Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| chimpanzee adenovirus vaccine generates acute and durable protective immunity against ebolavirus challenge. | ebolavirus disease causes high mortality, and the current outbreak has spread unabated through west africa. human adenovirus type 5 vectors (rad5) encoding ebolavirus glycoprotein (gp) generate protective immunity against acute lethal zaire ebolavirus (ebov) challenge in macaques, but fail to protect animals immune to ad5, suggesting natural ad5 exposure may limit vaccine efficacy in humans. here we show that a chimpanzee-derived replication-defective adenovirus (chad) vaccine also rapidly induc ... | 2014 | 25194571 |
| vaccinating captive chimpanzees to save wild chimpanzees. | infectious disease has only recently been recognized as a major threat to the survival of endangered chimpanzees and critically endangered gorillas in the wild. one potentially powerful tool, vaccination, has not been deployed in fighting this disease threat, in good part because of fears about vaccine safety. here we report on what is, to our knowledge, the first trial in which captive chimpanzees were used to test a vaccine intended for use on wild apes rather than humans. we tested a virus-li ... | 2014 | 24912183 |
| shedding of clostridium difficile pcr ribotype 078 by zoo animals, and report of an unstable metronidazole-resistant isolate from a zebra foal (equus quagga burchellii). | clostridium difficile is an emerging and potentially zoonotic pathogen, but its prevalence in most animal species, including exhibition animals, is currently unknown. in this study we assessed the prevalence of faecal shedding of c. difficile by zoo animals, and determined the ribotype, toxin profile and antimicrobial susceptibility of recovered isolates. a total of 200 samples from 40 animal species (36.5% of which came from plains zebra, equus quagga burchellii) were analysed. c. difficile was ... | 2014 | 24467928 |
| characterization of enteroviruses from non-human primates in cameroon revealed virus types widespread in humans along with candidate new types and species. | enteroviruses (evs) infecting african non-human primates (nhp) are still poorly documented. this study was designed to characterize the genetic diversity of evs among captive and wild nhp in cameroon and to compare this diversity with that found in humans. stool specimens were collected in april 2008 in nhp housed in sanctuaries in yaounde and neighborhoods. moreover, stool specimens collected from wild nhp from june 2006 to october 2008 in the southern rain forest of cameroon were considered. r ... | 2014 | 25079078 |
| diversity of zoonotic enterohepatic helicobacter species and detection of a putative novel gastric helicobacter species in wild and wild-born captive chimpanzees and western lowland gorillas. | a number of helicobacter species cause gastrointestinal or hepatic disease in humans, including h. pylori, gastric non-h. pylori helicobacters from animal origin and enterohepatic helicobacter species. little is known on the presence of helicobacter species in great apes, our closest living relatives and potential reservoirs of microorganisms that might emerge in humans. the aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of gastric and enterohepatic helicobacter species in african chim ... | 2014 | 25248691 |
| genetic analysis of enterobius vermicularis isolated from a chimpanzee with lethal hemorrhagic colitis and pathology of the associated lesions. | human pinworms, enterobius vermicularis, are normally recognized as minor pathogens. however, a fatal case of human pinworm infection has been reported in a nonhuman primate, a zoo reared chimpanzee. here, we histopathologically examined the lesions in tissues from the deceased chimpanzee and genetically characterized the isolated worms to investigate the pathogenicity and determine the phylogeny. we identified ulcers deep in the submucosa where many parasites were found to have invaded the lami ... | 2014 | 25138069 |
| human monoclonal antibodies that neutralize vaccine and wild-type poliovirus strains. | an essential requirement for eradication of poliomyelitis is the elimination of circulating vaccine derived polioviruses (cvdpv) and polioviruses excreted by chronically infected individuals with immunodeficiencies (ivdpv). as part of a post-eradication risk management strategy, a human monoclonal antibody (mab) therapeutic could play a role in halting excretion in asymptomatic carriers and could be used, in combination with vaccines and antiviral drugs, to protect polio-exposed individuals. cro ... | 2014 | 24824031 |
| neutralizing antibody responses to enterovirus and adenovirus in healthy adults in china. | hand, foot and mouth disease (hfmd) is an important public health problem that has emerged over the past several years. hfmd predominantly infects children under seven years old and occasionally causes severe disease in adults. among the enteroviruses, enterovirus 71 (ev71) and coxsackievirus 16 (ca16) are the major causative agents of hfmd. in addition, adenovirus cocirculates with enterovirus and has become a possible additional pathogenic factor for hfmd in some cases. here, we have investiga ... | 2014 | 26038738 |
| co-circulation of enteroviruses between apes and humans. | a total of 139 stool samples from wild chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos in cameroon and democratic republic of congo (drc) were screened for enteroviruses (evs) by reverse transcription pcr. enterovirus rna was detected in 10 % of samples, comprising eight from 58 sampled chimpanzees (13.8 %), one from 40 bonobos (2.5 %) and five from 40 gorillas (12.2 %). three viruses isolated from chimpanzees grouped with human isolate ev-a89 and four (four chimpanzees, one gorilla) represented a newly ident ... | 2014 | 24189620 |
| the prevalence of neutralising antibodies to chimpanzee adenovirus type 6 and type 7 in healthy adult volunteers, patients with chronic hepatitis b and patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma in china. | the presence of neutralising antibodies (nabs) against adenovirus in the population is a major hurdle preventing the effective use of replication-defective adenoviruses (ads) as candidates for gene therapy and vaccine vectors for many diseases. only a few studies have described the epidemiology of pre-existing immunity to chimpanzee ads in china. to assess the prevalence of nabs to chimpanzee adenovirus serotypes 6 and 7 (adc6 and adc7), we enrolled 998 healthy participants from five regions in ... | 2014 | 24057756 |
| tupaia belangeri as an experimental animal model for viral infection. | tupaias, or tree shrews, are small mammals that are similar in appearance to squirrels. the morphological and behavioral characteristics of the group have been extensively characterized, and despite previously being classified as primates, recent studies have placed the group in its own family, the tupaiidae. genomic analysis has revealed that the genus tupaia is closer to humans than it is to rodents. in addition, tupaias are susceptible to hepatitis b virus and hepatitis c virus. the only othe ... | 2014 | 25048261 |
| regulation of microrna by hepatitis b virus infection and their possible association with control of innate immunity. | hepatitis b virus (hbv) chronically infects more than 350 million people worldwide. hbv causes acute and chronic hepatitis, and is one of the major causes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. there exist complex interactions between hbv and the immune system including adaptive and innate immunity. toll-like receptors (tlrs) and tlr-signaling pathways are important parts of the innate immune response in hbv infections. it is well known that tlr-ligands could suppress hbv replication and tha ... | 2014 | 24966589 |
