Chimp’s photos of Moscow could earn serious cash at Sotheby’s auction

The monkey — once a popular performer at the Moscow Circus — was taught by contemporary artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid how to snap his first Polaroid when he was 15.

He eventually graduated to a regular camera, and then, an antique.

A collection of the chimp’s pics — dubbed “Our Moscow Through The Eyes Of Mikki” — present a “new perspective,” according to Sotheby’s.

The shots are “akin to experimental photography and reference millions of photos taken by tourists on a daily basis,” Sotheby’s said.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Oldest Evidence of Split Between Old World Monkeys and Apes Discovered

The oldest ape and Old World monkey fossils have been unearthed in a riverbed in Tanzania, a new study reports.

Researchers found a tooth from the newfound species Nsungwepithecus gunnelli, the oldest member of the primate group that contains Old World monkeys (cercopithecoids). The team also found a jawbone from the newfound species Rukwapithecus fleaglei, an early member of the hominoids, the group containing the great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and humans) and lesser apes (gibbons).

Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Bear Mauls Monkey In Bicycle Race At Shanghai Wild Animal Park

Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Goosing A Gorilla

From here.
-----------------------------------------

Research Team Restores Monkey's Hand Function With Artificial Neural Connection

Scientists working together from Japanese and American universities may have made a pretty large leap in restoring neural function for those with non-paralyzing spinal cord injuries. The researchers applied a "novel artificial neuron connection" over lesions in the spinal cord of a partially paralyzed monkey, partially restoring its arm / brain circuit and allowing greater hand control purely by brainpower.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Researchers: Monkey Lip-Smacking Resembles Human Speech

Thore Bergman, a researcher at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has discovered that monkey lip-smacking resembles human speech.

According to National Geographic, gelada monkeys reside in the high mountain meadows of Ethiopa, where they have adapted to living on steep, rocky cliffs. The 100,000 to 200,000 surviving geladas are also the last remaining species of ancient grazing primates. The rare monkeys have fatty rear ends which allow them to sit and eat grass for long periods of time.

A news release from Cell Press notes that the gelada is the only nonhuman primate that communicates with a “speech-like, undulating rhythm.” According to Bergman, the sounds that other monkeys and apes make are usually one or two syllables. The gelada’s lip-smacking vocalizations also lack quick changes in pitch and volume.

According to Bergman, the lip-smacking behavior, which is shown during friendly interactions with other geladas, could have been an evolutionary step toward human speech.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Alcohol Consumption Traced To Ape Ancestor

The taste for alcohol may be an ancient craving. The ability to metabolize ethanol — the alcohol in beer, wine and spirits — might have originated in the common ancestor of chimpanzees, gorillas and humans roughly 10 million years ago, perhaps when this ancestor became more terrestrial and started eating fruits fermenting on the ground.

Chemist Steven Benner of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., reached that conclusion by “resurrecting” the alcohol-metabolizing enzymes of extinct primates. Benner and his colleagues estimated the enzymes’ genetic code, built the enzymes in the lab and then analyzed how they work to understand how they changed over time.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Speculation Over Iran's Monkey Launch As A Fake

...a series of photographs that show differences in the monkey's appearance, before and after the launch, appear to show two different monkeys.

Before the launch, several state-controlled media branches posted photographs of the monkey with a distinctive red mole above its right eye. It also had light fur round its head.

Upon the monkey's "return" from space, the mole had vanished, as had the fur.

The photographs have led to speculation that either they launched the capsule into space, but it never returned, or that the launch never took place.

The US state department at the time expressed doubts about whether it had ever happened.

Iranian state television showed still pictures of the capsule and of a monkey being fitted with a vest and then placed in a device similar to a child's car-seat.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Monkeys Attack 7 People In East Indonesian Village

A mob of wild monkeys has gone on a rampage in a village in eastern Indonesia, entering houses and attacking residents. Seven people were injured, including one who is in critical condition.

Ambo Ella, a spokesman for Sidendeng Rappang District in South Sulawesi province, says the surprise attack by about 10 monkeys happened in Toddang Pulu village.

He said Wednesday that a 16-year-old boy was badly bitten in the attack Monday and is being treated at the hospital

He believes the troop came from a nearby forest protected by a local tribe. It's unclear why the monkeys, which are usually afraid of humans and flee when they hear human voices, emerged and attacked.

Local authorities are investigating to find out what prompted the attack, which caused panic among villagers.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------

Iran Launches Monkey Into Space

Iran joined the international dash for space in earnest on Monday when it claimed to have a successfully launched a live monkey into space in an Iranian-built space capsule.

Iranian media reported on Monday that the country's space agency had sent the creature 75 miles (120 km) above the Earth in a Kavoshgar rocket capsule named Pishgam (Pioneer). Though the report has yet to be independently verified, officials said the capsule had returned intact and the monkey was still alive after its sub-orbital experience.

"The explorer rocket … returned to the Earth after reaching the desired speed and altitude, and the living creature (a monkey) was retrieved and found alive," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.


Full story here.
-----------------------------------------