Did you mean: pan troglodytes
-
Cell Jul 2023Comparative studies of great apes provide a window into our evolutionary past, but the extent and identity of cellular differences that emerged during hominin evolution... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Comparative studies of great apes provide a window into our evolutionary past, but the extent and identity of cellular differences that emerged during hominin evolution remain largely unexplored. We established a comparative loss-of-function approach to evaluate whether human cells exhibit distinct genetic dependencies. By performing genome-wide CRISPR interference screens in human and chimpanzee pluripotent stem cells, we identified 75 genes with species-specific effects on cellular proliferation. These genes comprised coherent processes, including cell-cycle progression and lysosomal signaling, which we determined to be human-derived by comparison with orangutan cells. Human-specific robustness to CDK2 and CCNE1 depletion persisted in neural progenitor cells and cerebral organoids, supporting the G1-phase length hypothesis as a potential evolutionary mechanism in human brain expansion. Our findings demonstrate that evolutionary changes in human cells reshaped the landscape of essential genes and establish a platform for systematically uncovering latent cellular and molecular differences between species.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Hominidae; Neural Stem Cells; Pan troglodytes; Pluripotent Stem Cells; Stem Cells
PubMed: 37343560
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.043 -
Primates; Journal of Primatology Jul 2020
Topics: Animals; Child Development; Pan troglodytes
PubMed: 32617909
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00836-z -
Biological Reviews of the Cambridge... Oct 2020The study of innovation in non-human animals (henceforth: animals) has recently gained momentum across fields including primatology, animal behaviour and cultural... (Review)
Review
The study of innovation in non-human animals (henceforth: animals) has recently gained momentum across fields including primatology, animal behaviour and cultural evolution. Examining the rate of innovations, and the cognitive mechanisms driving these innovations across species, can provide insights into the evolution of human culture. Especially relevant to the study of human culture is one of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Both wild and captive chimpanzees demonstrate an impressive ability to innovate solutions to novel problems, but also a striking level of conservatism in some contexts, creating a unique and at times puzzling, picture of animal innovation. Whilst the animal innovation field is rife with potential for expanding our knowledge of human and non-human cognition and problem-solving, it is undermined by a lack of consistency across studies. The field is yet to settle on a definition of the term 'innovation', leading to studies being incomparable across and even within the same species. Here, we fill two gaps in the literature. First, we discuss some of the most prevalent definitions of 'innovation' from different fields, highlighting similarities and differences between them. Secondly, we provide an up-to-date review of accounts of innovations in both wild and captive chimpanzees. We hope this review will provide a resource for researchers interested in the study of innovation in chimpanzees and other animals, as well as emphasising the need for consistency in the way in which innovations are reported.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Cognition; Pan troglodytes
PubMed: 32307892
DOI: 10.1111/brv.12604 -
American Journal of Primatology Jun 2021I have spent over 40 years studying the behavior of our closest living relatives, the apes. In this paper, I review my research on the spacing, mating, and vocal... (Review)
Review
I have spent over 40 years studying the behavior of our closest living relatives, the apes. In this paper, I review my research on the spacing, mating, and vocal behavior of gibbons and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and the vocal and social behavior of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes). I devote special attention to results derived from a 25-year-long study of a remarkable and extraordinarily large group of chimpanzees that has recently fissioned at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I conclude with some advice for the next generation of field primatologists.
