Giant Ape May be New Species...

[KingCheetah]

Giant Ape May be New Species

Amazing image of the giant ape...

Oct. 6, 2004 — An elusive giant ape has been spotted in remote forests in central Africa, sparking theories that it could be a new species of primate, a finding that would be the most astonishing wildlife discovery in decades, New Scientist says.

In a report published in the coming issue, the weekly says the mysterious creatures have been seen in forests around the towns of Bondo and Bili, in the far north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

From the rare eyewitness sightings, bone discoveries and a video recording, the animals have large, black faces, are up to two meters tall (6.5 feet) and weigh between 85 and 102 kilos (187 and 224 pounds).

That would put them in the size category of gorillas, but the region lies 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the edges of the known habitats of the western and eastern species of gorilla.

The creature's face is gorilla-like and has a sagittal crest — a long bony ridge — that is typical of gorillas.

But other aspects of the skull morphology are that of a chimpanzee, according to Colin Groves, an expert at the Australian National University in Canberra.

As for behavior, the apes make nests on the ground like gorillas, whereas chimpanzees prefer to make their homes in the trees. But, unlike gorillas, which hate water and prefer to build a new nest every night, these primates make their beds in swampy ground and reuse them night after night.

Feces recovered from the nest sites indicated an animal with a diet rich in fruit, which is typical of chimps.

Shelly Williams, a U.S. primatologist affiliated with the Jane Goodall Institute in Maryland, captured the apes on video in 2002 with the help of local people and was once briefly confronted by a group of four of them in dense forest.

This, along with other evidence, makes her think that there is a chance the animals could be a new species of great primate — in other words, an undiscovered genetic relative of humans.

Other possibilities are that it is gorilla-chimp hybrid, or a new sub-species of chimp that would be 50 percent bigger than its largest cousins.

Anecdotal evidence about the unusual apes dates back to photos taken by European hunters in 1898, when the region was the Belgian Congo.

The trail was then picked up in 1996 by Karl Ammann, a Kenyan-based Swiss photographer, who was intrigued by local tales that the forests were inhabited by large ferocious apes that could kill lions.

Unlike gorillas, which invariably charge when they see a threat, these apes turn around and silently slip away into the forest when encountered, Ammann said.

The discovery of these apes "reveals just how much we still have to learn about our closest living relatives," New Scientist notes, expressing concern that animals could be "poached out of existence" unless conservation measures are urgently taken to protect them.

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[vaioavan63]

donkey koong or what the hell?

[DaDakota]

Big foot lives !!

DD

[SmeggySmeg]

so the movie Congo was a true story

[m_cable]

So Sasquatch vacations in Africa. Who would have thunk it. Or is this just his cousin like the Yeti.

BTW, what ever happened to Yetti. Haven't seen him in a while. Can't say I'll miss him. I like Yao but Yetti would always go overboard, and just bring out the worst in people.

[synergy]

awesome, i love stories like these......

[StupidMoniker]

A rare picture of the elusive beast standing next to NBA MVP David Robinson.

[Stack24]

Originally posted by StupidMoniker A rare picture of the elusive beast standing next to NBA MVP David Robinson.

I still remember that highlight of him when he hit his three pointer and was running down the court with his arms just flayling around in the air reall made me think twice about him

[lpbman]

Originally posted by SmeggySmeg so the movie Congo was a true story

it was a BOOK! lol the movie was awful, book was fantastic

[BrianKagy]

Feces recovered from the nest sites indicated an animal with a diet rich in fruit, which is typical of chimps.

Another job I'm glad I don't have: gorilla poop analyst.

[SwoLy-D]

Can we get CYNTHIA COOPER to cover this hist-t-t-t-t-oric event?

[FlyerFanatic]

Originally posted by vaioavan63 donkey koong or what the hell?

LOL nice :D

[SwoLy-D]

bump? There's gotta be someone out there with something funnier than MY lines...

[KingCheetah]

Apparently there are undiscovered giant apes all over the place…

Evidence of 'jungle yeti' found

Fresh evidence has been found in the jungles of Sumatra supporting claims that a mythical 'jungle yeti' may exist, claim two UK explorers.

Adam Davies and Andrew Sanderson found footprints which seem to match examples they found three years ago, which were shown to be from a new species of ape.

The orang pendek, as it is known, is said by islanders to walk like a man.

The pair, from Stockport and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, now plan to write a scientific paper on their discoveries.

The new evidence was found in the Bukkantingi area of the island.

Mr Davies and Mr Sanderson also claim they tracked the creature to within 500 metres but were unable to follow it into dense jungle.

Three years earlier, they found hairs and prints which were analysed independently by scientists and shown to be from an unknown species.

They have now discovered evidence of the creature's existence in separate parts of the island.

Mr Davies told BBC News Online: "When we arrived in Bukkantingi, we were told by the villagers that they had seen the orang pendek only two days earlier.

"They said they had seen it eating soft fruit in farmland on the edge of their village.

"We made base camp there and, two days later, one of our Indonesian guides heard it calling.

"We set after it and found new prints which we made casts of and which matched the prints which we discovered on our last trip.

"The prints had been made that day, our guides told us, and we also heard it calling, but were unable to capture it on film as it was in dense jungle.

"But I think we were at least within 500 metres of it."

Mr Davies said the pair now planned to write down their discoveries and send them to a primatologist at Cambridge University who analysed the original prints found in 2001.

But he said the habitat of the creature, if it exists, was under threat from illegal logging which had destroyed large areas of jungle since their previous visit.

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[Deckard]

KC, it makes you wonder just what is still out there, waiting to be discovered, and if those discoveries can take place before the habitats have been destroyed, along with the unknown, or barely known. Too often, humanity seems to be in a race to obliterate the rare places of this planet, with their equally rare species, while our own government does little, given the extent of our wealth, to prevent it.

[PhiSlammaJamma]

So basically what you have discovered here, is group of intraverted nerd apes, who couldn't get any, so they've now started looking toward intraverted nerd Chimpanzees for some lovin.

[JuanValdez]

Originally posted by Deckard KC, it makes you wonder just what is still out there, waiting to be discovered, and if those discoveries can take place before the habitats have been destroyed, along with the unknown, or barely known. Too often, humanity seems to be in a race to obliterate the rare places of this planet, with their equally rare species, while our own government does little, given the extent of our wealth, to prevent it.

I went to a lecture just recently by an economics professor at U of C's School for Public Policy that was about how do we as a society put values on things that don't have market or use values. His particular research was in the Endangered and Threatened Species Act (he talked just about land animals since he didn't have data yet for aquatic and plant life) and which species we care about preserving and how is it that our government goes about preserving. His argument was that most of the interests of the public and most of our government dollars go to the preservation of a few large and charismatic species -- cat-size and larger (like this ape) -- while there is a very large number of uninteresting and small species -- insects, snails, arachnids and the like -- that get very little or no money or interest. He's trying to get a handle on just how much people really value biodiversity from an economic standpoint.

I don't really have a point, it was just interesting.

Two sociological things that he mentioned I found interesting. (1) The importance placed on the preservation of species is highest among the highly-educated and the poorly educated, with a trough among those with an average education. (2) Republicans placed a higher importance on the preservation of species than Democrats. He didn't hazard a guess as to why.

[Lil Pun]

Maybe it's this one.

[m_cable]

Originally posted by Lil Pun Maybe it's this one.

Hey pun, didn't you hear, we got our posting privileges back. You can post the pic instead of linking.

[Kim]

http://eyeonspringfield.free.fr/Homer/images/monkey.gif