Publications

kinematic parameters inferred from enamel microstructure: new insights into the diet of australopithecus anamensis.	the dietary adaptations of australopithecus anamensis are contentious, with suggestions that range from soft fruits to hard, brittle, tough, and abrasive foods. it is unlikely that all propositions are equally valid, however. here we extend recent finite element (fe) analyses of enamel microstructure (shimizu and macho, 2008) to enquire about the range of loading directions (i.e., kinematics) to which a. anamensis enamel microstructure/molars could safely be subjected. the rationale underlying t ...	2010	19783029
recent de novo origin of human protein-coding genes.	the origin of new genes is extremely important to evolutionary innovation. most new genes arise from existing genes through duplication or recombination. the origin of new genes from noncoding dna is extremely rare, and very few eukaryotic examples are known. we present evidence for the de novo origin of at least three human protein-coding genes since the divergence with chimp. each of these genes has no protein-coding homologs in any other genome, but is supported by evidence from expression an ...	2009	19726446
the strategic use of sex in wild female western gorillas.	human females, unlike most mammals, are sexually active outside of fertile periods. this decoupling of sexual behavior from its conceptive function has had an enormous impact on human social relationships, and yet we know little about why there was selection for nonconceptive mating. here we examine one form of nonconceptive mating, the mating that occurs during pregnancy or post-conceptive (pc) mating, in wild western gorillas (gorilla gorilla). using a near complete mating record for five fema ...	2009	19722225
the vertebral formula of the last common ancestor of african apes and humans.	the modal number of lumbar vertebrae in modern humans is five. it varies between three and four in extant african apes (mean=3.5). because both chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) and gorillas (gorilla gorilla) possess the same distributions of thoracic, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae, it has been assumed from parsimony that the last common ancestor (lca) of african apes and humans possessed a similarly short lower back. this "short-backed lca" scenario has recently been viewed favorably in an analysis ...	2010	19688850
infanticide and social flexibility in the genus gorilla.	based on the cases of infanticide by male mountain gorillas reported from the virunga volcanic region, the socioecological and life history features of gorillas satisfy the conditions for which infanticide may be expected. however, there are considerable variations in the occurrence of infanticide between habitats. we analyze the recent reports of infanticides that were directly observed or are suspected based on field evidence in two populations of eastern and western lowland gorillas (kahuzi a ...	2009	19688234
does early care affect joint attention in great apes (pan troglodytes, pan paniscus, pongo abelii, pongo pygmaeus, gorilla gorilla)?	the ability to share attention with another is the foundation on which other theory of mind skills are formed. the quality of care received during infancy has been correlated with increased joint attention in humans. the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of care style (responsive or basic) and caregiver type (ape or human) during the first 6 months on joint attention in 4 great ape species (pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla, pongo spp., and pan pansicus). great apes engaged in joint ...	2009	19685976
body size and its consequences: allometry and the lower limb length of liang bua 1 (homo floresiensis).	bivariate femoral length allometry in recent humans, pan, and gorilla is investigated with special reference to the diminutive liang bua (lb) 1 specimen (the holotype of homo floresiensis) and six early pleistocene femora referred to the genus homo. relative to predicted body mass, pan and gorilla femora show strong negative length allometry while recent human femora evince isometry to positive allometry, depending on sample composition and line-fitting technique employed. the allometric traject ...	2009	19674770
independent evolution of knuckle-walking in african apes shows that humans did not evolve from a knuckle-walking ancestor.	despite decades of debate, it remains unclear whether human bipedalism evolved from a terrestrial knuckle-walking ancestor or from a more generalized, arboreal ape ancestor. proponents of the knuckle-walking hypothesis focused on the wrist and hand to find morphological evidence of this behavior in the human fossil record. these studies, however, have not examined variation or development of purported knuckle-walking features in apes or other primates, data that are critical to resolution of thi ...	2009	19667206
evolution of major histocompatibility complex g and c and natural killer receptors in primates.	major histocompatibility complex (mhc)-g and -c molecules bear ligands to natural killer immunoglobulin receptors (kir). mhc-g evolution in primates shows some anomalies. in new world monkeys mhc-g molecules show a high polymorphism and most likely are classical antigen presenters; they also cluster closer to mhc-e in a relatedness dendrogram. their genes lack intron 2 deletion, which is typical of all other primates in regard to mhc-g. medium-sized eurasian-african monkeys (cercopithecinae) sho ...	2009	19651181
why do gorillas make sequences of gestures?	great ape gestures have attracted considerable research interest in recent years, prompted by their flexible and intentional pattern of use; but almost all studies have focused on single gestures. here, we report the first quantitative analysis of sequential gesture use in western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), using data from three captive groups and one african study site. we found no evidence that gesture sequences were given for reasons of increased communicative efficiency over single ...	2010	19649664
a new human immunodeficiency virus derived from gorillas.	we have identified a new human immunodeficiency virus in a cameroonian woman. it is closely related to gorilla simian immunodeficiency virus (sivgor) and shows no evidence of recombination with other hiv-1 lineages. this new virus seems to be the prototype of a new hiv-1 lineage that is distinct from hiv-1 groups m, n and o. we propose to designate it hiv-1 group p.	2009	19648927
a genetic variant of hepatitis b virus divergent from known human and ape genotypes isolated from a japanese patient and provisionally assigned to new genotype j.	hepatitis b virus (hbv) of a novel genotype (j) was recovered from an 88-year-old japanese patient with hepatocellular carcinoma who had a history of residing in borneo during the world war ii. it was divergent from eight human (a to h) and four ape (chimpanzee, gorilla, gibbon, and orangutan) hbv genotypes, as well as from a recently proposed ninth human genotype i, by 9.9 to 16.5% of the entire genomic sequence and did not have evidence of recombination with any of the nine human genotypes and ...	2009	19640977
