis indicates that the sva elements are enriched in g+c-rich regions but have no preferences for inter- or intragenic regions. a phylogenetic analysis of the elements resulted in the recovery of six subfamilies that were named sva_a to sva_f. the composition, age and genomic distribution of the subfamilies ... | 2005 | 16288912 |
| commentary: culture in epidemiology--the 800 pound gorilla? | 2006 | 16303802 | |
| alveolar echinococcosis in the zoological garden basle. | alveolar echinococcosis (ae) is a rare, but potentially severe zoonotic disease caused by echinococcus (e.) multilocularis. recent findings indicated an increasing importance of ae for non-human primates living in regions endemic for e. multilocularis. the death of five cynomolgus monkeys (macaca fascicularis) and a lowland gorilla (gorilla g. gorilla) due to ae raised concern about the incidence of this parasite in the basle zoo. consequently, a project was initiated to investigate the prevalen ... | 2005 | 16315852 |
| expansion of gaa trinucleotide repeats in mammals. | we have previously shown that gaa trinucleotide repeats have undergone significant expansion in the human genome. here we present the analysis of the length distribution of all 10 nonredundant trinucleotide repeat motifs in 20 complete eukaryotic genomes (6 mammalian, 2 nonmammalian vertebrates, 4 arthropods, 4 fungi, and 1 each of nematode, amoebozoa, alveolate, and plant), which showed that the abundance of large expansions of gaa trinucleotide repeats is specific to mammals. analysis of human ... | 2006 | 16316739 |
| effects of selected behavioral enrichment devices on behavior of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | environmental complexity plays an integral role in the activity and psychological well-being of primates. the experiment described in this article evaluates the effects of nonintrusive, inexpensive, and easily managed behavioral enrichment devices on the behavior of a group of captive western lowland gorillas. devices used included cardboard boxes containing food items, paper bags containing food items, burlap rags, and willow and maple browse. the enrichment devices increased foraging, social p ... | 1998 | 16363941 |
| identification by full-coverage array cgh of human dna copy number increases relative to chimpanzee and gorilla. | duplication of chromosomal segments and associated genes is thought to be a primary mechanism for generating evolutionary novelty. by comparative genome hybridization using a full-coverage (tiling) human bac array with 79-kb resolution, we have identified 63 chromosomal segments, ranging in size from 0.65 to 1.3 mb, that have inferred copy number increases in human relative to chimpanzee. these segments span 192 ensembl genes, including 82 gene duplicates (41 reciprocal best blast matches). syno ... | 2006 | 16365383 |
| identification of large-scale human-specific copy number differences by inter-species array comparative genomic hybridization. | copy number differences (cnds), and the concomitant differences in gene number, have contributed significantly to the genomic divergence between humans and other primates. to assess its relative importance, the genomes of human, common chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan and macaque were compared by comparative genomic hybridization using a high-resolution human bac array (acgh). in an attempt to avoid potential interference from frequent intra-species polymorphism, pooled dna samples were us ... | 2006 | 16395594 |
| dental microwear variability on buccal tooth enamel surfaces of extant catarrhini and the miocene fossil dryopithecus laietanus (hominoidea). | analyses of buccal tooth microwear have been used to trace dietary habits of modern hunter-gatherer populations. in these populations, the average density and length of striations on the buccal surfaces of teeth are significantly cor-related with the abrasive potential of food items consumed. in non-human pri-mates, tooth microwear patterns on both occlusal and buccal wear facets have been thoroughly studied and the results applied to the characterization of dietary habits of fossil species. in ... | 2005 | 16401909 |
| lumbar diskectomy in a human-habituated mountain gorilla (gorilla beringei beringei). | the authors report a case of a human-habituated mountain gorilla, alvila, resident at the san diego zoo, who was found to have a herniated intervertebral lumbar disc after being attacked by the gorilla troop's silverback male gorilla. ultimately, the gorilla required surgical intervention for her disease and made a full recovery. to our knowledge, this is the only known case of spine surgery. a 36-year-old female human-habituated mountain gorilla (gorilla beringei beringei), resident at the san ... | 2006 | 16412845 |
| metric variation and sexual dimorphism in the dentition of ouranopithecus macedoniensis. | the fossil sample attributed to the late miocene hominoid taxon ouranopithecus macedoniensis is characterized by a high degree of dental metric variation. as a result, some researchers support a multiple-species taxonomy for this sample. other researchers do not think that the sample variation is too great to be accommodated within one species. this study examines variation and sexual dimorphism in mandibular canine and postcanine dental metrics of an ouranopithecus sample. bootstrapping (resamp ... | 2006 | 16413596 |
| fetal ultrasonography: biometric data from four african primate species. | nonhuman primates are raised in large numbers in research centers and zoos. reproductive monitoring is required to improve breeding performances. ultrasonography is a safe method to determine gestational age and to estimate the date of parturition. however only few data are available in nonhuman primates. | 2006 | 16430494 |
| how the great apes (pan troglodytes, pongo pygmaeus, pan paniscus, and gorilla gorilla) perform on the reversed contingency task: the effects of food quantity and food visibility. | s. t. boysen and g. g. berntson (1995) found that chimpanzees performed poorly on a reversed contingency task in which they had to point to the smaller of 2 food quantities to acquire the larger quantity. the authors compared the performance of 4 great ape species (pan troglodytes, pongo pygmaeus, pan paniscus, and gorilla gorilla) on the reversed contingency task while manipulating food quantity (0-4 or 1-4) and food visibility (visible pairs or covered pairs). results showed no systematic spec ... | 2006 | 16435965 |
