India's "Bigfoot"

An odd little review here of the Mande Barung, of India's Galo Hills in Meghalaya.

Giant Sloth Lemurs

Genetic investigation reveals that the giant "sloth" lemurs of Madagascar were a sister group to the living indriid lemurs. Paper can be downloaded here.

Monkeys Can Swim

Lowry Park Zoo (FL) imported a troop of Patas monkeys from Puerto Rico and placed them on an island surrounded by a 50-foot wide, 8-foot deep moat. They just forgot to check on whether the monkeys could swim. The monkeys are currently on the lam. (News source.)

Hoax?

An odd little story out of Mississippi: (News source.)

"According to police, two postal workers and two parents picking their children up from school claimed to have seen a huge primate run into the woods behind the post office shortly after 2 p.m.
"Because all the accounts were separate instances, School Resource Officer Lt. Terry Sanford said he doesn’t doubt that people saw something, but he’s almost sure it wasn’t a gorilla.
"'We got a few calls about the gorilla, but we didn’t see anything,' said Sanford. 'People said they saw the animal run into the woods. I think what they saw was a person dressed in a suit trying to get a reaction out of people.'
"A local costume dealer said a man and a woman bought a gorilla head and hands Tuesday, stating that they already had a suit."

Old Lemur

Bones of a 2,000 year old lemur found in a Madagascar cave have an intriguing anatomical distinction on the little finger. (News source.)

Two Lemurs Described

Two new species of "cryptic" nocturnal lemurs have been described after phylogenetic analysis. The paper (pdf) includes photos of the new species. (via Kevin Stewart)

Ethnoknowns from the Philippines

There's a report of species newly recorded from Mindanao island, which includes two folkloric accounts of animals that may or may not be recognized species (and may or may not be something as yet undescribed). The first is a "red-faced monkey":

"A group of red-faced monkeys that can mimic human laughter has been sighted in the mountain ranges of Sal-dab, a sacred mountain in Northern Mindanao, The STAR learned recently.
"The monkey that mimics human voice is known to natives as Uma-ay and is believed to bring a curse on whoever sees it.
"According to local folklore, whoever sees the creature will lose his way in the jungle or may encounter misfortune, accident or even death along the way." ...
"A tribal trapper interviewed by The STAR last year said the Uma-ay looks human because they do not have hair on their faces and can mimic the human voice. They grow up to the size of the native monkeys in the area.
"'The laugh of an Uma-ay is an ominous sign, it means misfortune or even death,' the tribal hunter said in the Hiliga-onon dialect.
"The hunter declined to name the location of the place where the Uma-ay can be found but said it is sacred ground where tribal elders offer sacrifices and perform yearly rituals to appease their gods."

Now, Mindanao has one recognized monkey species, the common crab-eating macaque. That species isn't known for a bright red face (though that trait is known in the related Japanese macaque). So, might these red-faced monkeys be something new? A variant of the recognized macaque species? Or just a bit of local folklore? Another ethnoknown is briefly noted:

"Aside from the Uma-ay, the tribal folk also mentioned that they sighted an unnamed feathered bird that has mammal’s hair.
"Just like the Uma-ay, the bird also mimics the human voice but its favorite sound is the cry of a newborn baby.
"The natives call the creature Ukang (owl) or gulus (ghost). This nocturnal bird is often heard making noise at night but only a few elders have actually seen it.
"Tribe members believe that the Uma-ay mimics the human voice to drive away the Kalumbata (monkey-eating eagle), which regularly hover in the area in search for food.
"It is said that Uma-ays would simultaneously sound their laughter to confuse the marauding eagles."

Not enough details, and most of this might be superstition masking the description. Whenever you have strange nocturnal calls, there's a potential for mistaking the identity. (News source.)

New Uacari

A new primate, a uacari species, has been discovered in northwestern Amazonia, and described as Cacajao ayresii. (News source.)

Chimp Geophagy

An interesting press release here, on geophagy (soil eating) in chimpanzees. An excerpt:

"The deliberate ingestion of soil, or ‘geophagy’, has important health benefits for chimpanzees, according to Sabrina Krief and her colleagues from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris, France. Far from being a dysfunctional behavior, geophagy has evolved as a practice for maintaining health amongst chimpanzees. In this particular study (1), to be published online this week in Springer’s journal Naturwissenschaften, geophagy increases the potency of ingested plants with anti-malarial properties."

1. Krief S, Klein N & Fröhlich F (2008). Geophagy: soil consumption enhances the bioactivities of plants eaten by chimpanzees. Naturwissenschaften

Hunting Skunk Apes (And, Then, Quitting...)

Here's an article about a guy who spent a great deal of time over two decades searching for a skunk ape, allegedly having some close encounters, and then giving it up when he suddenly realizes that skunk apes are wild animals and might actually be dangerous. (And, of course, not allowing further research by offering his data to other legit investigators. But, hey, at least he's got a book coming out...)

New Gigantopithecus Fossils

Only sparse details so far, but NG News states:

"The 400,000-year-old fossils of a giant panda were uncovered alongside the remains of a titan-sized, ancient ape called Gigantopithecus blacki, said Huang Wanbo, a paleontologist at Beijing's Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.
"Excavated from a limestone cave on the island province of Hainan, the fossils suggest that both the giant pandas and the Giganto apes survived on a mostly bamboo diet, said Huang." ...
"Russell Ciochon, a professor at the University of Iowa who has joined several fossil digs in China but was not involved in the Hainan excavation, said the findings expand the known geographic range of nine- to ten-foot (three-meter) Giganto, which he called 'the largest ape that ever existed.'"

