P.kelyus maxilla fragment. Photo from LiveScience.
Remains of a new giant lemur species, Palaeopropithecus kelyus, was found in Madagascar. Dominique Gommery, a paleontologist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, France said that the discovery confirms 20 years of speculation on its existence.
So far, there are 3 species of giant lemurs identified in Madagascar, Palaeopropithecus kelyus, Palaeopropithecus ingens and Palaeopropithecus maximus. P. kelyus is the smallest of all three, its estimated weight is about 77 lbs. The largest living lemur in Madagascar is the Indri, which weighs about 22lbs. Judging from the teeth, P. kelyus might have chewed on tough food such as seeds and nuts.
I am going to draw your attention for a while to my personal life, just a little while. Enough to let you, ardent readers, know that The Prancing Papio is maintained by a college student who wants to be a primatologist someday.
I graduated from Queens College yesterday with a BA in Anthropology. I am still finishing my Senior Honors Thesis, and hopefully graduate with High Honors in Anthropology (My grade has to be a B or higher to graduate with High Honors).
I am honored to be recognized by the Queens College Anthropology department as well. During their Annual Honors and Awards Ceremony, I was recognized with an award and 2 honors. I was awarded Honors for graduating with a 3.9 GPA in Anthropology. For writing a Senior Honors Thesis, I was given the Thesis Honors and for being the President of the Anthropology Society 08-09, I was given the Service Award.
Sorry for not updating this blog for almost 2 weeks. I just finished my finals and I am currently busy finishing my thesis. Oh, I also graduate this Thursday! ********************************************************************************
Reported in gorillas and documented in chimpanzees, some apes actually cannibalize their own species. However, there were reports of orangutans cannibalizing their own babies were reported in the same forest area of Indonesia, just one month apart from each other. This might be the first report of an ape eating its own offspring.
"Cannibalism has been documented in chimpanzees and reported in gorillas. Never before has any ape species been seen treating its own offspring as a consumable resource", said David Dellatore of Oxford Brookes University. Dellatore suspects that the mothers' stressed upbringing may have triggered their later actions.
A plumber from North Dallas, Texas found a primate skull while working on construction project outside of a school. The skull was found buried about five feet underground. Measuring six inches from front to back and two inches wide, most of its teeth are still intact including two one-inch canines. “We all know it’s a primate,” said David Evans, 25, of Alvarado. “We just don’t know which kind.”
A noted anthropologist for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office, Dr. Dana Austin, viewed photographs of the skull and said it was definitely an “old-world primate,” possibly a monkey or chimp.
In an effort to do my professors justice (yes ... Dr. Larissa Swedell and Dr. Sara Stinson), I am going to attempt to identify said skull. But before that ... am I the only one that cringes every time some says "Old World primates"? It's Old World monkeys! Monkeys!
OK ... from the video and pictures, it seems to either be a chimp or a baboon. What differentiate a chimp and a baboon based on dental morphology is that chimps have Y-5 molars pattern while baboons have a bilophodont pattern. Judging from the video, around 0:15 mins. it seems that the upper molars have a bilophodont teeth. The sagittal crest also seem to connect to the brow ridge like an upside down Y. My guess is that this skull belongs to a baboon, a hamadryas baboon to be exact. Because canine size is sexually dimorphic in hamadryas baboon, this skull probably belongs to a male.
Isn't he cute? A baby aye-aye, born at the Denver Zoo. Photo from Denver Post.
A pair of aye-aye from Denver Zoo made history this year on April 18th by giving birth to a healthy baby boy, the second aye-aye baby to be born in a North American zoo and the first aye-aye to be conceived in North America. The mother, Salem and father, Ozony came to the Denver Zoo last year as part of a breeding program from The Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina. Read the article on Denver Post: Aye-aye at Denver Zoo makes history.
Aye-aye are endemic to Madagascar. Malagasy believes that the aye-aye is a bad omen and a harbinger of death. They believe that seeing an aye-aye means someone will die. The only way to prevent it is to kill any aye-aye in sight. Madagascar had enacted law banning the killing of the aye-aye. They are considered as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List.
P.kelyus maxilla fragment. Photo from LiveScience.