| advances and challenges in the development of therapeutic dna vaccines against hepatitis b virus infection. | despite the existence of an effective prophylactic vaccine, chronic hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection remains a major public health problem. because very weak and functionally impaired virus-specific immune responses play a key role in the persistence of hbv infection, the stimulation of these responses appears to be of particular importance for virus clearance. in this regard dna-based vaccination has emerged as novel, promising therapeutic approach for chronic hepatitis b. this review provides ... | 2014 | 24828255 |
| limited hepatitis b virus replication space in the chronically hepatitis c virus-infected liver. | we compared the kinetics and magnitude of hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection in hepatitis c virus (hcv)-naive and chronically hcv-infected chimpanzees in whose livers type i interferon-stimulated gene (isg) expression is strongly induced. hbv infection was delayed and attenuated in the hcv-infected animals, and the number of hbv-infected hepatocytes was drastically reduced. these results suggest that establishment of hbv infection and its replication space is limited by the antiviral effects of t ... | 2014 | 24522924 |
| innate immune responses in hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection. | hepatitis b virus (hbv) infection has a low rate of chronicity compared to hcv infection, but chronic liver inflammation can evolve to life threatening complications. experimental data from hbv infected chimpanzees and hbv transgenic mice have indicated that cytotoxic t cells are the main cell type responsible for inhibition of viral replication, but also for hepatocyte lysis during chronic hbv infection. their lower activation and impaired function in later stages of infection was suggested as ... | 2014 | 24507433 |
| microrna expression in hepatitis b virus infected primary treeshrew hepatocytes and the independence of intracellular mir-122 level for de novo hbv infection in culture. | infection of hepatitis b virus (hbv) in hepatocytes has been known to be controlled by multiple cellular factors, while the relationship of the infection and liver micrornas remains obscure. in this study, a mirna database, containing 168 unique mature mirna members from primary hepatocytes of a primate-like animal, northern treeshrew (tupaia belangeri) that is the only species susceptible for hbv infection other than human and chimpanzee, was established. the relative level of a liver predomina ... | 2014 | 24314655 |
| triggering social interactions: chimpanzees respond to imitation by a humanoid robot and request responses from it. | even the most rudimentary social cues may evoke affiliative responses in humans and promote social communication and cohesion. the present work tested whether such cues of an agent may also promote communicative interactions in a nonhuman primate species, by examining interaction-promoting behaviours in chimpanzees. here, chimpanzees were tested during interactions with an interactive humanoid robot, which showed simple bodily movements and sent out calls. the results revealed that chimpanzees e ... | 2014 | 24096704 |
| cognitive and motor aging in female chimpanzees. | we present the first longitudinal data on cognitive and motor aging in the chimpanzee (pan troglodytes). thirty-eight adult female chimpanzees (10-54 years old) were studied. the apes were tested longitudinally for 3 years in a modified primate cognition test battery, which comprised 12 tests of physical and social cognition. the chimpanzees were also administered a fine motor task requiring them to remove a steel nut from rods of various complexity. there was little evidence for an age-related ... | 2014 | 24112794 |
| the effective population sizes of the anthropoid ancestors of the human-chimpanzee lineage provide insights on the historical biogeography of the great apes. | the recent development of methods that apply coalescent theory to phylogenetic problems has enabled the study of the population-level phenomena that drove the diversification of anthropoid primates. effective population size, ne, is one of the main parameters that constitute the theoretical underpinning of these new analytical approaches. for this reason, the ancestral n(e) of selected primate lineages has been thoroughly investigated. however, for some of these lineages, the estimates of ancest ... | 2014 | 24124206 |
| local knowledge and perceptions of chimpanzees in cantanhez national park, guinea-bissau. | our study concerns local knowledge and perceptions of chimpanzees among farming communities within cantanhez national park, guinea-bissau. we submitted a survey questionnaire to 100 people living in four villages in the park to enquire about their knowledge of chimpanzee ecology and human-chimpanzee interactions. local farmers live in close contact with chimpanzees, consider them to be more similar to humans than any other species, and attribute special importance to them primarily due to expect ... | 2014 | 24123061 |
| welfare based primate rehabilitation as a potential conservation strategy: does it measure up? | many primate species are threatened with extinction and are the focus of extensive conservation efforts including re-introduction, captive breeding and habitat conservation. welfare-based rehabilitation (hereafter also 'rehabilitation') is a management strategy commonly used for primates, particularly those species targeted by the pet and bush meat trades. rehabilitation of rescued primates typically has the dual motivation of welfare and conservation, but has not been assessed as a conservation ... | 2014 | 24132600 |
| sperm form and function in the absence of sperm competition. | sperm competition is a post-copulatory, sexual selection force that, together with phylogeny and fertilization mode, has been regarded as one of the main factors explaining the diversity in sperm size across species. this universal sperm selection mechanism favors traits that enhance a male's fertilizing ability and paternity success. surprisingly, however, sperm characteristics and semen quality in monogamous species, with low risk of sperm competition, have barely received any attention. in th ... | 2014 | 24273026 |
| a fine-scale recombination map of the human-chimpanzee ancestor reveals faster change in humans than in chimpanzees and a strong impact of gc-biased gene conversion. | recombination is a major determinant of adaptive and nonadaptive evolution. understanding how the recombination landscape has evolved in humans is thus key to the interpretation of human genomic evolution. comparison of fine-scale recombination maps of human and chimpanzee has revealed large changes at fine genomic scales and conservation over large scales. here we demonstrate how a fine-scale recombination map can be derived for the ancestor of human and chimpanzee, allowing us to study the cha ... | 2014 | 24190946 |
| capuchins' (cebus apella) sensitivity to others' goal-directed actions in a helping context. | as humans, our ability to help others effectively is at least in part dependent upon our capacity to infer others' goals in a variety of different contexts. several species of nonhuman primate have demonstrated that they will also help others in some relatively simple situations, but it is not always clear whether this helping is based on an understanding of another agent's goals. although the results of a number of different studies support the hypothesis that chimpanzees represent others' goal ... | 2014 | 24146217 |