'infinite loneliness': the life and times of miss congo.	the arrival of miss congo, a female mountain gorilla, in america provided the opportunity for a scientific study of the mental abilities of our close cousin. since the mid-nineteenth century, gorillas had captivated the imagination of the public and scientific community alike. in 1925, psychobiologist robert mearns yerkes was thrilled to gain access to such a rare primate specimen. yerkes' study of 'the mind of a gorilla' reveals how our enduring fascination with the gorilla is driven by conflic ...	2009	19640588
clinical and research searching on the wild side: exploring the veterinary literature.	zoological medicine furthers the health and well-being of captive and free-ranging wild animals. effective information retrieval of the zoological medicine literature demands searching multiple databases, conference proceedings, and organization websites using a wide variety of keywords and controlled vocabulary. veterinarians, residents, students, and the librarians who serve them must have patience for multiple search iterations to capture the majority of the available knowledge. the complexit ...	2009	19626142
transvalued species in an african forest.	we combined ethnographic investigations with repeated ecological transect surveys in the dzanga-sangha dense forest reserve (rds), central african republic, to elucidate consequences of intensifying mixed use of forests. we devised a framework for transvaluation of wildlife species, which means the valuing of species on the basis of their ecological, economic, and symbolic roles in human lives. we measured responses to hunting, tourism, and conservation of two transvalued species in rds: elephan ...	2009	19604297
functional consequences of genetic variation in primates on tyrosine hydroxylase (th) expression in vitro.	tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in catecholamine synthesis, is known to contain naturally occurring genetic variation in it's promoter region that associates with a number of neuropsychological disorders. as such, examining non-coding regions is important for understanding tyrosine hydroxylase function in human health and disease. we examined approximately 2 kb upstream of the translation start site within humans and non-human primates to obtain a fine resolution map of evolutiona ...	2009	19591812
establishment of a continuous culture system for entamoeba muris and analysis of the small subunit rrna gene.	we established a culture system for entamoeba muris (mg-em-01 strain isolated from a mongolian gerbil) using a modified balamuth's egg yolk infusion medium supplemented with 4% adult bovine serum and bacteroides fragilis cocultured with escherichia coli. further, encystation was observed in the culture medium. the morphological characteristics of e. muris are similar to those of entamoeba coli (e. coli); moreover, the malic isoenzyme electrophoretic band, which shows species-specific electrophor ...	2009	19585892
ancestral population genomics: the coalescent hidden markov model approach.	with incomplete lineage sorting (ils), the genealogy of closely related species differs along their genomes. the amount of ils depends on population parameters such as the ancestral effective population sizes and the recombination rate, but also on the number of generations between speciation events. we use a hidden markov model parameterized according to coalescent theory to infer the genealogy along a four-species genome alignment of closely related species and estimate population parameters. ...	2009	19581452
dimensions of the foot muscles in the lowland gorilla.	we dissected the hindlimb of a female western lowland gorilla and determined the muscle dimensions (mass, fascicle length, and physiological cross-sectional area: pcsa). comparisons of the muscle parameters of the measured gorilla with corresponding reported human data demonstrated that the triceps surae muscles were larger and had more capacity to generate force than the other muscle groups in both species, but this tendency was more prominent in the human, probably as an adaptation to strong t ...	2009	19578296
mitochondrial insertions into primate nuclear genomes suggest the use of numts as a tool for phylogeny.	homoplasy-free characters are a valuable and highly desired tool for molecular systematics. nuclear sequences of mitochondrial origin (numts) are fragments of mitochondrial dna that have been transferred into the nuclear genome. numts are passively captured into genomes and have no transposition activity, which suggests they may have utility as phylogenetic markers. here, five fully sequenced primate genomes (human, chimpanzee, orangutan, rhesus macaque, and marmoset) are used to reconstruct the ...	2009	19578158
novel cytomegaloviruses in free-ranging and captive great apes: phylogenetic evidence for bidirectional horizontal transmission.	wild great apes often suffer from diseases of unknown aetiology. this is among the causes of population declines. because human cytomegalovirus (hcmv) is an important pathogen, especially in immunocompromised individuals, a search for cytomegaloviruses (cmvs) in deceased wild and captive chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans was performed. by using a degenerate pcr targeting four conserved genes (ul54-ul57), several distinct, previously unrecognized cmvs were found for each species. sequences of ...	2009	19553394
comparative 3d quantitative analyses of trapeziometacarpal joint surface curvatures among living catarrhines and fossil hominins.	comparisons of joint surface curvature at the base of the thumb have long been made to discern differences among living and fossil primates in functional capabilities of the hand. however, the complex shape of this joint makes it difficult to quantify differences among taxa. the purpose of this study is to determine whether significant differences in curvature exist among selected catarrhine genera and to compare these genera with hominin fossils in trapeziometacarpal curvature. two 3d approache ...	2010	19544574
hepatitis b virus infection in non-human primates.	hepatitis b viruses (hbvs) represent a serious public health problem affecting 350 to 400 million hbv carriers worldwide. the virus does not exclusively infect humans, but can also be found in non-human primates as in the families hominidae (chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan) and hylobatidae (gibbon), which are distributed over africa (chimpanzee and gorilla) and southeast asia (orangutan and gibbon), the endemic areas of human hbv. the prevalence of asymptomatic hbv carriers reaches in gibbons 23- ...	2009	19537907
patterns of autosomal divergence between the human and chimpanzee genomes support an allopatric model of speciation.	there is a large variation in divergence times across genomic regions between human and chimpanzee. it has been suggested that this could partly result from selection against ancestral gene flow between incipient species in regions of the genome containing genetic incompatibilities. it is possible that such barriers to gene flow could arise in specific genes or in chromosomal inversions. i analysed patterns of lineage sorting that occur between human, chimpanzee and gorilla genomic sequences by ...	2009	19463924
logging concessions can extend the conservation estate for central african tropical forests.	the management of tropical forest in timber concessions has been proposed as a solution to prevent further biodiversity loss. the effectiveness of this strategy will likely depend on species-specific, population-level responses to logging. we conducted a survey (749 line transects over 3450 km) in logging concessions (1.2 million ha) in the northern republic of congo to examine the impact of logging on large mammal populations, including endangered species such as the elephant (loxodonta african ...	2009	19453655