Gorillas Throwing Sticks

Interesting point regarding the Cross River gorillas, and their behavior towards humans:

"In the wake of a study that documented for the first time the use of weaponry by Cross River gorillas to ward off threats by humans, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced today new field surveys to better protect this most endangered great ape.
"The study, published earlier this year in the Journal of Primatology, found several instances of gorillas throwing sticks and clumps of grass when threatened by people. Gorillas usually flee and rarely charge when encountered by humans.
"Cross River gorillas are restricted to Nigeria and Cameroon. They number only around 300 individuals, making them the most endangered of the four gorilla sub-species." (Eurekalert)

More from Baker Co., FL

The sighting of an "orangutan" or some other odd critter in Baker County, FL, has brought out more witnesses. (News source.)

"The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sent investigator Ken Holmes to the scene. No positive identification of the animal was made at the time. Mr. Holmes later stated that he would “be astonished if the animal were an orangutan” since its reported nocturnal behavior was not like that of a primate.
"'More than likely it’s a large fox squirrel,' he said.
"Tell that to Windy Tyson, who lives in the Hills of Glen development. She initially reported being awakened during the early morning hours to hear loud screeching and howling outside her home. To her, it sounded like a monkey.
"About the same time, another Baker County resident whose property backs up to the Little St. Marys River reported hearing something in the darkness outside her home about 12:30 am. Startled and curious, she raised her second-floor bedroom window, hoping to hear it again. The creature shrieked once more." ...
"The Baker county resident who first reported seeing the creature and prefers to remain anonymous, spotted the animal on his property the morning after Ms. Tyson heard its nocturnal calls. While working out in his barn, he saw it from about 20 yards away beside a dog pen.
"He believes the animal may have been attracted to the scent of several boxes of donuts in the back of his truck. He went to investigate and watched as it climbed to the top of a tall tree nearby.
"'I can tell you that it was not a squirrel,' he declared. 'It absolutely was a red spider monkey. Some of them get really large. It weighed between 40-50 pounds and had a very long tail.'" ...
"More reports of strange noises in the night have followed, as recent as November 14. One resident, who doesn’t want his identity or location revealed to discourage trespassers and curiosity seekers on his property, reported something 'calling' from the tree behind his home. He has heard similar sounds before made by monkeys in the jungles of Central and South America where he has spent time. To him, what was up his tree was no animal native to the woods of Baker county.
"'My dogs were going crazy in their pens. I could tell something was moving around in the tree branches,” he said. “It jumped from the branches and landed on the tin roof of a dog pen directly underneath. Only something large and heavy could have made the noise it did when it hit the roof.'" ...
"Sightings of unusual animals are not unheard of in Baker County. Several years ago, numerous Glen St. Mary residents reported seeing a strange creature crossing Hwy 125 late at night. One resident, Mark Lyons, described the creature as having reddish, orange fur, short forearms and walking upright."

Chinese Wildman Sighting

More large bipedal apelike creatures reported from China:

"Two giant ape-like creatures were spotted in the afternoon of November 18, 2007, in Shennongjia, an area famous for the legendary "bigfoot" wild man located in central China's Hubei Province. Four independently traveling tourists claimed that they were almost face to face with two wild men while touring around the Licha River, at the northern foot of Laojun Mountain. If their words prove to be true, the tourists will be the first eyewitnesses of "bigfoot" in southeast Shennongjia Nature Reserve in recent years.
"According to a Changjiang Times report on November 20, Zhang Jinxing, a scientist conducting investigations in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve, reported the thrilling event to relevant local authorities in the afternoon of November 19. When Zhang had finished his investigation that morning, he came across four independently traveling tourists, two men and two women, in a land-rover. These tourists told him that they had seen two wild men around the Licha River in the morning of November 18. They were near a sharp curve on the mountain road when three of the four, two men and one woman, spotted two giant, dark figures standing behind a tangled mass of shrubbery some 50 meters away from their car. It seemed that the two creatures didn't see the car at first, but they soon fled into the dense forest."

Ape or Squirrel?

A Florida Fish & Wildlife investigator thinks the "orangutan" seen in Baker County was just an orange-phase fox squirrel. From the news:

"Fish and Wildlife investigator Ken Holmes said the creature is not behaving like a primate, especially with its nocturnal activity." ...
"On Oct. 30, Holmes said he got a call about the mystery animal stealing the sweet snacks from a bear hunter who lives near Macclenny. Holmes looked into the tall pine tree and saw something 100 feet up moving around but couldn't confirm if it was an ape, squirrel, monkey, raccoon or even a cat.
"So Holmes decided to lay doughnuts at the base of the tree to lure the creature out. The animal left but wasn't seen or captured.
"From the way he was eating the doughnuts, Holmes said it probably wasn't an ape.
"'Orangutans are messy eaters. If the animal were an orangutan, you would expect to find pieces of donuts or fruit scattered all over the place, rather than just neatly nibbled,' Holmes said."

Florida Mystery Ape

There have been sightings of an "orangutan" around Glen St. Mary, Florida, a small Baker County town along the northern border of the state. From the news:

"A handful of folks say they've heard the call of an escaped ape.
"One family even found the grand prize: what looked to be an orange ape, nesting high in a tree.
"We talked on the phone with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission investigator who actually answered the original complaint call.
"He said there was definitely something up in the top of the tree, but he really couldn't be sure what it was."

DeBrazza's Monkeys

A new population of the rare DeBrazza's monkey has been discovered in Kenya. Primate researcher Iregi Mwenja investigated reports of the species in the Mathews Range (sightings given by a tour operator), even when others (other primatologists?) told him that they likely weren't there. (News source.)