| different early rearing experiences have long-term effects on cortical organization in captive chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | consequences of rearing history in chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) have been explored in relation to behavioral abnormalities and cognition; however, little is known about the effects of rearing conditions on anatomical brain development. human studies have revealed that experiences of maltreatment and neglect during infancy and childhood can have detrimental effects on brain development and cognition. in this study, we evaluated the effects of early rearing experience on brain morphology in 92 ca ... | 2014 | 24206013 |
| functional implications of squamosal suture size in paranthropus boisei. | it has been hypothesized that the extensively overlapping temporal and parietal bones of the squamosal sutures in paranthropus boisei are adaptations for withstanding loads associated with feeding. finite element analysis (fea) was used to investigate the biomechanical effects of suture size (i.e., the area of overlap between the temporal and parietal bones) on stress, strain energy, and strain ratio in the squamosal sutures of pan troglodytes and p. boisei (specimen oh 5) during biting. finite ... | 2014 | 24242913 |
| locomotor and postural development of wild chimpanzees. | chimpanzees are our closest living relatives and their positional repertoire likely includes elements shared with our common ancestor. currently, limitations exist in our ability to correlate locomotor anatomy with behavioral function in the wild. here we provide a detailed description of developmental changes in chimpanzee locomotion and posture. fieldwork was conducted on wild chimpanzees at ngogo, kibale national park, uganda. the large size of the ngogo chimpanzee community permitted cross-s ... | 2014 | 24238359 |
| sleeping site selection by savanna chimpanzees in ugalla, tanzania. | we examined sleeping site selection by chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) in the ugalla savanna woodland area, western tanzania, from 1994 to 2012. we established 488 km of line transects and recorded 379 chimpanzee beds within 30 m perpendicular to the transects. comparisons between 60 × 60 m(2) quadrats containing new and recent beds and the remaining quadrats without beds along the transects indicated that evergreen forests accounted for disproportionately more area in quadrats with beds than in t ... | 2014 | 24293003 |
| ncym, a cis-antisense gene of mycn, encodes a de novo evolved protein that inhibits gsk3β resulting in the stabilization of mycn in human neuroblastomas. | the rearrangement of pre-existing genes has long been thought of as the major mode of new gene generation. recently, de novo gene birth from non-genic dna was found to be an alternative mechanism to generate novel protein-coding genes. however, its functional role in human disease remains largely unknown. here we show that ncym, a cis-antisense gene of the mycn oncogene, initially thought to be a large non-coding rna, encodes a de novo evolved protein regulating the pathogenesis of human cancers ... | 2014 | 24391509 |
| using virtual reality to investigate comparative spatial cognitive abilities in chimpanzees and humans. | the purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of investigating spatial cognitive abilities across two primate species using virtual reality. in this study, we presented four captive adult chimpanzees and 16 humans (12 children and 4 adults) with simulated environments of increasing complexity and size to compare species' attention to visuo-spatial features during navigation. the specific task required participants to attend to landmarks in navigating along routes in order to loc ... | 2014 | 24390812 |
| the arena system: a novel shared touch-panel apparatus for the study of chimpanzee social interaction and cognition. | we report on the development of a novel shared touch-panel apparatus for examining a diverse range of topics in great ape social cognition and interaction. our apparatus-named the arena system-is composed of a single multitouch monitor that spans across two separate testing booths, so that individuals situated in each booth have tactile access to half of the monitor and visual access to the whole monitor. additional components of the system include a smart-film barrier able to restrict visual ac ... | 2014 | 24311060 |
| a case of maxillary sarcoma in a chimpanzee (pan troglodytes). | oral malignancy is rare in chimpanzees. a 34-year-old female chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) at kumamoto sanctuary, japan, had developed it. treatment is technically difficult for chimpanzees while malignant neoplasm is seemingly rising in captive populations. widespread expert discussion, guidelines for treatment, especially for great apes in terminal stages is urgently needed. | 2014 | 24304143 |
| semi-wild chimpanzees open hard-shelled fruits differently across communities. | researchers investigating the evolutionary roots of human culture have turned to comparing behaviours across nonhuman primate communities, with tool-based foraging in particular receiving much attention. this study examined whether natural extractive foraging behaviours other than tool selection differed across nonhuman primate colonies that had the same foods available. specifically, the behaviours applied to open the hard-shelled fruits of strychnos spp. were examined in three socially separat ... | 2014 | 24337784 |
| beauty is in the ease of the beholding: a neurophysiological test of the averageness theory of facial attractiveness. | hundreds of studies have shown that people prefer attractive over unattractive faces. but what is an attractive face, and why is it preferred? averageness theory claims that faces are perceived as being attractive when their facial configuration approximates the mathematical average facial configuration of the population. conversely, faces that deviate from this average configuration are perceived as being unattractive. the theory predicts that both attractive and mathematically averaged faces s ... | 2014 | 24326966 |
| cultural assemblages show nested structure in humans and chimpanzees but not orangutans. | the evolution of hominin culture is well-documented in the archeological and fossil record, but such a record is largely absent for nonhuman primates. an alternative approach to studying cultural evolution is to examine patterns of modern cultural variation. in this article we measure nestedness across human and great ape "cultural repertoires" to gain insight into the accumulation and maintenance of putative cultural diversity in these species. cultural assemblages are nested if cultures with a ... | 2014 | 24324143 |
| human evolution and tears of the rotator cuff. | humans differ from other great ape species in their propensity to develop tears of the rotator cuff. the aim of this study was to compare the anatomical risk factors for subacromial impingement and rotator cuff tears amongst the great apes and to determine which features may be accentuated in humans and therefore play a more significant role in disease aetiology. | 2014 | 24323350 |
| influence of personality, age, sex, and estrous state on chimpanzee problem-solving success. | despite the importance of individual problem solvers for group- and individual-level fitness, the correlates of individual problem-solving success are still an open topic of investigation. in addition to demographic factors, such as age or sex, certain personality dimensions have also been revealed as reliable correlates of problem-solving by animals. such correlates, however, have been little-studied in chimpanzees. to empirically test the influence of age, sex, estrous state, and different per ... | 2014 | 24322874 |