Topics: Animals; Hominidae; Pan troglodytes; Parks, Recreational; Pongo pygmaeus; Social Behavior
PubMed: 32096269
DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23107 -
BioEssays : News and Reviews in... Mar 2020Language does not fossilize but this does not mean that the language's evolutionary timeline is lost forever. Great apes provide a window back in time on our last... (Review)
Review
Language does not fossilize but this does not mean that the language's evolutionary timeline is lost forever. Great apes provide a window back in time on our last prelinguistic ancestor's communication and cognition. Phylogeny and cladistics implicitly conjure Pan (chimpanzees, bonobos) as a superior (often the only) model for language evolution compared with earlier diverging lineages, Gorilla and Pongo (orangutans). Here, in reviewing the literature, it is shown that Pan do not surpass other great apes along genetic, cognitive, ecologic, or vocal traits that are putatively paramount for language onset and evolution. Instead, revived herein is the idea that only by abandoning single-species models and learning about the variation among great apes, there might be a chance to retrieve lost fragments of the evolutionary timeline of language.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Cognition; Gorilla gorilla; Humans; Language; Pan paniscus; Pan troglodytes; Phylogeny; Pongo pygmaeus; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 31994246
DOI: 10.1002/bies.201900102 -
Primates; Journal of Primatology Sep 2020
Topics: Animals; Hominidae; Pan troglodytes
PubMed: 32844335
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-020-00856-9 -
Primates; Journal of Primatology Nov 2022In this paper I recall some of the significant moments of my career as a primatologist, including some of the intellectual conflicts I encountered between anthropology,... (Review)
Review
In this paper I recall some of the significant moments of my career as a primatologist, including some of the intellectual conflicts I encountered between anthropology, sociology and zoology. From an initial interest in ethics and evolution, I undertook research on rhesus monkeys in captivity and then on chimpanzees in the wild. Influenced by Japanese primatology as well as Western approaches, this led to my work on the problems of describing primate behaviour, but this more theoretical approach was superseded by empirical work embodied in the founding of the Budongo Conservation Field Station. I describe the initial creation of the field station in 1990 and some of the research directions we have followed since that time. The paper ends with a focus on conservation, this being of increasing importance as the Budongo Forest faces ever increasing threats from industry.
Topics: Animals; Primates; Zoology; Pan troglodytes; Forests; Macaca mulatta
PubMed: 36241937
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-022-01025-w -
Evolutionary Anthropology Nov 2019The importance of warfare for human evolution is hotly debated in anthropology. Some authors hypothesize that warfare emerged at least 200,000-100,000 years BP, was... (Review)
Review
The importance of warfare for human evolution is hotly debated in anthropology. Some authors hypothesize that warfare emerged at least 200,000-100,000 years BP, was frequent, and significantly shaped human social evolution. Other authors claim that warfare is a recent phenomenon, linked to the emergence of agriculture, and mostly explained by cultural rather than evolutionary forces. Here I highlight and critically evaluate six controversial points on the evolutionary bases of warfare. I argue that cultural and evolutionary explanations on the emergence of warfare are not alternative but analyze biological diversity at two distinct levels. An evolved propensity to act aggressively toward outgroup individuals may emerge irrespective of whether warfare appeared early/late during human evolution. Finally, I argue that lethal violence and aggression toward outgroup individuals are two linked but distinct phenomena, and that war and peace are complementary and should not always be treated as two mutually exclusive behavioral responses.
Topics: Aggression; Animals; Anthropology; Behavior, Animal; Cultural Evolution; History, Ancient; Hominidae; Humans; Pan troglodytes; Social Behavior; Warfare
PubMed: 31691443
DOI: 10.1002/evan.21806 -
Nature May 2023The naming of Australopithecus africanus in 1925, based on the Taung Child, heralded a new era in human evolutionary studies and turned the attention of the then... (Review)
Review
The naming of Australopithecus africanus in 1925, based on the Taung Child, heralded a new era in human evolutionary studies and turned the attention of the then Eurasian-centric palaeoanthropologists to Africa, albeit with reluctance. Almost one hundred years later, Africa is recognized as the cradle of humanity, where the entire evolutionary history of our lineage prior to two million years ago took place-after the Homo-Pan split. This Review examines data from diverse sources and offers a revised depiction of the genus and characterizes its role in human evolution. For a long time, our knowledge of Australopithecus came from both A. africanus and Australopithecus afarensis, and the members of this genus were portrayed as bipedal creatures that did not use stone tools, with a largely chimpanzee-like cranium, a prognathic face and a brain slightly larger than that of chimpanzees. Subsequent field and laboratory discoveries, however, have altered this portrayal, showing that Australopithecus species were habitual bipeds but also practised arboreality; that they occasionally used stone tools to supplement their diet with animal resources; and that their infants probably depended on adults to a greater extent than what is seen in apes. The genus gave rise to several taxa, including Homo, but its direct ancestor remains elusive. In sum, Australopithecus had a pivotal bridging role in our evolutionary history owing to its morphological, behavioural and temporal placement between the earliest archaic putative hominins and later hominins-including the genus Homo.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Biological Evolution; Fossils; Hominidae; Pan troglodytes; Skull; Tool Use Behavior; Aging
PubMed: 37138108
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05957-1 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) Oct 2023Signs of menopause in wild chimpanzees provide insights into human evolution.
Signs of menopause in wild chimpanzees provide insights into human evolution.
Topics: Animals; Female; Humans; Menopause; Pan troglodytes; Biological Evolution
PubMed: 37883538
DOI: 10.1126/science.adk7119