Cute Baby Gorilla

Via National Geographic:

Name The Baby Gorilla Contest

The San Francisco Zoo is holding a contest to name a male baby western lowland gorilla. If you need inspiration, you can see pictures and a video of the gorilla here. (Hat tip tip to the Panda’s Thumb)

Political Turmoil and the Gorillas of Virunga

National Geographic has an interesting story about how the arrest of a Congo warlord is putting the Gorillas at Virunga National Park: After a 15-month-long absence, the rangers were able to return in November 2008 after the park’s director, Emmanuel de Merode, struck a deal directly with Nkunda to allow his rangers to resume their [...]

Von Economo Neurons and Hominoids

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would have more to say about primates, brain evolution, and life history. I still plan on exploring that in future posts, but wanted to mention this interesting item that deserves a post of its own.

Virunga National Park Website: Please Donate to Help Save The Gorillas

Virunga National Park has a website check it out. You can find also sorts of neat stuff – such as the video of the silverback below. Or this post about two baby, orphan, mountain gorillas. The park needs your help and to that end there are various categories and levels you cans choose if you [...]

Dian Fossey’s Gorillas Are Being Exhumed

According to National Geographic the remains of 72 Rwandan mountain gorillas are being exhumed for scientific study:

The Gorillas of Virunga: An Update on the Killings

I’m sure many of you remember the orgy of gorilla killing at Virunga National park in 2007. According to The BBC there have been some developments in the case.

Gorillas, the Missionary Position, and Oral Sex

To steal a line from my blog buddy Duane, I find this Science Daily article abnormally interesting. Fair warning, this post is probably not work or child safe.

Ileret Fossils and Primate Sperm Competition

From the Ileret article by Spoor et al: The intraspecific variation of vault size in H. erectus, including KNM-ER 42700, is larger than in extant humans and chimpanzees, but smaller than in gorillas … This degree of variation may well imply that H. erectus showed marked sexual dimorphism, rather than the reduced levels that characterize [...]

Gorillas Discovered Using Tools

In a study to be published in the November issue of PLOS Biology scientist announce they have discovered gorillas using tools. It has been known for quite some time that chimps use tools but no one had ever witnessed gorillas using tools in the wild. What makes this study so important, though, isn’t the fact [...]

A. afarensis vs. the Apes

All pictures: Top left A. afarensis Top right: P. troglodytes. Bottom left: P. pygmaeus Bottom right: G. gorilla One of the most aggravating things one can hear, if one has any training in paleoanthropology, is that the australopithicines were nothing but glorified apes. So let’s study the issue (hey, I have to justify the name [...]