Researchers at Chicago's Brookfiled and other zoos discovered that aging female gorillas go through menopause, just like humans!
The study also may provoke a few chuckles along the way.
"Do they have hot flashes? Do they get grouchy? We haven't been able to measure those things yet, but give us time,'' said study co-author Sue Margolis, a former Brookfield Zoo researcher and now curator of primates at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.
Many biologists believe menopause evolved because it gave human grandmothers more time to help care for their grandchildren, said Steve Austad, a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio who was not involved in the study.