| structural variation of the monoamine oxidase a gene promoter repeat polymorphism in nonhuman primates. | by conferring allele-specific transcriptional activity on the monoamine oxidase a (maoa) gene in humans, length variation of a repetitive sequence [(variable number of tandem repeat (vntr)] in the maoa promoter influences a constellation of personality traits related to aggressive and antisocial behavior and increases the risk of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. here, we have analyzed the presence and variability of this maoa promoter repeat in several species of nonhuman primates. ... | 2006 | 16436187 |
| a contact algorithm for density-based load estimation. | an algorithm, which includes contact interactions within a joint, has been developed to estimate the dominant loading patterns in joints based on the density distribution of bone. the algorithm is applied to the proximal femur of a chimpanzee, gorilla and grizzly bear and is compared to the results obtained in a companion paper that uses a non-contact (linear) version of the density-based load estimation method. results from the contact algorithm are consistent with those from the linear method. ... | 2006 | 16439233 |
| human endogenous retrovirus (herv)-r family in primates: chromosomal location, gene expression, and evolution. | hitherto, full-length endogenous retrovirus (herv)-r has been located at human chromosome 7q11.2, and mrna and envelope proteins have been detected in placenta and a variety of other cell types. in the present study, using a probe derived from the gorilla fosmid library, we detected the paralogous locus (7q31.3) of the herv-r env gene in human chromosome 7q11.2, and also determined the chromosomal location in apes and old world monkeys. the herv-r gene was not detected in new world monkeys or pr ... | 2006 | 16443335 |
| captive female gorilla agonistic relationships with clumped defendable food resources. | minimal feeding competition among female mountain gorillas (gorilla gorilla beringei) has resulted in egalitarian social relationships with poorly defined agonistic dominance hierarchies. thus, gorillas are generally viewed as non-competitive egalitarian folivores that have had little need to develop effective competitive strategies to access food resources. however, this generalization is inconsistent with more recent research indicating that most gorillas are frugivorous, feeding on patchily d ... | 2006 | 16467958 |
| living in nonbreeding groups: an alternative strategy for maturing gorillas. | the one-male reproductive strategy implies that maturing males are temporarily excluded from reproduction. in gorillas, these excluded males live either solitarily or in nonbreeding groups (nbgs) that are devoid of adult females. the dynamics of nbgs are not well known. in this study, which was conducted on a gorilla population (gorilla gorilla gorilla) of 377 individuals that visited the lokoué clearing in the republic of congo, we detail how the nbgs formed, and analyze their dynamics accordin ... | 2006 | 16477595 |
| comparison of different enzyme-immunoassays for assessment of adrenocortical activity in primates based on fecal analysis. | most studies published to date that used fecal glucocorticoid measurements to assess adrenocortical activity in primate (and many nonprimate) species applied a specific cortisol or corticosterone assay. however, since these native glucocorticoids are virtually absent in the feces of most vertebrates, including primates, the validity of this approach has recently been questioned. therefore, the overall aim of the present study was to assess the validity of four enzyme-immunoassays (eias) using an ... | 2006 | 16477600 |
| plant choice in the construction of night nests by gorillas in the bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda. | we investigated the choice of plants in nest sites and individual night nests of a group of gorillas (gorilla beringei) in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda. most of the nests were built on the ground in secondary forest or canopy gaps. the gorillas used 62 plant genera in their nests out of a possible 108 plant genera available in the immediate environment. this group of bwindi gorillas chose nest sites nonrandomly with respect to habitat type and selected nest sites in which pteridium ... | 2006 | 16534805 |
| nutritional chemistry of foods eaten by gorillas in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda. | foods eaten by gorillas (gorilla beringei) in bwindi impenetrable national park (binp), uganda, were analyzed for their nutrient content. the goal of the study was to assess the amounts of fiber, protein, and sugars in the foods eaten by the bwindi gorillas, and to determine whether condensed tannins and cyanide are present in these foods. a total of 127 food plant parts representing 84 plant species eaten by two groups of bwindi gorillas were collected, processed, and analyzed for their chemica ... | 2006 | 16550527 |
| patterns of craniofacial integration in extant homo, pan, and gorilla. | brain size increased greatly during pleistocene human evolution, while overall facial and dentognathic size decreased markedly. this mosaic pattern is due to either selective forces that acted uniquely on each functional unit in a modularized, developmentally uncoupled craniofacial complex, or alternatively, selection that acted primarily on one unit, with the other responding passively as part of a coevolved set of ontogenetically and evolutionarily integrated structures. using conditional inde ... | 2006 | 16552733 |
| natural selection and molecular evolution in primate pax9 gene, a major determinant of tooth development. | large differences in relation to dental size, number, and morphology among and within modern human populations and between modern humans and other primate species have been observed. molecular studies have demonstrated that tooth development is under strict genetic control, but, the genetic basis of primate tooth variation remains unknown. the pax9 gene, which codes for a paired domain-containing transcription factor that plays an essential role in the development of mammal dentition, has been a ... | 2006 | 16585527 |