| ontogenetic changes in limb bone structural proportions in mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei). | behavioral studies indicate that adult mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei) are the most terrestrial of all nonhuman hominoids, but that infant mountain gorillas are much more arboreal. here we examine ontogenetic changes in diaphyseal strength and length of the femur, tibia, humerus, radius, and ulna in 30 virunga mountain gorillas, including 18 immature specimens and 12 adults. comparisons are also made with 14 adult western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla), which are known to be mor ... | 2013 | 24129040 |
| monitoring ovarian cycle activity via progestagens in urine and feces of female mountain gorillas: a comparison of eia and lc-ms measurements. | understanding the reproductive biology of endangered mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei) is essential for optimizing conservation strategies, determining any demographic impact of socioecological changes, and providing information for comparative studies of primates. non-invasive techniques have been used to assess the reproductive function of many primates and the importance of validating the measurements of hormones metabolites is widely recognized because they may vary even within c ... | 2014 | 24123105 |
| variable temporoinsular cortex neuroanatomy in primates suggests a bottleneck effect in eastern gorillas. | we describe an atypical neuroanatomical feature present in several primate species that involves a fusion between the temporal lobe (often including heschl's gyrus in great apes) and the posterior dorsal insula, such that a portion of insular cortex forms an isolated pocket medial to the sylvian fissure. we assessed the frequency of this fusion in 56 primate species (including apes, old world monkeys, new world monkeys, and strepsirrhines) by using either magnetic resonance images or histologica ... | 2014 | 23939630 |
| a genome-wide survey of genetic variation in gorillas using reduced representation sequencing. | all non-human great apes are endangered in the wild, and it is therefore important to gain an understanding of their demography and genetic diversity. whole genome assembly projects have provided an invaluable foundation for understanding genetics in all four genera, but to date genetic studies of multiple individuals within great ape species have largely been confined to mitochondrial dna and a small number of other loci. here, we present a genome-wide survey of genetic variation in gorillas us ... | 2013 | 23750230 |
| assessment of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentrations in two collections of captive gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d concentrations were assessed in subadult to adult captive lowland gorillas ( gorilla gorilla gorilla) (n = 26) at two institutions with different husbandry and management practices. serum 25-hydroxyvitamin d (25[oh]d) concentrations for gorillas managed predominantly indoors was low (14.2 ± 5.9 ng/ml), despite consuming commercial biscuits fortified with vitamin d3. concentrations of 25(oh)d in gorillas with near daily outdoor access were significantly higher than goril ... | 2017 | 28363045 |
| dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (dhea-s), sex, and age in zoo-housed western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | among humans, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (dhea-s) declines with age and is hypothesized to be involved in somatic maintenance and healthy aging. men have significantly higher dhea-s than women, contradicting longer lifespans in the latter. declines of dhea-s with age also are observed in chimpanzees. in both chimpanzees and bonobos, males and females show no differences in dhea-s production. based on human and chimpanzee data, gorillas were predicted to show declining dhea-s with age. simila ... | 2017 | 28229260 |
| leaf swallowing and parasite expulsion in khao yai white-handed gibbons (hylobates lar), the first report in an asian ape species. | leaf swallowing behavior, known as a form of self-medication for the control of nematode and tapeworm infection, occurs widely in all the african great apes (pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, p. t. troglodytes, p. t. verus, p. t. vellerosus, pan paniscus, gorilla gorilla graueri), except mountain gorillas. it is also reported to occur in a similar context across a wide array of other animal taxa including, domestic dogs, wolves, brown bears, and civets. despite long-term research on asian great an ... | 2017 | 28118500 |
| structure and evolution of the filaggrin gene repeated region in primates. | the evolutionary dynamics of repeat sequences is quite complex, with some duplicates never having differentiated from each other. two models can explain the complex evolutionary process for repeated genes-concerted and birth-and-death, of which the latter is driven by duplications maintained by selection. copy number variations caused by random duplications and losses in repeat regions may modulate molecular pathways and therefore affect phenotypic characteristics in a population, resulting in i ... | 2017 | 28077068 |
| vernal-like conjunctivitis in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | a 17-year-old female western lowland gorilla presented with bilateral ocular discharge, conjunctivitis, and rhinitis that was investigated and treated over a 34-month period. clinical findings, diagnostic results, treatment, and follow-up are described. | 2017 | 28058762 |
| chlamydia-related bacteria in free-living and captive great apes, gabon. | | 2016 | 27869611 |
| effect of antibiotic treatment on the gastrointestinal microbiome of free-ranging western lowland gorillas (gorilla g. gorilla). | the mammalian gastrointestinal (gi) microbiome, which plays indispensable roles in host nutrition and health, is affected by numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. among them, antibiotic (atb) treatment is reported to have a significant effect on gi microbiome composition in humans and other animals. however, the impact of atbs on the gi microbiome of free-ranging or even captive great apes remains poorly characterized. here, we investigated the effect of cephalosporin treatment (delivered by ... | 2016 | 26984253 |
| patterns of milk macronutrients and bioactive molecules across lactation in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla) and a sumatran orangutan (pongo abelii). | in addition to nutrients, milk contains signaling molecules that influence offspring development. human milk is similar in nutrient composition to that of apes, but appears to differ in other aspects such as immune function. we examine the longitudinal patterns across lactation of macronutrients, the metabolic hormone adiponectin, the growth factors epidermal growth factor (egf) and transforming growth factor β2 (tgf-β2), and two receptors for these growth factors (egf-r and tgf-β2-riii) in milk ... | 2017 | 27768810 |
| a systematic review of the literature relating to captive great ape morbidity and mortality. | wild bonobos (pan paniscus), chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), western gorillas (gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (pongo pygmaeus, pongo abelii) are threatened with extinction. in order to help maintain a self-sustaining zoo population, clinicians require a sound understanding of the diseases with which they might be presented. to provide an up-to-date perspective on great ape morbidity and mortality, a systematic review of the zoological and veterinary literature of great apes from 1990 to 2014 wa ... | 2016 | 27691977 |
