Publications

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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
muscle-specific integrins in masseter muscle fibers of chimpanzees: an immunohistochemical study.	most notably, recent comparative genomic analyses strongly indicate that the marked differences between modern human and chimpanzees are likely due more to changes in gene regulation than to modifications of the genes. the most peculiar aspect of hominoid karyotypes is that human have 46 chromosomes whereas gorillas and chimpanzees have 48. interestingly, human and chimpanzees do share identical inversions on chromosome 7 and 9 that are not evident in the gorilla karyotype. thus, the general phy ...	2009	20430719
mass spectral analyses of the two major apolipoproteins of great ape high density lipoproteins.	the two major apolipoproteins associated with human and chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) high density lipoproteins (hdl) are apoa-i and dimeric apoa-ii. although humans are closely related to great apes, apolipoprotein data do not exist for bonobos (pan paniscus), western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the sumatran orangutans (pongo abelii). in the absence of any data, other great apes simply have been assumed to have dimeric apoa-ii while other primates and most other mammals have b ...	2009	21298813
the road to therapeutic rna interference (rnai): tackling the 800 pound sirna delivery gorilla.	if those of us privileged enough to have the opportunity to work towards curing human diseases had the power to design the ideal therapeutic molecule, the question would be what selection criteria would we choose? arguably, at the top of the list would be four mandatory properties: specificity, potency, tolerability, and universality. so it should come as no surprise the momentum associated with the field of small interfering rna (sirna)-induced rna interference (rnai) therapeutics has gained st ...	2009	20040280
two-step multiplex polymerase chain reaction improves the speed and accuracy of genotyping using dna from noninvasive and museum samples.	many studies in molecular ecology rely upon the genotyping of large numbers of low-quantity dna extracts derived from noninvasive or museum specimens. to overcome low amplification success rates and avoid genotyping errors such as allelic dropout and false alleles, multiple polymerase chain reaction (pcr) replicates for each sample are typically used. recently, two-step multiplex procedures have been introduced which drastically increase the success rate and efficiency of genotyping. however, co ...	2009	21564562
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
task constraints mask great apes' ability to solve the trap-table task.	researchers have investigated animals' causal knowledge with a task requiring subjects to use a tool to bring a reward within reach whilst avoiding a trap. previous studies have suggested limitations in the ability of several species to avoid traps in tubes or tables. however, certain features may have inflated task difficulty. we tested 20 chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), 7 orangutans (pongo pygmaeus), 5 bonobos (pan paniscus), and 5 gorillas (gorilla gorilla) in the trap-table--a task in which s ...	2008	18248114
hominoid chromosomal rearrangements on 17q map to complex regions of segmental duplication.	chromosomal rearrangements, such as translocations and inversions, are recurrent phenomena during evolution, and both of them are involved in reproductive isolation and speciation. to better understand the molecular basis of chromosome rearrangements and their part in karyotype evolution, we have investigated the history of human chromosome 17 by comparative fluorescence in situ hybridization (fish) and sequence analysis.	2008	18257913
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
the star*d trial: the 300 lb gorilla is in the room, but does it block all the light?		2008	18952951
comparing ape densities and habitats in northern congo: surveys of sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees in the odzala and ndoki regions.	the conservation status of western lowland gorillas and central chimpanzees in western equatorial africa remains largely speculative because many remote areas have never been surveyed and the impact of emergent diseases in the region has not been well documented. in this study, we compared ape densities and habitats in the lokoué study area in odzala national park and the goualougo triangle in nouabalé-ndoki national park in northern republic of congo. both of these sites have long been consider ...	2008	18176937
tubes, tables and traps: great apes solve two functionally equivalent trap tasks but show no evidence of transfer across tasks.	previous studies on tool using have shown that presenting subjects with certain modifications in the experimental setup can substantially improve their performance. however, procedural modifications (e.g. trap table task) may not only remove task constraints but also simplify the problem conceptually. the goal of this study was to design a variation of the trap-table that was functionally equivalent to the trap-tube task. in this new task, the subjects had to decide where to insert the tool and ...	2008	18183433