gravity and solidity in four great ape species (gorilla gorilla, pongo pygmaeus, pan troglodytes, pan paniscus): vertical and horizontal variations of the table task.	three experiments modeled after infant studies were run on four great ape species (gorilla gorilla, pongo pygmaeus, pan troglodytes, pan paniscus) to investigate their reasoning about solidity and gravity constraints. the aims were: (a) to find out if great apes are subject to gravity biased search or display sensitivity for object solidity, (b) to check for species differences, and (c) to assess if a gravity hypothesis or more parsimonious explanations best account for failures observed. result ...	2009	19450024
size and shape variation in the proximal femur of australopithecus africanus.	aside from use as estimates of body mass dimorphism and fore to hind limb joint size comparisons, postcranial elements have not often contributed to assessments of variation in australopithecus africanus. meanwhile, cranial, facial, and dental size variation is interpreted to be high or moderately high. further, the cranial base and face express patterns of structural (shape) variation, which are interpreted by some as evidence for the presence of multiple species. here, the proximal femur is us ...	2009	19446306
why do humans have such a prominent nose? the final result of phylogenesis: a significant reduction of the splanchocranium on account of the neurocranium.	during the last few decades several authors tried to clarify the anthropological aspects of the shape of the human nose and why it has so emphasized projection. our hypothesis suggests the essentiality of the role of morphologic changes of the human skull which occurred during the phylogenesis. it seems that erectile posture of the man caused remarkable morphological changes of the skull base shape thus being a part of morphologic evolution. the changes in the shape of the human spine from birth ...	2009	19442453
chimpanzee malaria parasites related to plasmodium ovale in africa.	since the 1970's, the diversity of plasmodium parasites in african great apes has been neglected. surprisingly, p. reichenowi, a chimpanzee parasite, is the only such parasite to have been molecularly characterized. this parasite is closely phylogenetically related to p. falciparum, the principal cause of the greatest malaria burden in humans. studies of malaria parasites from anthropoid primates may provide relevant phylogenetic information, improving our understanding of the origin and evoluti ...	2009	19436742
a novel food processing technique by a wild mountain gorilla (gorilla beringei beringei).	innovation, the invention of new behavior, has been observed in wild primates only infrequently. the processing of thistle (cardus nyassanus) has previously been described as being one of the most complex food processing techniques used by mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei). we report a case of innovation in thistle leaf processing by a subadult female mountain gorilla in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda. this technique involved rolling the thistle leaves into a ball between ...	2009	19420959
sexual behavior in female western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla): evidence for sexual competition.	previous research in gorillas suggests that females engage in post-conception mating as a form of sexual competition designed to improve their own reproductive success. this study focused on sexual behaviors in a newly formed group of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) housed at zoo atlanta. all females engaged in mating outside their conceptive periods, although there was individual variation in the frequency of the behavior. an analysis of the presence/absence of sexual behavio ...	2009	19399838
facility design for bachelor gorilla groups.	this paper emerged from discussions following the bachelor gorilla 2000 workshop facility design sessions. although many ape facility design features are common to all gorillas, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of special needs of bachelor gorillas. for example, managing escalating aggression between maturing or silverback males may require a high degree of caregiver intervention and thus easy access to gorillas both on- and off-exhibit is beneficial. facility design features ...	2009	19367627
behavioral response of captive western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) to the death of silverbacks in multi-male groups.	in both free-ranging and captive western lowland gorillas, a silverback provides protection and leadership, mediating conflict within a group. in the wild, when a dominant silverback dies the group will disperse or transfer to a solitary male, unless a subsequent male is present to inherit the group. in captivity, studies have focused on groups containing one male and therefore it is unclear how gorillas respond to the death or removal of a silverback in multi-male groups. this study examined th ...	2010	19367612
infant cradling in a captive mother gorilla.	the purpose of the study presented here was to investigate the handedness and cradling preferences of a mother gorilla (gorilla gorilla) from the metro toronto zoo. the study also examined preferences for handedness for each member of the captive group. observational data were collected using scan sampling at 60-sec intervals. handedness was determined with a coordinated bimanual tube test using peanut butter spread on the interior of a pvc tube. our findings were largely consistent with the lit ...	2008	19360636
beyond gorilla and pongo: alternative models for evaluating variation and sexual dimorphism in fossil hominoid samples.	sexual size dimorphism in the postcanine dentition of the late miocene hominoid lufengpithecus lufengensis exceeds that in pongo pygmaeus, demonstrating that the maximum degree of molar size dimorphism in apes is not represented among the extant hominoidea. it has not been established, however, that the molars of pongo are more dimorphic than those of any other living primate. in this study, we used resampling-based methods to compare molar dimorphism in gorilla, pongo, and lufengpithecus to tha ...	2009	19358294
automatic annular laser trapping: a system for high-throughput sperm analysis and sorting.	an automatic microscope system is designed to study the response of sperm motility to an annular laser trap. a continuous annular laser trap provides a parallel way to analyze and sort sperm based on their motility and to study the effects of laser radiation, optical force and external obstacles. in the described automatic microscope system, the phase contrast images of swimming sperm are digitized to the computer at video rates. the microscope stage is controlled in real-time to relocate the sp ...	2009	19343697
the occurrence and ape-to-ape transmission of the entodiniomorphid ciliate troglodytella abrassarti in captive gorillas.	entodiniomorphid ciliates are often present in the colons of wild apes. in captive apes the infection tends to gradually disappear, with the exception of troglodytella abrassarti. we used fecal examinations to screen the gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in european (czech republic, uk) and australian zoos to explore the ape-to-ape transmission pattern of t. abrassarti. gorillas from two out of three european zoos were positive for t. abrassarti, while gorillas from the australian zoo were nega ...	2009	19335778