| integrating occurrence and detectability patterns based on interview data: a case study for threatened mammals in equatorial guinea. | occurrence models that account for imperfect detection of species are increasingly used for estimating geographical range, for determining species-landscape relations and to prioritize conservation actions worldwide. in 2010, we conducted a large-scale survey in río muni, the mainland territory of equatorial guinea, which aimed to estimate the probabilities of occurrence and detection of threatened mammals based on environmental covariates, and to identify priority areas for conservation. interv ... | 2016 | 27666671 |
| an investigation of the auditory perception of western lowland gorillas in an enrichment study. | previous research has highlighted the varied effects of auditory enrichment on different captive animals. this study investigated how manipulating musical components can influence the behavior of a group of captive western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at bristol zoo. the gorillas were observed during exposure to classical music, rock-and-roll music, and rainforest sounds. the two music conditions were modified to create five further conditions: unmanipulated, decreased pitch, incre ... | 2016 | 27486716 |
| potential arms race in the coevolution of primates and angiosperms: brazzein sweet proteins and gorilla taste receptors. | we explored whether variation in the sweet taste receptor protein t1r3 in primates could contribute to differences in sweet taste repertoire among species, potentially reflecting coevolution with local plants. specifically, we examined which primates are likely to be sweet "tasters" of brazzein, a protein found in the fruit of the african plant pentadiplandra brazzeana that tastes intensely sweet to humans, but provides little energy. sweet proteins like brazzein are thought to mimic the taste o ... | 2016 | 27393125 |
| structure and evolution of the gorilla and orangutan growth hormone loci. | in primates, the unigenic growth hormone (gh) locus of prosimians expressed primarily in the anterior pituitary, evolved by gene duplications, independently in new world monkeys (nwm) and old world monkeys (owms)/apes, to give complex clusters of genes expressed in the pituitary and placenta. in human and chimpanzee, the gh locus comprises five genes, gh-n being expressed as pituitary gh, whereas gh-v (placental gh) and cshs (chorionic somatomammotropins) are expressed (in human and probably chi ... | 2016 | 27376725 |
| great apes and children infer causal relations from patterns of variation and covariation. | we investigated whether nonhuman great apes (n=23), 2.5-year-old (n=20), and 3-year-old children (n=40) infer causal relations from patterns of variation and covariation by adapting the blicket detector paradigm for apes. we presented chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), bonobos (pan paniscus), orangutans (pongo abelii), gorillas (gorilla gorilla), and children (homo sapiens) with a novel reward dispenser, the blicket detector. the detector was activated by inserting specific (yet randomly determined) ... | 2016 | 27343481 |
| conarticular congruence of the hominoid subtalar joint complex with implications for joint function in plio-pleistocene hominins. | the purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that conarticular surfaces areas and curvatures are correlates of mobility at the hominoid talocalcaneal and talonavicular joints. | 2016 | 27000377 |
| rearing history and allostatic load in adult western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in human care. | disrupted rearing history is a psychological and physical stressor for nonhuman primates, potentially resulting in multiple behavioral and physiological changes. as a chronic, soma-wide stressor, altered rearing may be best assessed using a holistic tool such as allostatic load (al). in humans, al estimates outcomes of lifetime stress-induced damage. we predicted mother-reared gorillas would have lower al than nursery-reared and wild-caught conspecifics. we estimated al for 27 gorillas housed at ... | 2016 | 26881840 |
| validation of two independent photogrammetric techniques for determining body measurements of gorillas. | the ability to accurately measure morphological characteristics of wild primates in the field is challenging, yet critical for understanding fundamental aspects of their biology and behavior. recent studies have shown that digital photogrammetry can be used to non-invasively measure morphological traits of wild primates, as it allows for the determination of geometric properties of objects remotely from photographic images. we report here on a rare opportunity to test this methodology by compari ... | 2015 | 26667787 |
| handedness for unimanual grasping in 564 great apes: the effect on grip morphology and a comparison with hand use for a bimanual coordinated task. | a number of factors have been proposed to influence within and between species variation in handedness in non-human primates. in the initial study, we assessed the influence of grip morphology on hand use for simple reaching in a sample of 564 great apes including 49 orangutans pongo pygmaeus, 66 gorillas gorilla gorilla, 354 chimpanzees pan troglodytes and 95 bonobos pan paniscus. overall, we found a significant right hand bias for reaching. we also found a significant effect of the grip morpho ... | 2015 | 26635693 |
| draft genome sequence of lactobacillus gorillae strain kz01t, isolated from a western lowland gorilla. | here, we report the draft genome sequence of lactobacillus gorillae strain kz01(t) isolated from a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). this genome sequence will be helpful for the comparative genomics between human and nonhuman primate-associated lactobacillus. | 2015 | 26472838 |
| differences in between-reinforcer value modulate the selective-value effect in great apes (pan troglodytes, p. paniscus, gorilla gorilla, pongo abelii). | we investigated how apes allocated their choices between 2 food options that varied in terms of their quantity and quality. experiment 1 tested whether subjects preferred an ab option over an a option, where the a item is preferred to the b item (e.g., apple + carrot vs. apple). additionally, we tested whether the length of the intertrial interval (iti) affected subjects' choices. five orangutans, 4 gorillas, 7 bonobos, and 10 chimpanzees received 3 types of trials: preference (a vs. b), quantit ... | 2016 | 26460854 |
| age-related motor dysfunction: manual slowing in gorilla gorilla gorilla. | aging in humans and rhesus monkeys is commonly associated with motor function decrements including dexterity, speed, and strength. despite their longevity and phylogenetic relatedness to humans, the effects of aging on motor function in non-human apes have been minimally studied. we conducted two experiments with western lowland gorillas (11-54 years of age) to determine whether aged gorillas exhibit motor deficits similar to those seen in other species. in experiment one, gorillas extracted up ... | 2015 | 26436765 |
| brief communication: skeletal and dental development in a sub-adult western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | non-human primate growth trajectories are often used to estimate the age and life history traits of fossil taxa. the exclusive use of chimpanzee growth patterns to estimate developmental stages for the earliest hominins is problematic because incomplete lineage sorting in the hominoid clade has produced a mosaic human genome that contains different regions shared with any one of the great apes. the accidental death of a sub-adult male western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) provides no ... | 2016 | 26388192 |