| brief communication: orphaned male chimpanzees die young even after weaning. | if a social-living animal has a long life span, permitting different generations to co-exist within a social group, as is the case in many primate species, it can be beneficial for a parent to continue to support its weaned offspring to increase the latter's survival and/or reproductive success. chimpanzees have an even longer period of dependence on their mothers' milk than do humans, and consequently, offspring younger than 4.5-5 years old cannot survive if the mother dies. most direct materna ... | 2014 | 24318948 |
| chimpanzees sometimes see fuller as better: judgments of food quantities based on container size and fullness. | the context in which food is presented can alter quantity judgments leading to sub-optimal choice behavior. humans often over-estimate food quantity on the basis of how food is presented. food appears larger if plated on smaller dishes than larger dishes and liquid volumes appear larger in taller cups than shorter cups. moreover, smaller but fuller containers are preferred in comparison to larger, but less full containers with a truly larger quantity. here, we assessed whether similar phenomena ... | 2014 | 24374384 |
| mortality rates among kanyawara chimpanzees. | demographic data from wild chimpanzees are of considerable interest for understanding the evolution of the human life history. published mortality data, however, come primarily from chimpanzee populations that have recently suffered dramatic, human-induced declines, and exhibit rates of reproduction well below replacement. here we present a life table for chimpanzees living in the kanyawara community of kibale national park, comprising 1129 individual risk years and 56 deaths. this community has ... | 2014 | 24374229 |
| wolfgang köhler's the mentality of apes and the animal psychology of his time. | in 1913, the anthropoid station for psychological and physiological research in chimpanzees and other apes was founded by the royal prussian academy of sciences (berlin) near la orotava, tenerife. eugene teuber, its first director, began his work at the station with several studies of anthropoid apes' natural behavior, particularly chimpanzee body language. in late 1913, the psychologist wolfgang köhler, the second and final director of the station, arrived in tenerife. during his stay in the ca ... | 2014 | 26055050 |
| longitudinal recordings of the vocalizations of immature gombe chimpanzees for developmental studies. | many researchers are interested in chimpanzee vocal communication, both as an important aspect of chimpanzee social behavior and as a source of insights into the evolution of human language. nonetheless, very little is known about how chimpanzee vocal communication develops from infancy to adulthood. the largest dataset of audiorecordings from free-living immature chimpanzees was collected by the late hetty van de rijt-plooij and frans x. plooij at gombe national park, tanzania (1971-1973). thes ... | 2014 | 25977782 |
| human-specific microrna regulation of foxo1: implications for microrna recognition element evolution. | micrornas (mirnas) have been established as important negative post-transcriptional regulators for gene expression. within the past decade, mirnas targeting transcription factors (tfs) has emerged as an important mechanism for gene expression regulation. here, we tested the hypothesis that in tf 3'utrs, human-specific single nucleotide change(s) that create novel mirna recognition elements (mres) contribute to species-specific differences in tf expression. from several potential human-specific t ... | 2014 | 24368418 |
| a population estimate of chimpanzees (pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in the ugalla region using standard and spatially explicit genetic capture-recapture methods. | population parameters such as size, density, and distribution of a species across a landscape are important metrics that inform conservation science and are key to management strategies. in this study, we used genetic capture-recapture methods to estimate the population size and density of the little-studied chimpanzees in the ugalla region of western tanzania. from 237 fecal samples collected non-invasively over a 10-month period, we identified a minimum of 113 individuals. based on the two-inn ... | 2014 | 24357255 |
| is the prefrontal cortex especially enlarged in the human brain allometric relations and remapping factors. | there has been no agreement as to whether the prefrontal cortex is especially enlarged in the human brain. to answer this question, we analyzed the only two datasets that provide information on total prefrontal cortex volume based on cytoarchitectonic criteria. one delineated the prefrontal cortex proper on the basis of cytoarchitectonic criteria; the other used a proxy of the prefrontal cortex based on a cytoarchitectonic delineation of the frontal lobe. to investigate whether all cortical asso ... | 2014 | 25248097 |
| kinematics of primate midfoot flexibility. | this study describes a unique assessment of primate intrinsic foot joint kinematics based upon bone pin rigid cluster tracking. it challenges the assumption that human evolution resulted in a reduction of midfoot flexibility, which has been identified in other primates as the "midtarsal break." rigid cluster pins were inserted into the foot bones of human, chimpanzee, baboon, and macaque cadavers. the positions of these bone pins were monitored during a plantarflexion-dorsiflexion movement cycle ... | 2014 | 25234343 |
| transcriptomic insights into human brain evolution: acceleration, neutrality, heterochrony. | primate brain transcriptome comparisons within the last 12 years have yielded interesting but contradictory observations on how the transcriptome evolves, and its adaptive role in human cognitive evolution. since the human-chimpanzee common ancestor, the human prefrontal cortex transcriptome seems to have evolved more than that of the chimpanzee. but at the same time, most expression differences among species, especially those observed in adults, appear as consequences of neutral evolution at ci ... | 2014 | 25233113 |
| reconstructing complex regions of genomes using long-read sequencing technology. | obtaining high-quality sequence continuity of complex regions of recent segmental duplication remains one of the major challenges of finishing genome assemblies. in the human and mouse genomes, this was achieved by targeting large-insert clones using costly and laborious capillary-based sequencing approaches. sanger shotgun sequencing of clone inserts, however, has now been largely abandoned, leaving most of these regions unresolved in newer genome assemblies generated primarily by next-generati ... | 2014 | 24418700 |
| chimpocentrism and reconstructions of human evolution (a timely reminder). | chimpanzees, but very few other animals, figure prominently in (recent) attempts to reconstruct the evolution of uniquely human traits. in particular, the chimpanzee is used (i) to identify traits unique to humans, and thus in need of reconstruction; (ii) to initialize the reconstruction, by taking its state to reflect the state of the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees; (iii) as a baseline against which to test evolutionary hypotheses. here i point out the flaws in this three-step p ... | 2014 | 24418626 |