buccal dental microwear variability in extant african hominoidea: taxonomy versus ecology.	buccal microwear patterns on teeth are good indicators of the abrasiveness of foodstuffs and have been used to trace the dietary habits of fossil species, including primates and hominids. however, few studies have addressed the variability of this microwear. the abrasiveness of dietary components depends not only on the hardness of the particles ingested, but also on the presence of dust and other exogenous elements introduced during food processing. these elements are responsible for the microw ...	2009	19296198
first partial face and upper dentition of the middle miocene hominoid dryopithecus fontani from abocador de can mata (vallès-penedès basin, catalonia, ne spain): taxonomic and phylogenetic implications.	a well-preserved 11.8-million-years-old lower face attributed to the seminal taxon dryopithecus fontani (primates, hominidae) from the catalan site acm/c3-ae of the hostalets de pierola area (vallès-penedès basin, catalonia, ne spain) is described. the new data indicate that d. fontani is distinct at the genus level from late miocene european taxa previously attributed to dryopithecus, which are here reassigned to hispanopithecus. the new facial specimen also suggests that d. fontani and the mid ...	2009	19278017
first contact: understanding the relationship between hominoid incisor curvature and diet.	accurately interpreting fossil primate dietary behaviour is necessary to fully understand a species' ecology and connection to its environment. traditional methods developed to infer diet from hominoid teeth successfully group taxa into broad dietary categories (i.e., folivore, frugivore) but often fail to represent the range of dietary variability characteristic of living apes. this oversimplification is not only a consequence of poor resolution, but may also reflect the use of similar fallback ...	2009	19249076
cervical necrotizing fasciitis and myositis in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla).	a 39-yr-old wild-caught, female western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) died during an immobilization to assess swelling and apparent pain of the cervical region. necropsy revealed a fistulous tract containing plant material in the oropharynx, above the soft palate, communicating with a left-sided cervical necrotizing fasciitis and myositis. alpha-hemolytic streptococcus and prevotella sp. were isolated from the cervical lesion. this is a report of cervical necrotizing fasciitis in a w ...	2009	19239573
lethal pneumonia in a captive juvenile chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) due to human-transmitted human respiratory syncytial virus (hrsv) and infection with streptococcus pneumoniae.	during an outbreak of respiratory disease in captive chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), gorillas (gorilla gorilla), bornean orangutans (pongo pygmaeus), and red-capped mangabeys (cercocebus torquatus) also staff members showed non-specific upper respiratory signs. one infant female chimpanzee with severe respiratory symptoms died despite immediate medical treatment and was submitted for necropsy.	2009	19239572
hand-clapping as a communicative gesture by wild female swamp gorillas.	hand-clapping is a form of gestural communication commonly observed in captive great apes yet only isolated instances of this behaviour have been documented in the wild. nearly 20 years ago fay recorded the first observations of hand-clapping in western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the central african republic. here we present observations of likouala swamp gorillas using hand-clapping as a form of gestural communication in previously undocumented contexts in the wild. we observ ...	2009	19221858
estimation of african apes' body size from postcranial dimensions.	we examine how african apes' postcranial skeletal dimensions and their combinations are related to body size, as represented by trunk volume, within sex-specific samples of a total of 39 central chimpanzees (pan troglodytes troglodytes) and 34 western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). we examine this relationship by determining the strength of the correlation between selected skeletal dimensions and trunk volume. the findings indicate that sex should be taken into account when possible. most t ...	2009	19221857
a burst of segmental duplications in the genome of the african great ape ancestor.	it is generally accepted that the extent of phenotypic change between human and great apes is dissonant with the rate of molecular change. between these two groups, proteins are virtually identical, cytogenetically there are few rearrangements that distinguish ape-human chromosomes, and rates of single-base-pair change and retrotransposon activity have slowed particularly within hominid lineages when compared to rodents or monkeys. studies of gene family evolution indicate that gene loss and gai ...	2009	19212409
comparing the accuracy and precision of three techniques used for estimating missing landmarks when reconstructing fossil hominin crania.	various methodological approaches have been used for reconstructing fossil hominin remains in order to increase sample sizes and to better understand morphological variation. among these, morphometric quantitative techniques for reconstruction are increasingly common. here we compare the accuracy of three approaches--mean substitution, thin plate splines, and multiple linear regression--for estimating missing landmarks of damaged fossil specimens. comparisons are made varying the number of missi ...	2009	19208416
gorilla: a tool for discovery and visualization of enriched go terms in ranked gene lists.	since the inception of the go annotation project, a variety of tools have been developed that support exploring and searching the go database. in particular, a variety of tools that perform go enrichment analysis are currently available. most of these tools require as input a target set of genes and a background set and seek enrichment in the target set compared to the background set. a few tools also exist that support analyzing ranked lists. the latter typically rely on simulations or on union ...	2009	19192299
gestural communication of the gorilla (gorilla gorilla): repertoire, intentionality and possible origins.	social groups of gorillas were observed in three captive facilities and one african field site. cases of potential gesture use, totalling 9,540, were filtered by strict criteria for intentionality, giving a corpus of 5,250 instances of intentional gesture use. this indicated a repertoire of 102 gesture types. most repertoire differences between individuals and sites were explicable as a consequence of environmental affordances and sampling effects: overall gesture frequency was a good predictor ...	2009	19184669
superior olivary complex organization and cytoarchitecture may be correlated with function and catarrhine primate phylogeny.	in the mammalian auditory system, the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body and the lateral superior olive (mntb-lso system) contribute to binaural intensity processing and lateralization. localization precision varies with the sound frequencies. as recency of common ancestry with human beings increases, primates have improved low-frequency sensitivity and reduced sensitivity to higher frequencies. the medial part of the mntb is devoted to higher frequency processing. thus, its high-frequency-dep ...	2009	19184100