| western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) birth patterns and human presence in zoological settings. | there is some evidence to suggest that zoo visitors may have a disruptive impact on zoo-housed animals, especially primates. while some consider western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) to be particularly reactive to large crowds, the evidence of these effects is mixed, and is likely highly influenced by exhibit design, and group composition. while the majority of studies have focused on behavioral responses to human presence, there is the potential for physiological effects as well, i ... | 2015 | 26301718 |
| the influence of seasonal frugivory on nutrient and energy intake in wild western gorillas. | the daily energy requirements of animals are determined by a combination of physical and physiological factors, but food availability may challenge the capacity to meet nutritional needs. western gorillas (gorilla gorilla) are an interesting model for investigating this topic because they are folivore-frugivores that adjust their diet and activities to seasonal variation in fruit availability. observations of one habituated group of western gorillas in bai-hokou, central african republic (decemb ... | 2015 | 26154509 |
| high-throughput rna sequencing reveals structural differences of orthologous brain-expressed genes between western lowland gorillas and humans. | the human brain and human cognitive abilities are strikingly different from those of other great apes despite relatively modest genome sequence divergence. however, little is presently known about the interspecies divergence in gene structure and transcription that might contribute to these phenotypic differences. to date, most comparative studies of gene structure in the brain have examined humans, chimpanzees, and macaque monkeys. to add to this body of knowledge, we analyze here the brain tra ... | 2016 | 26132897 |
| the effects of group type and young silverbacks on wounding rates in western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) groups in north american zoos. | in north american zoos, male gorillas are often housed in all-male (bachelor) groups to provide socialization for males not managed in breeding groups. these groups exhibit long-term cohesion and stability and males in bachelor groups are no more aggressive than males in mixed-sex groups. previous studies have shown that aggression in male gorillas is more directly related to age rather than group type, with young silverbacks (ysb; males 14-20 years of age) having higher rates of aggressive beha ... | 2015 | 26094937 |
| detection dog efficacy for collecting faecal samples from the critically endangered cross river gorilla (gorilla gorilla diehli) for genetic censusing. | population estimates using genetic capture-recapture methods from non-invasively collected wildlife samples are more accurate and precise than those obtained from traditional methods when detection and resampling rates are high. recently, detection dogs have been increasingly used to find elusive species and their by-products. here we compared the effectiveness of dog- and human-directed searches for cross river gorilla (gorilla gorilla diehli) faeces at two sites. the critically endangered cros ... | 2015 | 26064602 |
| gut microbiome composition and metabolomic profiles of wild western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) reflect host ecology. | the metabolic activities of gut microbes significantly influence host physiology; thus, characterizing the forces that modulate this micro-ecosystem is key to understanding mammalian biology and fitness. to investigate the gut microbiome of wild primates and determine how these microbial communities respond to the host's external environment, we characterized faecal bacterial communities and, for the first time, gut metabolomes of four wild lowland gorilla groups in the dzanga-sangha protected a ... | 2015 | 25846719 |
| admixture between historically isolated mitochondrial lineages in captive western gorillas: recommendations for future management. | although captive populations of western gorilla have been maintained in the united states for over a century, little is known about the geographic origins and genetic composition of the current zoo population. furthermore, although previous mitochondrial analyses have shown that free-range gorilla populations exhibit substantial regional differentiation, nothing is known of the extent to which this variation has been preserved in captive populations. to address these questions, we combined 379 p ... | 2017 | 25790828 |
| inference of gorilla demographic and selective history from whole-genome sequence data. | although population-level genomic sequence data have been gathered extensively for humans, similar data from our closest living relatives are just beginning to emerge. examination of genomic variation within great apes offers many opportunities to increase our understanding of the forces that have differentially shaped the evolutionary history of hominid taxa. here, we expand upon the work of the great ape genome project by analyzing medium to high coverage whole-genome sequences from 14 western ... | 2015 | 25534031 |
| how much more would knm-wt 15000 have grown? | because of its completeness, the juvenile homo ergaster/erectus knm-wt 15000 has played an important role in studies of the evolution of body form in homo. early attempts to estimate his adult body size used modern human growth models. however, more recent evidence, particularly from the dentition, suggests that he may have had a more chimpanzee-like growth trajectory. here we re-estimate his adult stature and body mass using ontogenetic data derived from four african ape taxa: pan troglodytes t ... | 2015 | 25449954 |
| analysis of the ahr gene proximal promoter ggggc-repeat polymorphism in lung, breast, and colon cancer. | the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (ahr) regulates expression of numerous genes, including those of the cyp1 gene family. with the goal of determining factors that control ahr gene expression, our studies are focused on the role of the short tandem repeat polymorphism, (ggggc)n, located in the proximal promoter of the human ahr gene. when luciferase constructs containing varying ggggc repeats were transfected into cancer cell lines derived from the lung, colon, and breast, the number of ggggc repeats ... | 2015 | 25447411 |
| contextual correlates of syntactic variation in mountain and western gorilla close-distance vocalizations: indications for lexical or phonological syntax? | the core of the generative power of human languages lies in our ability to combine acoustic units under specific rules into structurally complex and semantically rich utterances. while various animal species concatenate acoustic units into structurally elaborate vocal sequences, such compound calls do not appear to be compositional as their information content cannot be derived from the information content of each of its components. as such, animal compound calls are said to constitute a form of ... | 2015 | 25311802 |
| the timing of spheno-occipital fusion in hominoids. | the degree of spheno-occipital fusion has been used to assign a relative age to dentally mature hominoid cranial specimens. however, a recent study of captive individuals (poe: am j phys anthropol 144 (2011) 162–165) concluded that fusion of the spheno-occipital suture in great ape taxa is of little utility for aging dentally mature individuals. in this contribution, i use dentally mature samples of extant hominoid taxa (homo sapiens, pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, gorilla gorilla gorilla, pong ... | 2015 | 25293964 |