the mastodon mitochondrial genome: a mammoth accomplishment.	the mitochondrial genome of an american mastodon was recently sequenced and used to root a phylogenetic analysis that included full mitochondrial genome sequences from woolly mammoths and the two living elephant genera. the study definitively established that mammoth and asian elephant mitochondrial dna lineages are more closely related than either is to african elephants. however, it also suggests that a complex evolutionary picture could ultimately emerge and points to similarities between the ...	2008	18192067
the evolutionary role of modularity and integration in the hominoid cranium.	patterns of morphological integration and modularity among shape features emerge from genetic and developmental factors with varying pleiotropic effects. factors or processes affecting morphology only locally may respond to selection more easily than common factors that may lead to deleterious side effects and hence are expected to be more conserved. we briefly review evidence for such global factors in primate cranial development as well as for local factors constrained to either the face or th ...	2008	18194472
molecular evolution of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 5a gene in primates.	many electron transport chain (etc) genes show accelerated rates of nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions in anthropoid primate lineages, yet in non-anthropoid lineages the etc proteins are typically highly conserved. here, we test the hypothesis that cox5a, the etc gene that encodes cytochrome c oxidase subunit 5a, shows a pattern of anthropoid-specific adaptive evolution, and investigate the distribution of this protein in catarrhine brains.	2008	18197981
patterns of paternity and group fission in wild multimale mountain gorilla groups.	to understand variation among social systems, it is essential to know the relative reproductive success of individuals in group-living species. particularly interesting for such studies are taxa such as mountain gorillas in which both one-male and multimale groups are common, because of the opportunity to estimate the costs and benefits to males of pursuing different reproductive strategies. we genotyped 68 individuals from two groups of multimale mountain gorilla groups in bwindi impenetrable n ...	2008	18000886
gorillas are a host for dientamoeba fragilis: an update on the life cycle and host distribution.	dientamoeba fragilis is a gastrointestinal protozoan that has a worldwide distribution and is emergeing as a common cause of diarrhea. as d. fragilis has a propensity to cause chronic illness with symptoms similar to irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) it is not surprising that some patients with d. fragilis are misdiagnosed as having ibs. in contrast to most other pathogenic protozoa very little is known about its life cycle, epidemiology and mode of transmission. what role animal reservoirs play in ...	2008	18022187
mechanical analysis of infant carrying in hominoids.	in all higher nonhuman primates, species survival depends upon safe carrying of infants clinging to body hair of adults. in this work, measurements of mechanical properties of ape hair (gibbon, orangutan, and gorilla) are presented, focusing on constraints for safe infant carrying. results of hair tensile properties are shown to be species-dependent. analysis of the mechanics of the mounting position, typical of heavier infant carrying among african apes, shows that both clinging and friction ar ...	2008	18030438
influence of male morphology on male mating status and behavior during interunit encounters in western lowland gorillas.	the western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) is one of the most sexually dimorphic primate species. mature males are twice the size of females and have grey fur on their backs and a fibrous, adipose crest on their heads. such traits are likely to have evolved by sexual selection, either because they confer advantages during male-male fights or because females prefer males with more dimorphic traits. we developed photogrammetric methods for distance collection of morphological data from ...	2008	18044692
comparative observations on the tooth root morphology of gigantopithecus blacki.	the extinct great ape gigantopithecus blacki from the middle pleistocene of china and vietnam is known only from dental and mandibular remains, and its dietary specializations remain contentious. here, for the first time, we describe the root morphology in g. blacki using computed tomography and three-dimensional image processing. we quantify the tooth root lengths and surface areas of the female g. blacki mandible no. 1 from the liucheng cave and compare it to a sample of extant great apes and ...	2008	18045651