milk composition of captive vervet monkey (chlorocebus pygerythrus) and rhesus macaque (macaca mulatta) with observations on gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and white handed gibbon (hylobates lar).	the nutrient content and fatty acid composition of vervet monkey milk has been determined and is compared with rhesus macaque, and two hominoid apes, the white handed gibbon and gorilla. with 15.7+/-4.1 g protein, 33.1+/-9.4 g fat, and 85.1+/-7.5 g lactose per kg milk, vervet monkey milk does not differ from that of rhesus macaque, and is within the range of other primates. small amounts (>1 g kg(-1)) of oligosaccharides, glucose, galactose and fucose were noted. in comparison, gorilla milk has ...	2009	19168147
chemical characterization of oligosaccharides in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, and siamang milk or colostrum.	neutral and acidic oligosaccharides were isolated from the milk or colostrum of four great ape species (chimpanzee (pan troglodytes), bonobo (pan paniscus), gorilla (gorilla gorilla), and orangutan (pongo pygmaeus)) and one lesser ape species (siamang (symphalangus syndactylus)), and their chemical structures were characterized by (1)h-nmr spectroscopy. oligosaccharides containing the type ii unit (gal(beta1-4)glcnac) were found exclusively (gorilla and siamang) or predominately (chimpanzee, bon ...	2009	19164487
evolution of x-degenerate y chromosome genes in greater apes: conservation of gene content in human and gorilla, but not chimpanzee.	compared with the x chromosome, the mammalian y chromosome is considerably diminished in size and has lost most of its ancestral genes during evolution. interestingly, for the x-degenerate region on the y chromosome, human has retained all 16 genes, while chimpanzee has lost 4 of the 16 genes since the divergence of the two species. to uncover the evolutionary forces governing ape y chromosome degeneration, we determined the complete sequences of the coding exons and splice sites for 16 gorilla ...	2009	19142680
auto-validating von neumann rejection sampling from small phylogenetic tree spaces.	in phylogenetic inference one is interested in obtaining samples from the posterior distribution over the tree space on the basis of some observed dna sequence data. one of the simplest sampling methods is the rejection sampler due to von neumann. here we introduce an auto-validating version of the rejection sampler, via interval analysis, to rigorously draw samples from posterior distributions over small phylogenetic tree spaces.	2009	19128477
hominid mandibular corpus shape variation and its utility for recognizing species diversity within fossil homo.	mandibular corpora are well represented in the hominin fossil record, yet few studies have rigorously assessed the utility of mandibular corpus morphology for species recognition, particularly with respect to the linear dimensions that are most commonly available. in this study, we explored the extent to which commonly preserved mandibular corpus morphology can be used to: (i) discriminate among extant hominid taxa and (ii) support species designations among fossil specimens assigned to the genu ...	2008	19094183
origin and biology of simian immunodeficiency virus in wild-living western gorillas.	western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) are infected with a simian immunodeficiency virus (sivgor) that is closely related to chimpanzee and human immunodeficiency viruses (sivcpz and hiv-1, respectively) in west central africa. although existing data suggest a chimpanzee origin for sivgor, a paucity of available sequences has precluded definitive conclusions. here, we report the molecular characterization of one partial (bq664) and three full-length (cp684, cp2135, and cp2139) sivgor ...	2009	19073717
species-specific distributions of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in the prefrontal cortex of anthropoid primates.	in this study, we assessed the distribution of cortical neurons immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase (th) in prefrontal cortical regions of humans and nonhuman primate species. immunohistochemical methods were used to visualize th-immunoreactive (th-ir) neurons in areas 9 (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and 32 (anterior paracingulate cortex). the study sample included humans, great apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan), one lesser ape (siamang), and old world monkeys (golden guenon, ...	2009	19041377
females shape the genetic structure of a gorilla population.	dispersal, one of the key life-history features of a species, influences gene flow and, consequently, the genetic structuring of populations. landscape characteristics such as rivers, mountains, or habitat fragmentation affect dispersal and result in broad-scale genetic structuring of various mammalian species [1-5]. however, less attention has been paid to studying how dispersal is influenced by finer-scale microgeographic variation in a continuous habitat. here we investigate the genetic struc ...	2008	19036341
50 years ago in corr: osteoarthritis of the hip in a gorilla: report of a third case robert m. stecher md corr 1958;12:307-314.		2009	19034599
multigene analysis of phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of primate sucking lice (phthiraptera: anoplura).	cospeciation between hosts and parasites offers a unique opportunity to use information from parasites to infer events in host evolutionary history. although lice (insecta: phthiraptera) are known to cospeciate with their hosts and have frequently served as important markers to infer host evolutionary history, most molecular studies are based on only one or two markers. resulting phylogenies may, therefore, represent gene histories (rather than species histories), and analyses of multiple molecu ...	2009	19027083
western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) change their activity patterns in response to frugivory.	the most important environmental factor explaining interspecies variation in ecology and sociality of the great apes is likely to be variation in resource availability. relatively little is known about the activity patterns of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), which inhabit a dramatically different environment from the well-studied mountain gorillas (g. beringei beringei). this study aims to provide a detailed quantification of western lowland gorillas' activity budgets using d ...	2009	19021124
the shape of the early hominin proximal femur.	postcranial skeletal variation among plio-pleistocene hominins has implications for taxonomy and locomotor adaptation. although sample size constraints make interspecific comparisons difficult, postcranial differences between australopithecus afarensis and australopithecus africanus have been reported (mchenry and berger: j hum evol 35 1998 1-22; richmond et al.: j hum evol 43 [2002] 529-548; green et al.: j hum evol 52 2007 187-200). additional evidence indicates that the early members of the g ...	2009	19012328