| analysis of the forearm rotational efficiency in extant hominoids: new insights into the functional implications of upper limb skeletal structure. | the greatly diversified locomotor behaviors in the hominoidea impose different mechanical requirements in the upper limb of each species. as forearm rotation has a major role in locomotion, the skeletal structures involved in this movement may display differences among taxa that reflect functional adaptations. to test this, we use a biomechanical model that quantifies the rotatory capacity of pronator teres (rotational efficiency) from skeletal measurements. using a large sample of hominoids, we ... | 2014 | 25277440 |
| all great ape species (gorilla gorilla, pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, pongo abelii) and two-and-a-half-year-old children (homo sapiens) discriminate appearance from reality. | nonhuman great apes and human children were tested for an understanding that appearance does not always correspond to reality. subjects were 29 great apes (bonobos [pan paniscus], chimpanzees [pan troglodytes], gorillas [gorilla gorilla], and orangutans [pongo abelii]) and 24 2½-year-old children. in our task, we occluded portions of 1 large and 1 small food stick such that the size relations seemed reversed. subjects could then choose which one they wanted. there was 1 control condition and 2 e ... | 2014 | 25150962 |
| nutrition of the captive western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla): a dietary survey. | the successful management of captive animals requires attention to multiple interconnected factors. one critical aspect of the daily life of a captive animal is the recommended and/or provisioned diet. this study focuses on the diets of zoo-housed gorillas. a national survey of diets among zoo-housed gorillas was conducted to examine diets being offered to captive gorillas in the united states and canada. this survey serves as a follow-up to a 1995 dietary survey of zoo-housed gorillas and goes ... | 2014 | 25130685 |
| the birth of an infant decreases group spacing in a zoo-housed lowland gorilla group (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | changes in group composition can alter the behavior of social animals such as gorillas. although gorilla births are presumed to affect group spacing patterns, there is relatively little data about how these events affect gorilla group cohesion. we investigated how members of a western lowland gorilla group (n = 6) at lincoln park zoo (chicago, il, usa) spaced themselves prior to and after the birth of an infant, to investigate changes in group cohesion. gorillas were housed in an indoor-outdoor ... | 2014 | 25130595 |
| core promoter short tandem repeats as evolutionary switch codes for primate speciation. | alteration in gene expression levels underlies many of the phenotypic differences across species. because of their highly mutable nature, proximity to the +1 transcription start site (tss), and the emerging evidence of functional impact on gene expression, core promoter short tandem repeats (strs) may be considered an ideal source of variation across species. in a genome-scale analysis of the entire homo sapiens protein-coding genes, we have previously identified core promoters with at least one ... | 2015 | 25099915 |
| comparative morphology of the hominin and african ape hyoid bone, a possible marker of the evolution of speech. | this study examines the morphology of the hyoid in three closely related species, homo sapiens, pan troglodytes, and gorilla gorilla. differences and similarities between the hyoids of these species are characterized and used to interpret the morphology and affi nities of the dikika a. afarensis, kebara 2 neanderthal, and other fossil hominin hyoid bones. humans and african apes are found to have distinct hyoid morphologies. in humans the maximum width across the distal tips of the articulated g ... | 2013 | 25078953 |
| high diversity of mic genes in non-human primates. | the human mhc class i (mhc-i) chain-related genes a and b (mica and micb) encode stress-induced glycoproteins, ligands for the activating receptor nkg2d. they display an unusually high degree of polymorphism, next only to that of classical mhc-i. the functional relevance and selective pressure behind this peculiar polymorphism, which is quite distinct from that of classical mhc-i, remain largely unknown. this study increases the repertoire of allelic sequences determined for the mic genes of non ... | 2014 | 25073428 |
| the function of loud calls (hoot series) in wild western gorillas (gorilla gorilla). | the use of loud vocal signals to reduce distance among separated social partners is well documented in many species; however, the underlying mechanisms by which the reduction of spacing occurs and how they differ across species remain unclear. western gorillas (gorilla gorilla) offer an opportunity to investigate these issues because their vocal repertoire includes a loud, long-distance call (i.e., hoot series) that is potentially used in within-group communication, whereas mountain gorillas use ... | 2014 | 25059429 |
| niche partitioning in sympatric gorilla and pan from cameroon: implications for life history strategies and for reconstructing the evolution of hominin life history. | factors influencing the hominoid life histories are poorly understood, and little is known about how ecological conditions modulate the pace of their development. yet our limited understanding of these interactions underpins life history interpretations in extinct hominins. here we determined the synchronisation of dental mineralization/eruption with brain size in a 20th century museum collection of sympatric gorilla gorilla and pan troglodytes from central cameroon. using δ13c and δ15n of indiv ... | 2014 | 25054380 |
| evaluating the physiological and behavioral response of a male and female gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) during an introduction. | prolonged stress responses can lead to infertility and death; therefore monitoring respective indicators like stress-related hormones and behaviors is an important tool in ensuring the health and well-being among zoo-housed animal populations. changes in social structure, such as the introduction of a new conspecific, can be a source of stress. in april 2010, a sexually mature female western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) was brought to lincoln park zoo (lpz; chicago, il) from the chi ... | 2014 | 25042832 |
| individual distinctiveness in call types of wild western female gorillas. | individually distinct vocalizations play an important role in animal communication, allowing call recipients to respond differentially based on caller identity. however, which of the many calls in a species' repertoire should have more acoustic variability and be more recognizable is less apparent. one proposed hypothesis is that calls used over long distances should be more distinct because visual cues are not available to identify the caller. an alternative hypothesis proposes that close calls ... | 2014 | 25029238 |
| wild western lowland gorillas signal selectively using odor. | mammals communicate socially through visual, auditory and chemical signals. the chemical sense is the oldest sense and is shared by all organisms including bacteria. despite mounting evidence for social chemo-signaling in humans, the extent to which it modulates behavior is debated and can benefit from comparative models of closely related hominoids. the use of odor cues in wild ape social communication has been only rarely explored. apart from one study on wild chimpanzee sniffing, our understa ... | 2014 | 25006973 |