three-dimensional primate molar enamel thickness.	molar enamel thickness has played an important role in the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and dietary assessments of fossil primate teeth for nearly 90 years. despite the frequency with which enamel thickness is discussed in paleoanthropological discourse, methods used to attain information about enamel thickness are destructive and record information from only a single plane of section. such semidestructive planar methods limit sample sizes and ignore dimensional data that may be culled from the enti ...	2008	18045652
preliminary observations on increasing root length during the eruptive phase of tooth development in modern humans and great apes.	ground sections of incisors, canines, and molars were selected that showed clear incremental markings in root dentine. the sample comprised 98 homo sapiens, 53 pan troglodytes, and a more limited combined sample of 51 gorilla and pongo sections. daily rates of root dentine formation, together with the orientation of incremental markings in roots close to the cement-dentine junction (cdj), were used to calculate root extension rates for the first 10mm of root formed beyond the buccal enamel cervi ...	2008	18045653
reactivity of urinary albumin (microalbumin) assays with fragmented or modified albumin.	controversy exists regarding occurrence and measurement of structural variants of albumin in urine. in this study, we examined cross-reactivity of in vitro modified albumins in assays for urine albumin (microalbumin).	2008	17981922
nutritional quality of gorilla diets: consequences of age, sex, and season.	we tested the effects of age, sex, and season on the nutritional strategies of a group of mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei) in the bwindi impenetrable national park, uganda. through observations of food intake of individual gorillas and nutritional analyses of dietary components over different seasons and environments, we estimated nutrient intake and evaluated diet adequacy. our results suggest that the nutritional costs of reproduction and growth affect nutrient intake; growing juveniles an ...	2008	17999090
quantitative three-dimensional shape analysis of the proximal hallucial metatarsal articular surface in homo, pan, gorilla, and hylobates.	multidimensional morphometrics is used to compare the proximal articular surface of the first metatarsal between homo, pan, gorilla, hylobates, and the hominin fossils a.l. 333-54 (a. afarensis), skx 5017 (p. robustus), and oh 8 (h. habilis). statistically significant differences in articular surface morphology exist between h. sapiens and the apes, and between ape groups. ape groups are characterized by greater surface depth, an obliquely curved articular surface through the dorso-lateral and m ...	2008	18046775
new hand bones of hadropithecus stenognathus: implications for the paleobiology of the archaeolemuridae.	a partial, associated skeleton of hadropithecus stenognathus (aha-i) was discovered in 2003 at andrahomana cave in southeastern madagascar. among the postcranial elements found were the first hand bones (right scaphoid, right hamate, left first metacarpal, and right and left fifth metacarpals) attributed to this rare subfossil lemur. these hand bones were compared to those of extant strepsirrhines and catarrhines in order to infer the positional adaptations of hadropithecus, and they were compar ...	2008	18068213
molecular mechanisms of chromosomal rearrangement during primate evolution.	breakpoint analysis of the large chromosomal rearrangements which have occurred during primate evolution promises to yield new insights into the underlying mechanisms of mutagenesis. comparison of these evolutionary breakpoints with those that are disease-associated in humans, and which occur during either meiotic or mitotic cell division, should help to identify basic mechanistic similarities as well as differences. it has recently become clear that segmental duplications (sds) have had a very ...	2008	18293104
chimerism, point mutation, and truncation dramatically transformed mast cell delta-tryptases during primate evolution.	tryptases are serine peptidases stored in mast cell granules. rodents express 2 soluble tryptases, mast cell proteases (mcps) 6 and 7. human alpha- and beta-tryptases are orthologs of mcp-6. however, much of the ancestral mcp-7 ortholog was replaced by parts of other tryptases, creating chimeric delta-tryptase. human delta-tryptase's limited activity is hypothesized to be due to truncation and processing mutations.	2008	18325577
an experimental study of nettle feeding in captive gorillas.	mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei) in karisoke, rwanda, feed on the stinging nettle laportea alatipes by means of elaborate processing skills. byrne [e.g. philosophical transactions of the royal society of london, series b, biological sciences 358:529-536, 2003] has claimed that individuals acquire these skills by means of the so-called program-level imitation, in which the overall sequence of problem-solving steps (not the precise actions) is reproduced. in this study we present west ...	2008	18330896