physical maturation, life-history classes and age estimates of free-ranging western gorillas--insights from mbeli bai, republic of congo.	physical maturation and life-history parameters are seen as evolutionary adaptations to different ecological and social conditions. comparison of life-history patterns of closely related species living in diverse environments helps to evaluate the validity of these assumptions but empirical data are lacking. the two gorilla species exhibit substantial differences in their environment, which allows investigation into the role of increased frugivory in shaping western gorilla life histories. we pr ...	2009	19003901
netmhcpan, a method for mhc class i binding prediction beyond humans.	binding of peptides to major histocompatibility complex (mhc) molecules is the single most selective step in the recognition of pathogens by the cellular immune system. the human mhc genomic region (called hla) is extremely polymorphic comprising several thousand alleles, each encoding a distinct mhc molecule. the potentially unique specificity of the majority of hla alleles that have been identified to date remains uncharacterized. likewise, only a limited number of chimpanzee and rhesus macaqu ...	2009	19002680
the star*d trial: the 300 lb gorilla is in the room, but does it block all the light?		2008	18952951
comparative sequence analysis of primate subtelomeres originating from a chromosome fission event.	subtelomeres are concentrations of interchromosomal segmental duplications capped by telomeric repeats at the ends of chromosomes. the nature of the segments shared by different sets of human subtelomeres reflects their high rate of recent interchromosomal exchange. here, we characterize the rearrangements incurred by the 15q subtelomere after it arose from a chromosome fission event in the common ancestor of great apes. we used fish, sequencing of genomic clones, and pcr to map the breakpoint o ...	2009	18952852
condensed tannins in the diets of primates: a matter of methods?	to understand the ways in which condensed tannins (ct) affect primate diet selection and nutritional status, correct measurements are essential. in the majority of studies of the ct contents of primate foods, a tannin source such as "quebracho" is used to standardize ct assays, but the ct in quebracho tannin may not be similar to those in the plants of interest. we investigated how the choice of standard to calibrate ct assays affects the estimation of ct in the diets of mountain gorillas (goril ...	2009	18925644
gorillas' (gorilla gorilla) use of experimenter-given manual and facial cues in an object-choice task.	several experiments have been performed to examine the great apes' use of experimenter-given manual and visual cues in object-choice tasks. considering their use of referential gestures in gaze-following paradigms, great apes perform surprisingly unsuccessfully in object-choice tasks. however, the large majority of object-choice experiments have been conducted with chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) with very few experiments including other great ape species, making it difficult to generalize about t ...	2009	18925419
host-parasite ecology of the helminths in mountain gorillas.	to understand patterns of intestinal parasitism in healthy, undisturbed endangered mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei), we regularly collected fecal samples from a group of 14 wild gorillas residing in bwindi impenetrable national park (binp), uganda, for about 1 yr. the objectives of the study were to collect baseline data in order to document the helminth parasites infecting this group of gorillas and to examine the effects of season and host age-sex class on patterns of parasite infection. i ...	2008	18837578
chromosomal evolution of the pkd1 gene family in primates.	the autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (adpkd) is mostly caused by mutations in the pkd1 (polycystic kidney disease 1) gene located in 16p13.3. moreover, there are six pseudogenes of pkd1 that are located proximal to the master gene in 16p13.1. in contrast, no pseudogene could be detected in the mouse genome, only a single copy gene on chromosome 17. the question arises how the human situation originated phylogenetically. to address this question we applied comparative fish-mapping of ...	2008	18822117
evolutionary modifications of human milk composition: evidence from long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid composition of anthropoid milks.	brain growth in mammals is associated with increased accretion of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (lcpufa) in brain phospholipids. the period of maximum accumulation is during the brain growth spurt. humans have a perinatal brain growth spurt, selectively accumulating docosahexaenoic acid (dha) and other lcpufa from the third trimester through the second year of life. the emphasis on rapid postnatal brain growth and lcpufa transfer during lactation has led to the suggestion that human mil ...	2008	18809203
evolution of a complex minisatellite dna sequence.	minisatellites are tandem repeats of short dna units widely distributed in genomes. however, the information on their dynamics in a phylogenetic context is very limited. here we have studied the organization of the msh43 locus in several species of primates and from these data we have reconstructed the evolutionary history of this complex minisatellite. overall, with the exception of gibbon, msh43 has an organization that is asymmetric, since the distribution of repeats is distinct between the 5 ...	2008	18723095
gastrointestinal bacterial transmission among humans, mountain gorillas, and livestock in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda.	habitat overlap can increase the risks of anthroponotic and zoonotic pathogen transmission between humans, livestock, and wild apes. we collected escherichia coli bacteria from humans, livestock, and mountain gorillas (gorilla gorilla beringei) in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda, from may to august 2005 to examine whether habitat overlap influences rates and patterns of pathogen transmission between humans and apes and whether livestock might facilitate transmission. we genotyped 496 e ...	2008	18717695
probe-specific proportion task repetition effects on switching costs.	in two experiments, participants were presented with successive presentations of animal names (e.g., gorilla, whale)--a prime display followed by a probe display. in response to each display, participants judged either the typical habitat or the relative size of those animals, repeating the same task in response to both displays on half of the experimental trials and switching from one task to the other on the other half of trials. our results demonstrate that switch costs can be reduced when ei ...	2008	18717381
a quantitative method for the evaluation of three-dimensional structure of temporal bone pneumatization.	temporal bone pneumatization has been included in lists of characters used in phylogenetic analyses of human evolution. while studies suggest that the extent of pneumatization has decreased over the course of human evolution, little is known about the processes underlying these changes or their significance. in short, reasons for the observed reduction and the potential reorganization within pneumatized spaces are unknown. technological limitations have limited previous analyses of pneumatizatio ...	2008	18715622
subdivision in an ancestral species creates asymmetry in gene trees.	we consider gene trees in three species for which the species tree is known. we show that population subdivision in ancestral species can lead to asymmetry in the frequencies of the two gene trees not concordant with the species tree and, if subdivision is extreme, cause the one of the nonconcordant gene trees to be more probable than the concordant gene tree. although published data for the human-chimp-gorilla clade and for three species of drosophila show asymmetry consistent with our model, s ...	2008	18689871