| how ebola impacts social dynamics in gorillas: a multistate modelling approach. | emerging infectious diseases can induce rapid changes in population dynamics and threaten population persistence. in socially structured populations, the transfers of individuals between social units, for example, from breeding groups to non-breeding groups, shape population dynamics. we suggest that diseases may affect these crucial transfers. we aimed to determine how disturbance by an emerging disease affects demographic rates of gorillas, especially transfer rates within populations and immi ... | 2015 | 24995485 |
| sharing fruit of treculia africana among western gorillas in the moukalaba-doudou national park, gabon: preliminary report. | we report the first 18 observed cases of fruit (treculia africana) transfer among western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in moukalaba-doudou national park, gabon. the fruit transfer occurred during our observations of a habituated group of gorillas in 2010 and 2013. pieces of the fruits were transferred among adults and immatures, and three cases involved a silverback male. once an individual picked up a fallen fruit of treculia africana, other members of the group approached the pos ... | 2015 | 24962665 |
| great apes (pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla, pongo abelii) follow visual trails to locate hidden food. | whether nonhuman primates understand causal relations beyond mere associations is still a matter of debate. we presented all four species of nonhuman great apes (n = 36) with a choice between 2 opaque, upside down cups after displacing them out of sight from their starting positions. crucially, 1 of them had left a yogurt trail behind it. great apes spontaneously used the trail to select the yogurt baited cup. follow-up experiments demonstrated that chimpanzees distinguished trails based on the ... | 2014 | 24866009 |
| twelve-year proximity relationships in a captive group of western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at the san diego wild animal park, california, usa. | proximity data were collected in a captive breeding group of gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) at the san diego wild animal park (currently called the san diego zoo safari park) twice a year (spring and fall periods) for over 12 years, by using a convenient method in which individuals less than 5 m from each animal in the group were recorded by scan sampling, approximately once per hour. immature females from infancy to young adulthood maintained relatively frequent proximity to both their moth ... | 2014 | 24838632 |
| social environment elicits lateralized behaviors in gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and chimpanzees (pan troglodytes). | the influence of the social environment on lateralized behaviors has now been investigated across a wide variety of animal species. new evidence suggests that the social environment can modulate behavior. currently, there is a paucity of data relating to how primates navigate their environmental space, and investigations that consider the naturalistic context of the individual are few and fragmented. moreover, there are competing theories about whether only the right or rather both cerebral hemi ... | 2014 | 24749503 |
| informing conservation management about structural versus functional connectivity: a case-study of cross river gorillas. | connectivity among subpopulations is vital for the persistence of small and fragmented populations. for management interventions to be effective conservation planners have to make the critical distinction between structural connectivity (based on landscape structure) and functional connectivity (which considers both landscape structure and organism-specific behavioral attributes) which can differ considerably within a given context. we assessed spatial and temporal changes in structural and func ... | 2014 | 24737604 |
| the effects of auditory enrichment on gorillas. | several studies have demonstrated that auditory enrichment can reduce stereotypic behaviors in captive animals. the purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of three different types of auditory enrichment-naturalistic sounds, classical music, and rock music-in reducing stereotypic behavior displayed by western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). three gorillas (one adult male, two adult females) were observed at the buffalo zoo for a total of 24 hr per music tria ... | 2014 | 24715297 |
| retroperitoneal abscesses in two western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | this report describes two cases of retroperitoneal abscesses in female western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). clinical symptoms included perivulvar discharge, lameness, hindlimb paresis, and general malaise. retroperitoneal abscesses should be considered as part of a complete differential list in female gorillas with similar clinical signs. | 2014 | 24712182 |
| the genetic population structure of wild western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) living in continuous rain forest. | to understand the evolutionary histories and conservation potential of wild animal species it is useful to assess whether taxa are genetically structured into different populations and identify the underlying factors responsible for any clustering. landscape features such as rivers may influence genetic population structure, and analysis of structure by sex can further reveal effects of sex-specific dispersal. using microsatellite genotypes obtained from noninvasively collected fecal samples we ... | 2014 | 24700547 |
| human-animal relationships in zoo-housed orangutans (p. abelii) and gorillas (g. g. gorilla): the effects of familiarity. | i examined human-animal relationships (hars) in zoo-housed orangutans (pongo abelii) and gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) to see if they followed patterns similar to conspecific relationships in great apes and humans. familiarity and social relationships guide humans' and great apes' behaviors with conspecifics. inter-individual relationships, based on shared social history, and "generalized" relationships, based on a history of interactions with relevant classes of individuals, guide behavior ... | 2014 | 24687450 |
| detection of termites and other insects consumed by african great apes using molecular fecal analysis. | the consumption of insects by apes has previously been reported based on direct observations and/or trail signs in feces. however, dna-based diet analyses may have the potential to reveal trophic links for these wild species. herein, we analyzed the insect-diet diversity of 9 feces obtained from three species of african great apes, gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla), chimpanzee (pan troglodytes) and bonobo (pan paniscus), using two mitochondrial amplifications for arthropods. a total of 1056 clon ... | 2014 | 24675424 |
| malignant hypertension and retinopathy in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | a 34-year-old western lowland gorilla presented with peracute blindness. | 2014 | 24646309 |
| orangutans (pongo abelii) and a gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) match features in familiar and unfamiliar individuals. | great apes can perceive images as representative of corresponding real-life objects. coupled with the potential advantages of identifying specific members of one's species and mounting evidence for individual recognition in other non-humans, it seems likely that great apes would have the ability to identify conspecifics in photographs. the ability of four orangutans and a gorilla to match images of individuals of their own and a closely related but unfamiliar species was examined here for the fi ... | 2014 | 24623526 |