| emotional engagements predict and enhance social cognition in young chimpanzees. | social cognition in infancy is evident in coordinated triadic engagements, that is, infants attending jointly with social partners and objects. current evolutionary theories of primate social cognition tend to highlight species differences in cognition based on human-unique cooperative motives. we consider a developmental model in which engagement experiences produce differential outcomes. we conducted a 10-year-long study in which two groups of laboratory-raised chimpanzee infants were given qu ... | 2014 | 24410843 |
| rates of genomic divergence in humans, chimpanzees and their lice. | the rate of dna mutation and divergence is highly variable across the tree of life. however, the reasons underlying this variation are not well understood. comparing the rates of genetic changes between hosts and parasite lineages that diverged at the same time is one way to begin to understand differences in genetic mutation and substitution rates. such studies have indicated that the rate of genetic divergence in parasites is often faster than that of their hosts when comparing single genes. h ... | 2014 | 24403325 |
| using pseudogene database to identify lineage-specific genes and pseudogenes in humans and chimpanzees. | it has been revealed that gene content changes, or gene gains or losses, have played an important role in the evolution of modern humans. as one of the major players accounting for gene content changes, gene pseudogenization is abundant in mammalian genomes, and approximately 20000 pseudogenes have been identified in ape genomes. therefore, it is an interesting question how to exploit rich information embedded in pseudogenes. here, i present a bioinformatic pipeline that utilizes a pseudogene da ... | 2014 | 24399747 |
| the genome sequence of a novel simian adenovirus in a chimpanzee reveals a close relationship to human adenoviruses. | recently, several reports have revealed that some simian adenoviruses (advs) strains show a close relationship to human advs. in the present study, a simian adv strain named sadv-ch1 was detected in chimpanzees in china, and its complete genome was determined. phylogenetic analysis revealed sadv-ch1 clustering in a clade that was separate from all of the other simian advs but genetically close to a human adv strain, hadv-18 (genbank no. gu191019), sharing 92.5 % sequence identity with it. recomb ... | 2014 | 24398862 |
| ardipithecus ramidus and the evolution of the human cranial base. | the early pliocene african hominoid ardipithecus ramidus was diagnosed as a having a unique phylogenetic relationship with the australopithecus + homo clade based on nonhoning canine teeth, a foreshortened cranial base, and postcranial characters related to facultative bipedality. however, pedal and pelvic traits indicating substantial arboreality have raised arguments that this taxon may instead be an example of parallel evolution of human-like traits among apes around the time of the chimpanze ... | 2014 | 24395771 |
| the morphology of oreopithecus bambolii pollical distal phalanx. | oreopithecus bambolii is a late miocene ape from italy, first described in the late 19th century. its interpretation is still highly controversial, especially in reference to its hand proportions and thumb morphology. in this study, the authors provide detailed descriptions of the available oreopithecus pollical distal phalanx (pdp) specimens, as well as bivariate and multivariate morphometric analyses in comparison with humans, extant apes, selected anthropoid monkeys, and available miocene pdp ... | 2014 | 24395731 |
| stable nitrogen isotope analysis of dentine serial sections elucidate sex differences in weaning patterns of wild chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | offspring provisioning is one of the most energetically demanding aspects of reproduction for female mammals. variation in lactation length and weaning strategies between chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), our closest living relative, and modern human societies have been reported. when and why these changes occurred is frequently debated. our study used stable nitrogen isotope data of tooth root dentine from wild western chimpanzees (pan troglodytes verus) in taï national park, côte d'ivoire, to qua ... | 2014 | 24395019 |
| roving females and patient males: a new perspective on the mating strategies of chimpanzees. | mating strategies are sets of decisions aimed at maximizing reproductive success. for male animals, the fundamental problem that these strategies address is attaining mating access to females in a manner that maximizes their chances of achieving paternity. for chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), despite substantial interest in mating strategies, very little attention has been paid to the most fundamental problem that mating strategies need to solve: finding mates. only a single model, dunbar's genera ... | 2014 | 24393574 |
| the ecology of primate material culture. | tool use in extant primates may inform our understanding of the conditions that favoured the expansion of hominin technology and material culture. the 'method of exclusion' has, arguably, confirmed the presence of culture in wild animal populations by excluding ecological and genetic explanations for geographical variation in behaviour. however, this method neglects ecological influences on culture, which, ironically, may be critical for understanding technology and thus material culture. we rev ... | 2014 | 25392310 |
| human children rely more on social information than chimpanzees do. | human societies are characterized by more cultural diversity than chimpanzee communities. however, it is currently unclear what mechanism might be driving this difference. because reliance on social information is a pivotal characteristic of culture, we investigated individual and social information reliance in children and chimpanzees. we repeatedly presented subjects with a reward-retrieval task on which they had collected conflicting individual and social information of equal accuracy in coun ... | 2014 | 25392309 |
| speciation, population structure, and demographic history of the mojave fringe-toed lizard (uma scoparia), a species of conservation concern. | the north american deserts were impacted by both neogene plate tectonics and quaternary climatic fluctuations, yet it remains unclear how these events influenced speciation in this region. we tested published hypotheses regarding the timing and mode of speciation, population structure, and demographic history of the mojave fringe-toed lizard (uma scoparia), a sand dune specialist endemic to the mojave desert of california and arizona. we sampled 109 individual lizards representing 22 insular dun ... | 2014 | 25360285 |
| children conform to the behavior of peers; other great apes stick with what they know. | all primates learn things from conspecifics socially, but it is not clear whether they conform to the behavior of these conspecifics--if conformity is defined as overriding individually acquired behavioral tendencies in order to copy peers' behavior. in the current study, chimpanzees, orangutans, and 2-year-old human children individually acquired a problem-solving strategy. they then watched several conspecific peers demonstrate an alternative strategy. the children switched to this new, social ... | 2014 | 25355648 |
| wild chimpanzees plan their breakfast time, type, and location. | not all tropical fruits are equally desired by rainforest foragers and some fruit trees get depleted more quickly and carry fruit for shorter periods than others. we investigated whether a ripe-fruit specialist, the chimpanzee (pan troglodytes verus), arrived earlier at breakfast sites with very ephemeral and highly sought-after fruit, like figs, than sites with less ephemeral fruit that can be more predictably obtained throughout the entire day. we recorded when and where five adult female chim ... | 2014 | 25349399 |
