Wednesday, September 6, 2006

do they look both ways?

Chimps can cross the street!
Experts studying chimpanzees while investigating the evolution of human social behaviour have uncovered their ability to safely cross roads. They said the discovery has shown chimps' ability to cope with the risk of man-made situations. The University of Stirling research was carried out with a small chimp community in West Africa. It found the dominant adult males took up protective positions in the group when it was tasked with crossing roads. (BBC)

These findings are evidently important enough to merit publication in Current Biology.

Speaking of chimps, did you know that Cheeta of "Tarzan" fame is still alive? At 74 (he's older than my mother!), he is believed to be the oldest primate alive. (H/T: Metafilter)

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