| ischiopagus tripus conjoined twins in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla). | conjoined twinning is rare in man and non-human primates. the current report describes a case of ischiopagus tripus conjoined western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla) twins. the female twins were joined at the umbilical and pelvic region, involving the liver, xiphoid, umbilicus, body wall and skin. computed tomography revealed two complete spines. the combined pelvic space was formed by two sacra, each connected with two iliac bones. the twins were only conjoined by a common pubis. cause of dea ... | 2014 | 24529511 |
| unusual turner syndrome mosaic with a triple x cell line (47,x/49,xxx) in a western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | a 29-yr-old female western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) was evaluated for low fertility and a midterm abortion. laboratory testing included karyotyping, which revealed an unusual mosaicism for turner syndrome with triple x (47,x/49,xxx). this appears to be the first report of turner syndrome in a great ape. in humans, turner syndrome occurs in approximately 1 in 3,000 females, with half of those monosomic for the x chromosome. a small proportion is mosaic for a triple x cell line (3 ... | 2013 | 24450068 |
| evaluating echocardiogram and indirect blood pressure results in male western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) during three phases of an anesthetic protocol. | until the majority of the great ape population is trained for conscious cardiac evaluations, most individuals will require general anesthesia to perform echocardiograms. within the veterinary community, concern exists that certain anesthetic protocols may exacerbate or artificially induce signs of cardiac disease. because of potential cardiovascular effects, medetomidine has generally been used cautiously in patients with cardiac disease. the combination of ketamine and medetomidine is frequentl ... | 2013 | 24450045 |
| the influence of body posture on the kinematics of prehension in humans and gorillas (gorilla gorilla). | much of our current understanding of human prehension in a comparative context is based on macaque models in a sitting, constrained body posture. in a previous study, we clearly showed differences in the amplitude of the forelimb joints between five primate species (lemur, capuchin, chimpanzee, gorilla and human) during unconstrained grasping where the animals were free to choose their body posture. one of our interrogations was to know if these differences could be due to the body posture. to a ... | 2014 | 24430026 |
| does sympathy motivate prosocial behaviour in great apes? | prosocial behaviours such as helping, comforting, or sharing are central to human social life. because they emerge early in ontogeny, it has been proposed that humans are prosocial by nature and that from early on empathy and sympathy motivate such behaviours. the emerging question is whether humans share these abilities to feel with and for someone with our closest relatives, the great apes. although several studies demonstrated that great apes help others, little is known about their underlyin ... | 2014 | 24416212 |
| niche differentiation and dietary seasonality among sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees in loango national park (gabon) revealed by stable isotope analysis. | the feeding ecology of sympatric great ape species yields valuable information for palaeodietary reconstructions in sympatric early hominin species. however, no isotopic references on sympatrically living apes and their feeding ecology are currently available. here we present the first isotopic study on sympatric great apes, namely western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) and central chimpanzees (pan troglodytes troglodytes) from loango national park, gabon. we successfully analyzed th ... | 2014 | 24373257 |
| gorilla mothers also matter! new insights on social transmission in gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in captivity. | the present paper describes two distinct behaviors relating to food processing and communication that were observed in a community of five separately housed groups of lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) in captivity during two study periods one decade apart: (1) a food processing technique to separate wheat from chaff, the so-called puff-blowing technique; and (2) a male display used to attract the attention of visitors, the so-called throw-kiss-display. we investigated (a) whether the be ... | 2013 | 24312184 |
| quantity estimation and comparison in western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | we investigated the quantity judgment abilities of two adult male western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) by presenting discrimination tasks on a touch-screen computer. both gorillas chose the larger quantity of two arrays of dot stimuli. on some trials, the relative number of dots was congruent with the relative total area of the two arrays. on other trials, number of dots was incongruent with area. the gorillas were first tested with static dots, then with dots that moved within the ... | 2014 | 24271957 |
| analysis of western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) specific alu repeats. | research into great ape genomes has revealed widely divergent activity levels over time for alu elements. however, the diversity of this mobile element family in the genome of the western lowland gorilla has previously been uncharacterized. alu elements are primate-specific short interspersed elements that have been used as phylogenetic and population genetic markers for more than two decades. alu elements are present at high copy number in the genomes of all primates surveyed thus far. the aluy ... | 2013 | 24262036 |
| sexual dimorphism in relative sacral breadth among catarrhine primates. | as the sacrum contributes to the size and shape of the birth canal, the sexually dimorphic sacrum of humans is frequently interpreted within obstetric contexts. however, while the human sacrum has been extensively studied, comparatively little is known about sacral morphology in nonhuman primates. thus, it remains unclear whether sacral sexual dimorphism exists in other primates, and whether potential dimorphism is primarily related to obstetrics or other factors such as body size dimorphism. in ... | 2013 | 24132790 |
| effective sociodemographic population assessment of elusive species in ecology and conservation management. | wildlife managers are urgently searching for improved sociodemographic population assessment methods to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented conservation activities. these need to be inexpensive, appropriate for a wide spectrum of species and straightforward to apply by local staff members with minimal training. furthermore, conservation management would benefit from single approaches which cover many aspects of population assessment beyond only density estimates, to include for instance so ... | 2013 | 24101982 |