beyond dna: rna editing and steps toward alu exonization in primates.	the exaptation of transposed elements into protein-coding domains by a process called exonization is one important evolutionary pathway for generating novel variant functions of gene products. adenosine-to-inosine (a-to-i) modification is a recently discovered, rna-editing-mediated mechanism that contributes to the exonization of previously unprocessed mrna introns. in the human nuclear prelamin a recognition factor gene transcript, the alternatively spliced exon 8 results from an a-to-i editing ...	2008	18680752
raymond dart as a pioneering primatologist.	raymond dart is best known today for his groundbreaking research in palaeoanthropology. it is often forgotten, however, that dart was a scientist of many interests, who made significant contributions to various disciplines. one of these is the study of living non-human primates. dart became aware of the importance of primate studies and their relevance for research in other disciplines early in his career. in the late 1920s dart established a colony of captive baboons in the anatomy department, ...	2008	18675977
tentative identification of the species of balantidium from ostriches (struthio camelus) as balantidium coli-like by analysis of polymorphic dna.	the characteristics of balantidium from ostriches (struthio camelus) are similar to those of balantidium coli; however, the species balantidium struthionis was proposed on the basis of the host species (ostriches) and the shape of the macronucleus (with a deep depression in one side). in the present work, we have performed morphological and genetic comparisons between isolates of balantidium from ostriches and b. coli from pigs to determine the specific status of b. struthionis. the morphologica ...	2008	18675516
food material properties and mandibular load resistance abilities in large-bodied hominoids.	numerous comparative studies have sought to demonstrate a functional link between feeding behavior, diet, and mandibular form in primates. in lieu of data on the material properties of foods ingested and masticated, many investigators have relied on qualitative dietary classifications such as "folivore" or "frugivore." here we provide the first analysis of the relationship between jaw form, dietary profiles, and food material properties in large-bodied hominoids. we employed ratios of area momen ...	2008	18656244
assessing mandibular shape variation within gigantopithecus using a geometric morphometric approach.	this study provides a survey of mandibular shape in a sample of extant hominoids (pan, gorilla, pongo, and hylobates), as well as extinct asian and eurasian taxa (ouranopithecus, sivapithecus, and gigantopithecus) in order to compare overall shape similarity. results presented call into question differences in mandible shape recently used to distinguish gigantopithecus giganteus from gigantopithecus blacki and to justify resurrecting a different generic designation, "indopithecus," for the forme ...	2008	18615565
peaceful post-conflict interactions between aggressors and bystanders in captive lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla).	we observed a colony of lowland gorillas in order to assess the occurrence of peaceful post-conflict interactions between aggressors and bystanders (ppiab). we compared the dynamics of ppiab with those of peaceful post-conflict interactions between victims and bystanders (ppivb), which are directed toward victims. we confirmed the occurrence of ppiab (mean triadic contact tendency: 41.7%+/-16.2% sem) at frequencies comparable to ppivb. immature gorillas were responsible for most ppiab. ppiab occ ...	2008	18615459
a comparative quantitative analysis of cytoarchitecture and minicolumnar organization in broca's area in humans and great apes.	broca's area was identified in the inferior frontal gyrus of chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and orangutan brains through direct cytoarchitectonic comparison with human brains. across species, broca's area comprises brodmann's areas 44 and 45. we found that these areas exhibited similar cytoarchitectonic characteristics in all species examined. we analyzed the minicolumnar organization of cells in layer iii of broca's area in 11 human and 9 great ape specimens. a semiautomated method was used to an ...	2008	18612968
estimation of hominoid ancestral population sizes under bayesian coalescent models incorporating mutation rate variation and sequencing errors.	estimation of population parameters for the common ancestors of humans and the great apes is important in understanding our evolutionary history. in particular, inference of population size for the human-chimpanzee common ancestor may shed light on the process by which the 2 species separated and on whether the human population experienced a severe size reduction in its early evolutionary history. in this study, the bayesian method of ancestral inference of rannala and yang (2003. bayes estimati ...	2008	18603620
[genetic diversity and phylogeographic distribution of siv: how to understand the origin of hiv].	emergence of human immunodeficiency viruses hiv-1 and hiv-2 results from interspecies transmission from simian viruses siv. sivcpzptt infecting chimpanzees, and from which the hiv-1 (subgroups m and n) is derived is still found in the pan troglodytes troglodytes population of south cameroon chimpanzees. the ancestor of hiv-1 group o, is found in the gorilla residing in western africa, but chimpanzees are in fact the initial reservoir of the siv viruses sivgor, and it is still unclear whether the ...	2008	18601880
mitogenomic relationships of placental mammals and molecular estimates of their divergences.	molecular analyses of the relationships of placental mammals have shown a progressive congruence between mitogenomic and nuclear phylogenies. some inconsistencies have nevertheless persisted, notably with respect to basal divergences. the current study has aimed to extend the representation of groups, whose position in the placental tree has been difficult to establish in mitogenomic studies. both ml (maximum likelihood) and bayesian analyses identified four basal monophyletic groups, afroplacen ...	2008	18590805
neuropathologic findings in an aged albino gorilla.	pallido-nigral spheroids associated with iron deposition have been observed in some aged clinically normal nonhuman primates. in humans, similar findings are observed in neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation diseases, which, in some cases, show associated mutations in pantothenate kinase 2 gene (pank2). here we present an aged gorilla, 40 years old, suffering during the last 2 years of life from progressive tetraparesis, nystagmus, and dyskinesia of the arms, hands, and neck, with accom ...	2008	18587101
food preferences of wild mountain gorillas.	determining the nutritional and phenolic basis of food preference is important for understanding the nutritional requirements of animals. preference is a measure of which foods would be consumed by an animal if there was no variation in availability among food items. from september 2004 to august 2005, we measured the food preferences of four wild mountain gorilla groups that consume foliage and fruit in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda, to determine what nutrients and phenols are prefe ...	2008	18567010
