The biologist and primatologist Frans B.M. de Waal likes to show a video from the 1930s of two chimpanzees moving a heavy box. They pull in tandem. They break in sync. They’re the ape equivalent of officemates. One of the chimps gets fed, and with his motivation removed, he’s suddenly More
Aside from sharing more than 95% of our genes, humans and great apes show striking similarities in many brain structures and functions. These biological parallels, however, bear out quite differently on a macro level. After all, humans and chimpanzees both have brain systems for evaluating quantity, but only one species More
BBC: When four chimpanzees captured a young blue duiker to play with, you might at first believe they wanted to keep it as a pet. They tumbled about with it but in the end it went badly for the antelope. Their playful behaviour was too rough and ended in its More
Nature: Will we ever be able to talk to animals? In this episode, Geoff Marsh meets a variety of researchers and animals who persevere at the communication barrier in the name of science. Listen to the whole story: Nature More
NPR: It’s a question that bedevils dog owners the world over: “Is she staring at me because she loves me? Or because she wants another biscuit?” Research published Thursday in the journal Science suggests that love (or something close) could be behind that stare. The work shows that when dogs and More
Wired: WE LOVE OUR pets. Two thirds of Americans live with an animal, and according to a 2011 Harris poll, 90 percent of pet owners think of their dogs and cats as members of the family. These relationships have benefits. For example, in a survey by the American Animal Hospital More