| endowment effects in gorillas (gorilla gorilla). | reports of endowment effects in nonhuman primates have received considerable attention in the comparative literature in recent years. however, little is known about the mechanisms underlying these effects. continuing to explore endowment effects across different species of primate may reveal subtle differences in behavior that can help formulate specific hypotheses about the relevant mechanisms and the social and ecological factors that have shaped them. in this study, we use a paradigm that has ... | 2013 | 24060245 |
| matching based on biological categories in orangutans (pongo abelii) and a gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | following a series of experiments in which six orangutans and one gorilla discriminated photographs of different animal species in a two-choice touch screen procedure, vonk & macdonald (2002) and vonk & macdonald (2004) concluded that orangutans, but not the gorilla, seemed to learn intermediate level category discriminations, such as primates versus non-primates, more rapidly than they learned concrete level discriminations, such as orangutans versus humans. in the current experiments, four of ... | 2013 | 24058886 |
| new evidence for diet and niche partitioning in rudapithecus and anapithecus from rudabánya, hungary. | rudabánya is rare among eurasian miocene fossil primate localities in preserving both a hominid and pliopithecoid, and as such provides the unique opportunity to reconstruct the nature of sympatry and niche partitioning in these taxa. rudapithecus and anapithecus have similar locomotor and positional behavior and overlapping body mass ranges. while prior analyses of molar occlusal anatomy and microwear identify rudapithecus as a soft-object frugivore, reconstructing the dietary behavior of anapi ... | 2013 | 24034983 |
| bilateral asymmetry of humeral torsion and length in african apes and humans. | few studies have directly compared human and african ape upper limb skeletal asymmetries despite the potential such comparisons have for understanding the origins of functional lateralization in humans and non-human primates. here, we report the magnitude and direction of asymmetries in humeral torsion and humeral length in paired humeri of 40 gorilla gorilla, 40 pan troglodytes and 40 homo sapiens. we test whether absolute and directional asymmetries differ between measurements, species and sex ... | 2013 | 23942111 |
| assessment of landscape-scale distribution of sympatric great apes in african rainforests: concurrent use of nest and camera-trap surveys. | information on the distribution and abundance of sympatric great apes (pan troglodytes troglodytes and gorilla gorilla gorilla) are important for effective conservation and management. although much research has been done to improve the precision of nest-surveys, trade-offs between data-reliability and research-efficiency have not been solved. in this study, we used different approaches to assess the landscape-scale distribution patterns of great apes. we conducted a conventional nest survey and ... | 2013 | 23907925 |
| manual pressure distribution patterns of knuckle-walking apes. | differences in how the hands of gorillas and chimpanzees contact the ground while knuckle walking have been noted but generally not quantified. it is widely believed that gorillas maintain a pronated arm and contact the ground with digits 2-5 consistently, while chimpanzees have variable arm position and digit contact. to further test these generalizations, distribution of pressure across the manus, peak digital pressures, and hand position were quantified using a pressure mat in eight captive c ... | 2013 | 23907752 |
| alzheimer's disease pathology in the neocortex and hippocampus of the western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | the two major histopathologic hallmarks of alzheimer's disease (ad) are amyloid beta protein (aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (nft). aβ pathology is a common feature in the aged nonhuman primate brain, whereas nft are found almost exclusively in humans. few studies have examined ad-related pathology in great apes, which are the closest phylogenetic relatives of humans. in the present study, we examined aβ and tau-like lesions in the neocortex and hippocampus of aged male and female weste ... | 2013 | 23881733 |
| postnatal temporal bone ontogeny in pan, gorilla, and homo, and the implications for temporal bone ontogeny in australopithecus afarensis. | assessments of temporal bone morphology have played an important role in taxonomic and phylogenetic evaluations of fossil taxa, and recent three-dimensional analyses of this region have supported the utility of the temporal bone for testing taxonomic and phylogenetic hypotheses. but while clinical analyses have examined aspects of temporal bone ontogeny in humans, the ontogeny of the temporal bone in non-human taxa is less well documented. this study examines ontogenetic allometry of the tempora ... | 2013 | 23868175 |
| male genetic structure and paternity in western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | the male dispersal patterns of western lowland gorillas (wlgs, gorilla gorilla gorilla) are not well understood. to determine whether most silverbacks stay close to their relatives, we analyzed autosomal and y-chromosomal microsatellites (strs) in wild wlgs at moukalaba, gabon. we obtained str genotypes for 38 individuals, including eight silverbacks and 12 adult females in an approximately 40 km(2) area. among them, 20 individuals were members of one identified group (group gentil; gg), includi ... | 2013 | 23868171 |
| observational monitoring of clinical signs during the last stage of habituation in a wild western gorilla group at bai hokou, central african republic. | anthropozoonotic disease transmission to great apes is a critical conservation concern, and has raised ethical doubts regarding ape habituation. we monitored over a 3-year period clinical signs within a group of wild western gorillas (g. gorilla) undergoing habituation at bai hokou, central african republic. the majority of observations consisted of singular coughs and sneezes among the gorillas. these were the only clinical signs that significantly and positively increased over the years. no ch ... | 2013 | 23736676 |
| plant selection for nest building by western lowland gorillas in cameroon. | we examined 834 nests built by western lowland gorillas in cameroon between july 2008 and july 2011 to identify the plant species used in their construction. preference for each plant species for nesting was assessed using a 'preference index' calculated by combining information on the occurrence of each species in the forest and in the nests. forty-six plant species representing about 15 % of the total number of species in the forest and 26 % of species used for nest building were frequently us ... | 2014 | 23732768 |
| food washing and placer mining in captive great apes. | sweet potato washing and wheat placer mining in japanese macaques (macaca fuscata) are among the most well known examples of local traditions in non-human animals. the functions of these behaviors and the mechanisms of acquisition and spread of these behaviors have been debated frequently. prompted by animal caretaker reports that great apes [chimpanzees (pan troglodytes), bonobos (pan paniscus), gorillas (gorilla gorilla), and orangutans (pongo abelii)] at leipzig zoo occasionally wash their fo ... | 2013 | 23665925 |
| bushmeat hunting changes regeneration of african rainforests. | to assess ecological consequences of bushmeat hunting in african lowland rainforests, we compared paired sites, with high and low hunting pressure, in three areas of southeastern nigeria. in hunted sites, populations of important seed dispersers-both small and large primates (including the cross river gorilla, gorilla gorilla diehli)-were drastically reduced. large rodents were more abundant in hunted sites, even though they are hunted. hunted and protected sites had similar mature tree communit ... | 2013 | 23516245 |