hominoid seminal protein evolution and ancestral mating behavior.	hominoid mating systems show extensive variation among species. the degree of sexual dimorphism in body size and canine size varies among primates in accordance with their mating system, as does the testes size and the consistency of ejaculated semen, in response to differing levels of sperm competition. to investigate patterns of evolution at hominoid seminal proteins and to make inferences regarding the mating systems of extinct taxa, we sequenced the entire coding region of the prostate-speci ...	2008	18561295
molecular characterization of the herv-w env gene in humans and primates: expression, fish, phylogeny, and evolution.	we characterized the human endogenous retrovirus (herv-w) family in humans and primates. in silico expression data indicated that 22 complete herv-w families from human chromosomes 1-3, 5-8, 10-12, 15, 19, and x are randomly expressed in various tissues. quantitative real-time rt-pcr analysis of the herv-w env gene derived from human chromosome 7q21.2 indicated predominant expression in the human placenta. several copies of repeat sequences (sine, line, ltr, simple repeat) were detected within t ...	2008	18525236
effects of habitat fragmentation, population size and demographic history on genetic diversity: the cross river gorilla in a comparative context.	in small and fragmented populations, genetic diversity may be reduced owing to increased levels of drift and inbreeding. this reduced diversity is often associated with decreased fitness and a higher threat of extinction. however, it is difficult to determine when a population has low diversity except in a comparative context. we assessed genetic variability in the critically endangered cross river gorilla (gorilla gorilla diehli), a small and fragmented population, using 11 autosomal microsatel ...	2008	18521886
mountain gorilla research: the risk of disease transmission relative to the benefit from the perspective of ecosystem health.		2008	18506694
great apes' (pan troglodytes, pan paniscus, gorilla gorilla, pongo pygmaeus) understanding of tool functional properties after limited experience.	primates' understanding of tool functionality has been investigated extensively using a paradigm in which subjects are presented with a tool that they must use to obtain an out-of-reach reward. after being given experience on an initial problem, monkeys can transfer their skill to tools of different shapes while ignoring irrelevant tool changes (e.g., color). in contrast, monkeys without initial training perform poorly on the same tasks. compared to most monkeys, great apes show a clear propensi ...	2008	18489238
color preferences in gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (pan troglodytes).	color plays an important biological role in the lives of many animals, with some species exhibiting preferences for certain colors over others. this study explored the color preferences of two species of ape, which, like humans, possess trichromatic color vision. six western lowland gorillas, and six chimpanzees, housed in belfast zoological gardens, were exposed to three stimuli (cloths, boxes, sheets of acetate) in red, blue, and green. six stimuli of the same nature, in each of the three colo ...	2008	18489237
how the great apes (pan troglodytes, pongo pygmaeus, pan paniscus, gorilla gorilla) perform on the reversed reward contingency task ii: transfer to new quantities, long-term retention, and the impact of quantity ratios.	we tested 6 chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), 3 orangutans (pongo pygmaeus), 4 bonobos (pan paniscus), and 2 gorillas (gorilla gorilla) in the reversed reward contingency task. individuals were presented with pairs of quantities ranging between 0 and 6 food items. prior to testing, some experienced apes had solved this task using 2 quantities while others were totally naïve. experienced apes transferred their ability to multiple-novel pairs after 6 to 19 months had elapsed since their initial testi ...	2008	18489236
[complete sequence determination and phylogenetic analysis of fkn among seven higher primates including homonids and old world monkeys].	to obtain full-length fkn nucleotide sequences of homonids including human, chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan and gibbon, and old world monkeys including macaque and leaf monkey and make phylogenetic analysis, three exons of fkn were amplified by degenerated pcr using obtained peripheral blood cells dna as template which was extracted from homonids and old world monkeys. after extracting and purifying from agarose gels, pcr products were sequenced and then spliced by using bioedit. all the fkn sequ ...	2008	18487149
articular morphology of the proximal ulna in extant and fossil hominoids and hominins.	extant hominoids share similar elbow joint morphology, which is believed to be an adaptation for elbow stability through a wide range of pronation-supination and flexion-extension postures. mild variations in elbow joint morphology reported among extant hominoids are often qualitative, where orangutans are described as having keeled joints, and humans and gorillas as having flatter joints. although these differences in keeling are often linked to variation in upper limb use or loading, they have ...	2008	18472143
position of chromosomes 18, 19, 21 and 22 in 3d-preserved interphase nuclei of human and gorilla and white hand gibbon.	abstract:	2008	18471270
fatal ulcerative colitis in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla).	a captive western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) presented with watery diarrhoea that progressed to become profuse and haemorrhagic. faecal analyses revealed balantidium (b.) coli trophozoites and salmonella-like bacteria. despite treatment the gorilla died on the 5th day after onset of symptoms. post-mortem examination revealed a severe erosive-ulcerative superficial and deep colitis. histological examination of post-mortem samples of the colon showed plentiful b. coli invading into ...	2008	18466283
fiber-bound nitrogen in gorilla diets: implications for estimating dietary protein intake of primates.	protein is essential for living organisms, but digestibility of crude protein is poorly understood and difficult to predict. nitrogen is used to estimate protein content because nitrogen is a component of the amino acids that comprise protein, but a substantial portion of the nitrogen in plants may be bound to fiber in an indigestible form. to estimate the amount of crude protein that is unavailable in the diets of mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei) in bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda ...	2008	18404679
the evolutionary history of the hominin hand since the last common ancestor of pan and homo.	molecular evidence indicates that the last common ancestor of the genus pan and the hominin clade existed between 8 and 4 million years ago (ma). the current fossil record indicates the pan-homo last common ancestor existed at least 5 ma and most likely between 6 and 7 ma. together, the molecular and fossil evidence has important consequences for interpreting the evolutionary history of the hand within the tribe hominini (hominins). firstly, parsimony supports the hypothesis that the hand of the ...	2008	18380869