Two For Monkey Monday: Primate Evolution and Hemmorhagic Fever in Apes
by Mike Smith
Two articles for Monkey Monday.
Science Daily summarizes an interesting study which compares the frequency of positive Darwinian selection in the development of the human and chimpanzee genomes since we diverged from a common ancestor 6-7 million years ago. One could interpret this to mean that chimpanzees are more advanced (or at least are more evolved) than their naked ape cousins. Full text of the journal article is made available by one of the authors.
This article appearing in the American Naturalist sates my interests in both great apes and infectious disease outbreaks. The report details observations of potential ape to ape (sometimes inter-species) transmission of Ebola, based on exchange of bodily fluids and the primate habit of inspecting carcasses of peers and rivals. Fascinating stuff, also available in a much abridged form.
And before someone points out that apes aren’t monkeys and don’t satisfy the requirements of Monkey Monday, here’s a bonus link, a beautiful male diademed sifaka, courtesy of the Duke University Lemur Center. The species is native to eastern Madagascar and is endangered.