| lethal coalitionary aggression and long-term alliance formation among yanomamö men. | some cross-cultural evidence suggests lethal coalitionary aggression in humans is the product of residence and descent rules that promote fraternal interest groups, i.e., power groups of coresident males bonded by kinship. as such, human lethal coalitions are hypothesized to be homologous to chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) border patrols. however, humans demonstrate a unique metagroup social structure in which strategic alliances allow individuals to form coalitions transcending local community bou ... | 2014 | 25349394 |
| albuminoid genes: evolving at the interface of dispensability and selection. | the albuminoid gene family comprises vitamin d-binding protein (gc), alpha-fetoprotein (afp), afamin (afm), and albumin (alb). albumin is the most abundant human serum protein, and, as the other family members, acts as a transporter of endogenous and exogenous substances including thyroxine, fatty acids, and drugs. instead, the major cargo of gc is 25-hydroxyvitamin d. we performed an evolutionary study of albuminoid genes and we show that alb evolved adaptively in mammals. most positively selec ... | 2014 | 25349266 |
| wild chimpanzees on the edge: nocturnal activities in croplands. | in a rapidly changing landscape highly impacted by anthropogenic activities, the great apes are facing new challenges to coexist with humans. for chimpanzee communities inhabiting encroached territories, not bordered by rival conspecifics but by human agricultural fields, such boundaries are risky areas. to investigate the hypothesis that they use specific strategies for incursions out of the forest into maize fields to prevent the risk of detection by humans guarding their field, we carried out ... | 2014 | 25338066 |
| maternal behavior by birth order in wild chimpanzees (pan troglodytes): increased investment by first-time mothers. | parental investment theory predicts that maternal resources are finite and allocated among offspring based on factors including maternal age and condition, and offspring sex and parity. among humans, firstborn children are often considered to have an advantage and receive greater investment than their younger siblings. however, conflicting evidence for this "firstborn advantage" between modern and hunter-gatherer societies raises questions about the evolutionary history of differential parental ... | 2014 | 25328164 |
| coordination strategies of chimpanzees and human children in a stag hunt game. | much of human cooperation takes place in mutualistic contexts in which the main challenge for individuals is how to coordinate decisions. in the current studies, we compared the abilities of chimpanzees and young children to coordinate with a partner in two versions of a stag hunt game. when risks were low (the hare was of low value) and information was cheap (the partner's behaviour was readily observable), partners of both species were able to successfully coordinate on the higher value stag m ... | 2014 | 25320165 |
| homologous whole blood transfusion during treatment of severe anemia in a chimpanzee (pan troglodytes). | a 12-yr-old female chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) was presented as severely emaciated and with generalized muscle weakness. hematology and biochemistry revealed severe anemia and hypokalemia. the chimpanzee was treated supportively and symptomatically; although initially stable, the animal deteriorated rapidly on day 5, becoming depressed and jaundiced with further deterioration of anemia. to address the decline, a prompt transfusion of compatible and cross-matched fresh whole blood from a healthy ... | 2014 | 25314837 |
| obesity related alterations in plasma cytokines and metabolic hormones in chimpanzees. | obesity is characterized by chronic low-grade inflammation and serves as a major risk factor for hypertension, coronary artery disease, dyslipidemias, and type-2 diabetes. the purpose of this study was to examine changes in metabolic hormones, inflammatory cytokines, and immune function, in lean, overweight, and obese chimpanzees in a controlled environment. we observed increased plasma circulating levels of proinflammatory th-1 cytokines, interferon gamma, interleukin-6, interleukin-12p40, tumo ... | 2014 | 25309773 |
| the pisiform growth plate is lost in humans and supports a role for hox in growth plate formation. | the human pisiform is a small, nodular, although functionally significant, bone of the wrist. in most other mammals, including apes and australopithecus afarensis, pisiforms are elongate. an underappreciated fact is that the typical mammalian pisiform forms from two ossification centers. we hypothesize that: (i) the presence of a secondary ossification center in mammalian pisiforms indicates the existence of a growth plate; and (ii) human pisiform reduction results from growth plate loss. to add ... | 2014 | 25279687 |
| the impact of atypical early histories on pet or performer chimpanzees. | it is widely accepted that an animal's early history, including but not limited to its rearing history, can have a profound impact on later behavior. in the case of captive animals, many studies have used categorical measures such as mother reared or human reared that do not account for both the influence of human and conspecific interaction. in order to account for the influence of both human and conspecific early exposure to later behavior, we collected 1385 h of data on 60 chimpanzees, of whi ... | 2014 | 25279262 |
| animal behaviour: incipient tradition in wild chimpanzees. | 2014 | 25274304 | |
| social network analysis shows direct evidence for social transmission of tool use in wild chimpanzees. | social network analysis methods have made it possible to test whether novel behaviors in animals spread through individual or social learning. to date, however, social network analysis of wild populations has been limited to static models that cannot precisely reflect the dynamics of learning, for instance, the impact of multiple observations across time. here, we present a novel dynamic version of network analysis that is capable of capturing temporal aspects of acquisition--that is, how succes ... | 2014 | 25268798 |
| bayesian inference of shared recombination hotspots between humans and chimpanzees. | recombination generates variation and facilitates evolution. recombination (or lack thereof) also contributes to human genetic disease. methods for mapping genes influencing complex genetic diseases via association rely on linkage disequilibrium (ld) in human populations, which is influenced by rates of recombination across the genome. comparative population genomic analyses of recombination using related primate species can identify factors influencing rates of recombination in humans. such stu ... | 2014 | 25261696 |
| why do chimpanzees hunt? considering the benefits and costs of acquiring and consuming vertebrate versus invertebrate prey. | understanding the benefits and costs of acquiring and consuming different forms of animal matter by primates is critical for identifying the selective pressures responsible for increased meat consumption in the hominin lineage. chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) are unusual among primates in the amount of vertebrate prey they consume. still, surprisingly little is known about the nutritional benefits of eating meat for this species. in order to understand why chimpanzees eat vertebrates, it is critic ... | 2014 | 24703750 |
