Neatorama » gorilla

Strategic Gorilla Sex May Explain Human Monogamy

Alex — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:06:38 +0000

Stony Brook University primatologist Diane Doran-Sheehy discovered something intriguing about the sneaky mating behavior of female gorillas that may explain human monogamy: how female gorillas use strategic sex to her advantage!

Female gorillas use sex as a tactic to thwart their rivals, new research suggests. Pregnant apes court their silverback male to stop other females conceiving.

"It seems to us that mating is another tactic that females use to compete with each other – in this case to gain favour with another male," says Diane Doran-Sheehy, a primatologist at Stony Brook University in New York.

Her team chronicled the sex lives of five female western lowland gorillas and one silverback almost every day for more than three years. "We wondered if, basically, [pregnant] females can mimic [ovulating] females and dupe the male into mating with them and distract him from what those other girls are doing," Doran-Sheehy says.

This kind of competitive behaviour may even help explain how humans evolved into a mostly monogamous species, she says.

Ewen Callaway of New Scientists has more: Link

Previously on Neatorama: 30 Strangest Animal Mating Habits

First Interspecies Internet Chat

Miss Cellania — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:21:48 +0000

Eleven years ago today, Koko the gorilla used American Sign Language to communicate with her fans via AOL chat. It was the first known interspecies chat on the internet.

Roughly 8,000 AOL subscribers joined the chat, which featured Koko, who signed her answers; Patterson, who interpreted them; and an AOL chat facilitator.

As the transcript clearly shows, Koko’s responses were a bit vague, but no more inane than some of the drivel littering Facebook pages these days.

Link

Also check out Koko’s website, which includes a transcript of the AOL chat. (Thank, Gauldar!)

Bokito Viewers

Miss Cellania — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:32:51 +0000

These creepy eyeshades make you appear to look away when you’re looking forward! They were inspired by a gorilla attack at the Rotterdam Zoo last May. The gorilla named Bokito attacked a woman, presumably because she had made eye contact with him. Health insurance company FBTO took advantage of the situation and issued “Bokito Viewers” to zoo visitors to protect them from gorilla attack. The glasses were conceived by advertising agency DDB Amsterdam. Link -via the Presurfer

Brussels Sprouts + Gorillas = Bad Situation

Miss Cellania — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:39:43 +0000

Chessington Zoo in London has issued an apology to guests after giving the gorillas a Christmas treat of Brussels sprouts. The seasonal sprouts are highly nutritious, but the gorilla farts caused horror among people around them.

Gorilla keeper Michael Rozzi said: “We feed the gorillas brussel sprouts during the winter because they are packed with vitamin C and have great nutritional benefits.

“Unfortunately, an embarrassing side effect is that it can cause bouts of flatulence in humans and animals alike.

“However, I don’t think any of us were prepared for a smell that strong.”

The zoo has taken the sprouts off the menu while the zoo is open to the public. The gorillas will enjoy them when the zoo is closed on Christmas Day. Link -Thanks, Rich!