| the cross river gorillas (gorilla gorilla diehli) at mawambi hills, south-west cameroon: habitat suitability and vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance. | only about 300 individuals of the cross river gorilla (crg; gorilla gorilla diehli) survive today. the subspecies is endemic to approximately 12-14 sites at the cameroon-nigeria border, and is critically endangered. to understand survival prospects of the crg at mawambi hills, cameroon, a maximum entropy (maxent) distribution model was used to predict the distribution of gorillas. overall, 24% of the study area was predicted to be suitable for gorillas. the most important predictors of gorilla d ... | 2013 | 23307035 |
| seasonal effects on great ape health: a case study of wild chimpanzees and western gorillas. | among factors affecting animal health, environmental influences may directly or indirectly impact host nutritional condition, fecundity, and their degree of parasitism. our closest relatives, the great apes, are all endangered and particularly sensitive to infectious diseases. both chimpanzees and western gorillas experience large seasonal variations in fruit availability but only western gorillas accordingly show large changes in their degree of frugivory. the aim of this study is to investigat ... | 2012 | 23227152 |
| extraversion predicts longer survival in gorillas: an 18-year longitudinal study. | personality plays an important role in determining human health and risk of earlier death. however, the mechanisms underlying those associations remain unknown. we moved away from testing hypotheses rooted in the activities of modern humans, by testing whether these associations are ancestral and one side of a trade-off between fitness costs and benefits. we examined personality predictors of survival in 283 captive western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) followed for 18 years. we fou ... | 2013 | 23222443 |
| quantifying lateral femoral condyle ellipticalness in chimpanzees, gorillas, and humans. | articular surfaces of limb bones provide information for understanding animal locomotion because their size and shape are a reflection of habitual postures and movements. here we present a novel method for quantifying the ellipticalness (i.e., departure from perfectly circular) of the lateral femoral condyle (lfc), applying this technique to hominid femora. three-dimensional surface models were created for 49 homo sapiens, 34 pan troglodytes and 25 gorilla gorilla femora. software was developed ... | 2012 | 23042636 |
| the al 333-160 fourth metatarsal from hadar compared to that of humans, great apes, baboons and proboscis monkeys: non-conclusive evidence for pedal arches or obligate bipedality in hadar hominins. | based on comparisons to non-statistically representative samples of humans and two great ape species (i.e. common chimpanzees pan troglodytes and lowland gorillas gorilla gorilla), ward et al. (2011) concluded that a complete hominin fourth metatarsal (4th mt) from hadar, al 333-160, belonged to a committed terrestrial biped with fixed transverse and longitudinal pedal arches, which was no longer under selection favoring substantial arboreal behaviors. according to ward et al., the hadar 4th mt ... | 2012 | 22995931 |
| face and eye scanning in gorillas (gorilla gorilla), orangutans (pongo abelii), and humans (homo sapiens): unique eye-viewing patterns in humans among hominids. | because the faces and eyes of primates convey a rich array of social information, the way in which primates view faces and eyes reflects species-specific strategies for facial communication. how are humans and closely related species such as great apes similar and different in their viewing patterns for faces and eyes? following previous studies comparing chimpanzees (pan troglodytes) with humans (homo sapiens), this study used the eye-tracking method to directly compare the patterns of face and ... | 2012 | 22946925 |
| non-invasive monitoring of physiological stress in the western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla): validation of a fecal glucocorticoid assay and methods for practical application in the field. | enzymeimmunoassays (eias) allow researchers to monitor stress hormone output via measurement of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fgcms) in many vertebrates. they can be powerful tools which allow the acquisition of otherwise unobtainable physiological information from both captive animals and wild animals in remote forest habitats, such as great apes. however, methods for hormone measurement, extraction and preservation need to be adapted and validated for field settings. in preparation for a f ... | 2012 | 22926327 |
| scheuermann kyphosis in nonhuman primates. | a cadaveric survey of the thoracic spines of extant species of nonbipedal primates for the presence of scheuermann kyphosis. | 2012 | 22922891 |
| reye's or reye's-like syndrome in western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | a 15-year-old western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) died shortly after transfer to the north carolina zoo. | 2012 | 22882671 |
| target animacy influences chimpanzee handedness. | we employed a bottom-up, quantitative method to investigate great ape handedness. our previous investigation of gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) demonstrated that contextual information influenced an individual's handedness toward target objects. specifically, we found a significant right-hand bias for unimanual actions directed toward inanimate target objects but not for actions directed to animate target objects (forrester et al. in anim cogn 14(6):903-907, 2011). using the identical methodo ... | 2012 | 22829099 |
| evaluation of different storage methods to characterize the fecal bacterial communities of captive western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | freezing is considered to be the best method for long-term storage of bacterial dna from feces; however this method cannot be usually applied for samples of wild primates collected in the challenging conditions of the tropical forest. in order to find an alternative conservation method of fecal samples from wild great apes, we compared freezing with other fixation methods. fecal samples from 11 captive gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla) from three czech zoos were stored using freezing, rna stabi ... | 2012 | 22828127 |
| direct and indirect reputation formation in nonhuman great apes (pan paniscus, pan troglodytes, gorilla gorilla, pongo pygmaeus) and human children (homo sapiens). | humans make decisions about when and with whom to cooperate based on their reputations. people either learn about others by direct interaction or by observing third-party interactions or gossip. an important question is whether other animal species, especially our closest living relatives, the nonhuman great apes, also form reputations of others. in study 1, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and 2.5-year-old human children experienced a nice experimenter who tried to give food/toys to the subjec ... | 2013 | 22746158 |
| suspected macular degeneration in a captive western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla). | the case of a 31-year-old captive female western lowland gorilla (gorilla gorilla gorilla) with decreased near vision but good distance vision is presented. examination of the fundus revealed drusen-like bodies in the macula presumably because of an age-related macular degeneration (amd). | 2012 | 22702721 |