| the energetic and nutritional yields from insectivory for kasekela chimpanzees. | insectivory is hypothesized to be an important source of macronutrients, minerals, and vitamins for chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), yet nutritional data based on actual intake are lacking. drawing on observations from 2008 to 2010 and recently published nutritional assays, we determined the energy, macronutrient and mineral yields for termite-fishing (macrotermes), ant-dipping (dorylus), and ant-fishing (camponotus) by the kasekela chimpanzees of gombe national park, tanzania. we also estimated t ... | 2014 | 24698197 |
| echocardiography parameters of clinically normal adult captive chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | to generate reference ranges for echocardiographic variables in clinically normal adult chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | 2014 | 24697773 |
| problem solving in the presence of others: how rank and relationship quality impact resource acquisition in chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | in the wild, chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) are often faced with clumped food resources that they may know how to access but abstain from doing so due to social pressures. to better understand how social settings influence resource acquisition, we tested fifteen semi-wild chimpanzees from two social groups alone and in the presence of others. we investigated how resource acquisition was affected by relative social dominance, whether collaborative problem solving or (active or passive) sharing occ ... | 2014 | 24695486 |
| first report of prey capture from human laid snare-traps by wild chimpanzees. | chimpanzees regularly hunt for meat in the wild, including both solo and group hunting; however, theft of prey from non-chimpanzee hunters, or scavenging of carcasses is extremely rare. here we report the first observations of a novel prey capture technique by the chimpanzees in two adjacent communities in the budongo conservation field station, uganda. in both cases blue duikers were found caught in human laid snare traps, and then retrieved by the chimpanzees. in one case the duiker was still ... | 2014 | 24682899 |
| the interplay between individual, social, and environmental influences on chimpanzee food choices. | the foraging activity of chimpanzees requires individuals to balance personal preferences with nutrient requirements, food availability, and interactions with members of their social group. to determine whether chimpanzee food preferences are fixed or malleable across varying socio-ecological contexts, we presented six zoo-housed chimpanzees with pairwise combinations of four different foods under two experimental conditions. first, we individually tested each chimpanzee's choices for the four f ... | 2014 | 24680959 |
| autonomy in chimpanzees. | literature on the mental capacities and cognitive mechanisms of the great apes has been silent about whether they can act autonomously. this paper provides a philosophical theory of autonomy supported by psychological studies of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie chimpanzee behavior to argue that chimpanzees can act autonomously even though their psychological mechanisms differ from those of humans. chimpanzees satisfy the two basic conditions of autonomy: (1) liberty (the absence of control ... | 2014 | 24668527 |
| adenosylmethionine decarboxylase 1 (amd1)-mediated mrna processing and cell adhesion activated & inhibited transition mechanisms by different comparisons between chimpanzee and human left hemisphere. | to understand adenosylmethionine decarboxylase 1 (amd1)-mediated mrna processing and cell adhesion activated & inhibited transition mechanisms between chimpanzee and human left hemisphere, amd1-activated different complete (all no positive correlation, pearson correlation coefficient < 0.25) and uncomplete (partly no positive correlation except amd1, pearson < 0.25) networks were identified in higher human compared with lower chimpanzee left hemisphere from the corresponding amd1-stimulated (pea ... | 2014 | 24652003 |
| validation and genotyping of multiple human polymorphic inversions mediated by inverted repeats reveals a high degree of recurrence. | in recent years different types of structural variants (svs) have been discovered in the human genome and their functional impact has become increasingly clear. inversions, however, are poorly characterized and more difficult to study, especially those mediated by inverted repeats or segmental duplications. here, we describe the results of a simple and fast inverse pcr (ipcr) protocol for high-throughput genotyping of a wide variety of inversions using a small amount of dna. in particular, we an ... | 2014 | 24651690 |
| spontaneous spatial mapping of learned sequence in chimpanzees: evidence for a snarc-like effect. | in the last couple of decades, there has been a growing number of reports on space-based representation of numbers and serial order in humans. in the present study, to explore evolutionary origins of such representations, we examined whether our closest evolutionary relatives, chimpanzees, map an acquired sequence onto space in a similar way to humans. the subjects had been trained to perform a number sequence task in which they touched a sequence of "small" to "large" arabic numerals presented ... | 2014 | 24643044 |
| differential reliance of chimpanzees and humans on automatic and deliberate control of motor actions. | humans are often unaware of how they control their limb motor movements. people pay attention to their own motor movements only when their usual motor routines encounter errors. yet little is known about the extent to which voluntary actions rely on automatic control and when automatic control shifts to deliberate control in nonhuman primates. in this study, we demonstrate that chimpanzees and humans showed similar limb motor adjustment in response to feedback error during reaching actions, wher ... | 2014 | 24632429 |
| moving beyond the welfare standard of psychological well-being for nonhuman primates: the case of chimpanzees. | since 1985, the us animal welfare act and public health service policy have required that researchers using nonhuman primates in biomedical and behavioral research develop a plan "for a physical environment adequate to promote the psychological well-being of primates." in pursuing this charge, housing attributes such as social companionship, opportunities to express species-typical behavior, suitable space for expanded locomotor activity, and nonstressful relationships with laboratory personnel ... | 2014 | 24627265 |
| adenovirus type 4 and 7 vaccination or adenovirus type 4 respiratory infection elicits minimal cross-reactive antibody responses to nonhuman adenovirus vaccine vectors. | antivector immunity may limit the immunogenicity of adenovirus vector vaccines. we tested sera from individuals immunized with adenovirus type 4 and 7 (ad4 and ad7, respectively) vaccine or naturally infected with ad4 for their ability to neutralize a panel of e1-deleted human and chimpanzee adenoviruses (chad). small statistically significant increases in titers to chad63, chad3, human ad35, and human ad5 were observed. neutralizing antibodies elicited by ad4 infection or immunization results i ... | 2014 | 24623627 |