behavioural responses to photographs by pictorially naïve baboons (papio anubis), gorillas (gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (pan troglodytes).	this study assessed how pictorially naïve nonhuman primates understand pictures. fifty-five baboons with no prior exposure to pictures were trained to grasp a slice of banana presented against a pebble in a two alternative forced choice task. post-training testing involved three stimulus pairs: (1) real banana slice vs. its picture, (2) the banana picture vs. a real pebble and (3) banana picture vs. a pebble picture which were presented twice. preliminary data were also collected on naïve gorill ...	2008	18342457
ectocranial suture closure in pan troglodytes and gorilla gorilla: pattern and phylogeny.	the order in which ectocranial sutures undergo fusion displays species-specific variation among primates. however, the precise relationship between suture closure and phylogenetic affinities is poorly understood. in this study, we used guttman scaling to determine if the modal progression of suture closure differs among homo sapiens, pan troglodytes, and gorilla gorilla. because dna sequence homologies strongly suggest that p. troglodytes and homo sapiens share a more recent common ancestor than ...	2008	18350580
evolution of the daz gene and the azfc region on primate y chromosomes.	the azoospermia factor c (azfc) region of the human y chromosome is a unique product of segmental duplication. it consists almost entirely of very long amplicons, represented by different colors, and is frequently deleted in subfertile men. most of the azfc amplicons have high sequence similarity with autosomal segments, indicating recent duplication and transposition to the y chromosome. the deleted in azoospermia (daz) gene within the red-amplicon arose from an ancestral autosomal daz-like (da ...	2008	18366765
restriction of foamy viruses by primate trim5alpha.	foamy viruses (fvs) are unconventional retroviruses with a replication strategy that is significantly different from orthoretroviruses and bears some homology to that of hepadnaviruses. although some cellular proteins, such as apobec3, have been reported to block fvs, no restriction by trim5alpha has been described to date. the sensitivity of three fv isolates of human-chimpanzee or prototypic (pfv), macaque (sfvmac), and feline (ffv) origin to a variety of primate trim5alphas was therefore test ...	2008	18367529
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
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
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
position of chromosomes 18, 19, 21 and 22 in 3d-preserved interphase nuclei of human and gorilla and white hand gibbon.	abstract:	2008	18471270
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
[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
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
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
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
mountain gorilla research: the risk of disease transmission relative to the benefit from the perspective of ecosystem health.		2008	18506694
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
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
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
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
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
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
[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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
selective logging, habitat quality and home range use by sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees: a case study from an active logging concession in southeast cameroon.	we examined range use by great apes during logging activities and investigated associations between local variations in ape abundance and changes in the structure of the habitat or in the availability of fruits after disturbances. we carried out two annual censuses of western lowland gorilla (g. g. gorilla) and chimpanzee populations (pan t. troglodytes) in an active logging concession in southeast cameroon. the results suggest that gorillas may adapt their range use to avoid most recently logge ...	2008	17726332
knuckle walking signal in the manual digits of pan and gorilla.	this article examines the curvature of the manual proximal and middle phalanges of species belonging to pan, gorilla, ateles, macaca, pongo, hylobates, and cebus to determine whether middle phalangeal curvature, when considered in conjunction with proximal phalangeal curvature, yields a locomotor signal. prior studies have demonstrated the discriminatory power of proximal phalanges for separating suspensory species (including knuckle walkers) from pronograde quadrupedal species, but less emphasi ...	2008	17787000
