Topic
Scientific study of primates, covering their behavior, social dynamics, cognition, and evolution across species including apes and monkeys.
University of Lincoln researchers comparing 100 primate species found that lethal violence evolved largely apart from everyday aggression. A species' rate of routine fighting is therefore a poor guide to how often it kills rivals or infants.
Reality
UC Berkeley researchers found chimpanzees stole pineapple in 61% of trials with friends and 70% with nonfriends. Friendship trimmed theft without stopping it, and the team argues both parties' emotional reactions show chimps expect better treatment from friends.
Reality
Max Planck researchers followed 21 wild orangutans to independence and found that each infant's mix of watching and exploring tracked its eventual diet. Strong watchers who rarely explored still ate widely, though the diet data cover 13 animals and end at independence.
Reality
Fifteen hours of footage from Dindefelo yielded 33 handovers of dipping sticks and other tools, most of them between relatives, with adults giving up ants they could have eaten to infants who then fished for themselves.
Reality
Colobus congoensis is only the fifth new African monkey species described in 75 years. Locals have seen it a handful of times since 2008, which makes its status the harder question.
Reality