| the voice of emotion across species: how do human listeners recognize animals' affective states? | voice-induced cross-taxa emotional recognition is the ability to understand the emotional state of another species based on its voice. in the past, induced affective states, experience-dependent higher cognitive processes or cross-taxa universal acoustic coding and processing mechanisms have been discussed to underlie this ability in humans. the present study sets out to distinguish the influence of familiarity and phylogeny on voice-induced cross-taxa emotional perception in humans. for the fir ... | 2014 | 24621604 |
| chimpanzees empathize with group mates and humans, but not with baboons or unfamiliar chimpanzees. | human empathy can extend to strangers and even other species, but it is unknown whether non-humans are similarly broad in their empathic responses. we explored the breadth and flexibility of empathy in chimpanzees, a close relative of humans. we used contagious yawning to measure involuntary empathy and showed chimpanzees videos of familiar humans, unfamiliar humans and gelada baboons (an unfamiliar species). we tested whether each class of stimuli elicited contagion by comparing the effect of y ... | 2014 | 24619445 |
| termites in the hominin diet: a meta-analysis of termite genera, species and castes as a dietary supplement for south african robust australopithecines. | termite foraging by chimpanzees and present-day modern humans is a well-documented phenomenon, making it a plausible hypothesis that early hominins were also utilizing this resource. hominin termite foraging has been credited by some to be the explanation for the unexpected carbon isotope signatures present in south african hominin teeth, which suggest the diet was different from that of extant non-human great apes, consisting of a significant amount of resources that are not from woody-plants. ... | 2014 | 24613098 |
| delay of gratification by orangutans (pongo pygmaeus) in the accumulation task. | there is considerable evidence indicating that chimpanzees can delay gratification for extended time intervals, particularly in the accumulation task in which food items accumulate within a participant's reach until the participant begins to consume them. however, there is limited evidence that other ape species might also exhibit this capacity, despite there being a number of similar studies indicating that nonape species (e.g., monkeys and birds) can delay gratification, but not for nearly as ... | 2014 | 24611642 |
| chimpanzees as vulnerable subjects in research. | using an approach developed in the context of human bioethics, we argue that chimpanzees in research can be regarded as vulnerable subjects. this vulnerability is primarily due to communication barriers and situational factors-confinement and dependency-that make chimpanzees particularly susceptible to risks of harm and exploitation in experimental settings. in human research, individuals who are deemed vulnerable are accorded special protections. using conceptual and moral resources developed i ... | 2014 | 24610230 |
| insect prey characteristics affecting regional variation in chimpanzee tool use. | it is an ongoing interdisciplinary pursuit to identify the factors shaping the emergence and maintenance of tool technology. field studies of several primate taxa have shown that tool using behaviors vary within and between populations. while similarity in tools over spatial and temporal scales may be the product of socially learned skills, it may also reflect adoption of convergent strategies that are tailored to specific prey features. much has been claimed about regional variation in chimpanz ... | 2014 | 24602365 |
| the direct perception hypothesis: perceiving the intention of another's action hinders its precise imitation. | we argue that imitation is a learning response to unintelligible actions, especially to social conventions. various strands of evidence are converging on this conclusion, but further progress has been hampered by an outdated theory of perceptual experience. comparative psychology continues to be premised on the doctrine that humans and non-human primates only perceive others' physical "surface behavior," while mental states are perceptually inaccessible. however, a growing consensus in social co ... | 2014 | 24600413 |
| children, but not chimpanzees, have facial correlates of determination. | facial expressions have long been proposed to be important agents in forming and maintaining cooperative interactions in social groups. human beings are inordinately cooperative when compared with their closest-living relatives, the great apes, and hence one might expect species differences in facial expressivity in contexts in which cooperation could be advantageous. here, human children and chimpanzees were given an identical task designed to induce an element of frustration (it was impossible ... | 2014 | 24598107 |
| the role of mutation rate variation and genetic diversity in the architecture of human disease. | we have investigated the role that the mutation rate and the structure of genetic variation at a locus play in determining whether a gene is involved in disease. we predict that the mutation rate and its genetic diversity should be higher in genes associated with disease, unless all genes that could cause disease have already been identified. | 2014 | 24587257 |
| how old are chimpanzee communities? time to the most recent common ancestor of the y-chromosome in highly patrilocal societies. | many human societies are patrilineal, with males passing on their name or descent group affiliation to their offspring. y-chromosomes are also passed on from father to son, leading to the simple expectation that males sharing the same surname or descent group membership should have similar y-chromosome haplotypes. although several studies in patrilineal human societies have examined the correspondence between y-chromosome variation and surname or descent group membership, similar studies in non- ... | 2014 | 24576638 |
| development of adrenal cortical zonation and expression of key elements of adrenal androgen production in the chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) from birth to adulthood. | the basis for the pattern of adrenal androgen production in the chimpanzee, which resembles that of humans, is poorly defined. we characterized the developmental zonation and expression of elements of the androgen biosynthetic pathway in the chimpanzee adrenal. the newborn adrenal contained a broad fetal zone (fz) expressing cyp17, sult2a1, and cytochrome b5 (cb5) but not hsd3b; the outer cortex expressed hsd3b but not sult2a1 or cb5. during infancy, the fz involuted and the hsd3b-expressing out ... | 2014 | 24576611 |
| chimpanzee diet: phytolithic analysis of feces. | most primate populations remain unobservable; therefore, researchers depend on the analyses of indirect evidence encountered at a study-site in order to understand their behavioral ecology. diet can be determined through the analyses of scats or feeding remains encountered on-site. this allows aspects of their dietary repertoire to be established, which has implications both for conservation efforts (by locating food resources), and for understanding the evolution of hominin diet (if used as ref ... | 2014 | 24573696 |
| lessons learned: challenges in applying current constraints on research on chimpanzees to other animals. | the institute of medicine (iom) committee on the necessity of the use of chimpanzees in biomedical and behavioral research made a series of recommendations that, as of an announcement on june 26, 2013, the national institutes of health (nih) is turning into implemented guidelines. many advocates, including some researchers and scholars, have suggested that the committee's recommendations could be applied successfully to other animal species. this article examines, from my perspective as the iom ... | 2014 | 24566663 |