new insights in insect prey choice by chimpanzees and gorillas in southeast cameroon: the role of nutritional value.	the insect diet of chimpanzees and gorillas living at the northern periphery of the dja biosphere reserve in southeast cameroon and its nutritional contribution is described. we analyzed fecal samples and recorded additional evidence of insectivory. a detailed prey species list is presented for both apes. we carried out nutritional analyses (macronutrients, macro- and micro-minerals) on 11 important and eight nonimportant, but accessible, ant and termite prey species, and estimated the average n ...	2008	17902166
fatty acid composition of wild anthropoid primate milks.	fatty acids in milk reflect the interplay between species-specific physiological mechanisms and maternal diet. anthropoid primates (apes, old and new world monkeys) vary in patterns of growth and development and dietary strategies. milk fatty acid profiles also are predicted to vary widely. this study investigates milk fatty acid composition of five wild anthropoids (alouatta palliata, callithrix jacchus, gorilla beringei beringei, leontopithecus rosalia, macaca sinica) to test the null hypothes ...	2008	17916436
prevalence and genetic diversity of simian immunodeficiency virus infection in wild-living red colobus monkeys (piliocolobus badius badius) from the taï forest, côte d'ivoire sivwrc in wild-living western red colobus monkeys.	numerous african primates are infected with simian immunodeficiency viruses (sivs). it is now well established that the clade of sivs infecting west-central african chimpanzees (pan troglodytes troglodytes) and western gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) represent the progenitors of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (hiv-1), whereas hiv-2 results from different cross-species transmissions of sivsmm from sooty mangabeys (cercocebus atys atys). we present here the first molecular epidemiological ...	2008	17916449
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
mitochondrial coii introgression into the nuclear genome of gorilla gorilla.	numts are nonfunctional mitochondrial sequences that have translocated into nuclear dna, where they evolve independently from the original mitochondrial dna (mtdna) sequence. numts can be unintentionally amplified in addition to authentic mtdna, complicating both the analysis and interpretation of mtdna-based studies. amplification of numts creates particular issues for studies on the noncoding, hypervariable 1 mtdna region of gorillas. we provide data on putative numt sequences of the coding mi ...	2008	19802374
who killed porthos? genetic tracking of a gorilla death.	we describe a novel application of "forensic" genetics to study a key demographic event in a population of wild gorillas. we used microsatellite genotyping and non-invasively collected dna samples to identify one individual western lowland gorilla as being most likely to have caused the death of another in lopé national park, gabon. data from relatively few genotypes permitted the identification of female transfer events and the interpretation of individual behavior that was previously impossibl ...	2007	21396025
proteomic distinction between humans and great apes based on plasma transthyretin microheterogeneity.	although humans and their closest relative, the chimpanzee are 98.5% identical in their dna sequences, they differ in morphologic, behavioural and cognitive aspects. recent studies imply observed differences in transthyretin (ttr) as a unique feature in human evolution. we studied differences in the molecular heterogeneity of plasma ttr between humans and great apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orang-utan) using a mass spectrometry immunoassay. compared to humans, ttr levels were higher in chim ...	2007	20483288
mast cell alpha and beta tryptases changed rapidly during primate speciation and evolved from gamma-like transmembrane peptidases in ancestral vertebrates.	human mast cell tryptases vary strikingly in secretion, catalytic competence, and inheritance. to explore the basis of variation, we compared genes from a range of primates, including humans, great apes (chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan), old- and new-world monkeys (macaque and marmoset), and a prosimian (galago), tracking key changes. our analysis reveals that extant soluble tryptase-like proteins, including alpha- and beta-like tryptases, mastins, and implantation serine proteases, likely evolve ...	2007	17947681
alu recombination-mediated structural deletions in the chimpanzee genome.	with more than 1.2 million copies, alu elements are one of the most important sources of structural variation in primate genomes. here, we compare the chimpanzee and human genomes to determine the extent of alu recombination-mediated deletion (armd) in the chimpanzee genome since the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages ( approximately 6 million y ago). combining computational data analysis and experimental verification, we have identified 663 chimpanzee lineage-specific deletions (in ...	2007	17953488