Monkey starts walking like a human

[Octafish]

Anyone seen Smirko today?

Monkey starts walking like a human

A monkey at an Israeli zoo started walking like a human after recovering from a serious illness.

Natasha, a five-year-old macaque at the Safari Park, near Tel Aviv, now walks exlcusively on her hind legs.

She almost died of a severe stomach flu but suddenly stabilised and was released from the zoo's clinic.

Workers at the zoo say that's when she started walking upright exclusively, reports CBC News.




http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1030197.html

[Dying Eagle]

1. I had No Idea..

Shrub was going to Israel this week (ok i know, too easy)

[merh]

4. LOL - too easy, but very funny - thanks for the laugh! n/t

[Octafish]

29. Keep it up.

Eee-eee-eee aaa-aaa-aaa ooo-ooo-ooo terra.

[KansDem]

42. Nah, can't be Shrub...

I don't see the US flag pin in his lapel. In fact, I don't see a lapel...???

The Emperor really has no clothes!

[ArnoldLayne]

52. Now that's an

insult to Natasha shame on you, but it was funny though.:dem:

[Voice_of_Europe]

2. maybe...

I could imagine that somehow her stomach still hurts and she is trying to take off the pressure by straightening up.

[Octafish]

28. Excellent hypothesis.

Stomach problems sometimes require movement, other times rest, medicine or surgery.

OTOH: Perhaps the macaque walked down a tunnel toward a bright light... and came back.

Monkey walks on two legs
From correspondents in Jerusalem
July 22, 2004

A YOUNG monkey at an Israeli zoo has started walking like a human following a near death experience, the zoo's veterinarian said today.

CONTINUED...

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10210241%255E1702,00.html

[truthisfreedom]

3. i wish there was a moving .gif or quicktime movie or something.

i'd like to see the gait.

[fob]

5. In this case it's not shrub*, it's Bob Dole! Look at the pen in his

left hand!!

[Octafish]

31. I do have to be grateful to Bob Dole ...

...for his service to the country and personal sacrifices he made in World War II.

That said, his work in the Senate to undo the New Deal and destroy any Liberal or progressive policies made me consider him an opponent.

Then all that Monsanto "Terminator Seed" stuff made me rethink my feelings. Judging by the companies he keeps, Dole's dangerous.

[IndianaGreen]

6. G_d has given up on the human race

I always thought the dolphins would be the ones to take the next evolutionary leap.

[Connie_Corleone]

11. Yep. We're done for.

Planet of the Apes.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

7. Yeah, but can she

walk like an Egyptian?

[Octafish]

34. Do you believe in transmutation of soils?

[leftofthedial]

8. she also now reportedly chokes on pretzels

and insists that Iraq possessed WMDs

[xchrom]

9. cool

i love stuff like this.

[Octafish]

38. The Hundredth Monkey

Like you, xchrom, I enjoy the universe and its creatures.



The Hundredth Monkey

by Ken Keyes, jr.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years.

In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.

This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists.

CONTINUED...

http://www.sfheart.com/hundredth_monkey.html

[Dookus]

48. The hundredth monkey thing is a myth

nobody ever observed other monkeys in other places picking up the habit, and in fact, plenty of monkeys in the original population never picked it up, either.

[Zynx]

10. Hey George, you need to shave a little bit.

;-)

[daleo]

12. She looks very dignified, actually

n/t

[jdj]

13. The irony is killing me.

Remember the beginning of "2001: A Space Odessy?"

The monkey picks up the bone and uses it as a drumstick and the symphony goes wild?

Ha ha.

This monkey "evolved" because she got a virus, it's possible her "evolution" was the result of brain damage caused by the virus.

ROTFLMAO.

This sure is a kick in the ass to those who would put humans at the top of the food chain and declare us the only ones worthy of "rights" because of our "superiority."

It looks like the whole thing was an accident of nature. Knew it all along.


edit: YES! YES! God, I just read the article, they are saying brain damage, too. God this is too good, this news makes my entire year. I'll be laughing about this one for months/hee hee hee, haw haw haw...

[MaryH]

16. Could Make Anthropologists Take a Whole New Look

Always thought men became upright because they could see better. But animals moving on all fours can run a lot faster.

The fact that she stays upright all of the time is interesting.

We are probably just the result of some kind of wierd mutation or accident just like this.

People are just animals that evolved. In some ways we are superior and in other ways we are really inferior. To think that we are special for some reason is silly. We may be the bigggest mistake of all time - if we manage to destroy our planet.

[jdj]

22. Well, I think the writing is on the wall, planet -wise.

It's like that cancer growing for years silently, then when you go see the doc, and get a diagnosis, suddenly you've "got cancer". We've had cancer a long time on this planet, right now we are in metastasis.

It's how much we can cut away and expect to survive that is the concern now, how many vital organs can we remove (trees, air, oceans) and still sustain life, that's where we are at. We are in the after-effects of environmental destruction. I'm hoping global warming might be some programmed obsolescense in the earth's database to be used only if a species gets out of control.

[treepig]

36. indeed, the development of human "intelligence" is the result of

genetic damage - specifically the loss of a gene's activity:

Inactivation of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase occurred prior to brain expansion during human evolution.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Sep 3;99(18):11736-41

Humans are genetically deficient in the common mammalian sialic acid N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) because of an Alu-mediated inactivating mutation of the gene encoding the enzyme CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid (CMP-Neu5Ac) hydroxylase (CMAH). This mutation occurred after our last common ancestor with bonobos and chimpanzees, and before the origin of present-day humans. Here, we take multiple approaches to estimate the timing of this mutation in relationship to human evolutionary history. First, we have developed a method to extract and identify sialic acids from bones and bony fossils. Two Neanderthal fossils studied had clearly detectable Neu5Ac but no Neu5Gc, indicating that the CMAH mutation predated the common ancestor of humans and the Neanderthal, approximately 0.5-0.6 million years ago (mya). Second, we date the insertion event of the inactivating human-specific sahAluY element that replaced the ancestral AluSq element found adjacent to exon 6 of the CMAH gene in the chimpanzee genome. Assuming Alu source genes based on a phylogenetic tree of human-specific Alu elements, we estimate the sahAluY insertion time at approximately 2.7 mya. Third, we apply molecular clock analysis to chimpanzee and other great ape CMAH genes and the corresponding human pseudogene to estimate an inactivation time of approximately 2.8 mya. Taken together, these studies indicate that the CMAH gene was inactivated shortly before the time when brain expansion began in humankind's ancestry, approximately 2.1-2.2 mya. In this regard, it is of interest that although Neu5Gc is the major sialic acid in most organs of the chimpanzee, its expression is selectively down-regulated in the brain, for as yet unknown reasons.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12192086




Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001;Suppl 33:54-69.

Loss of N-glycolylneuraminic acid in humans: Mechanisms, consequences, and implications for hominid evolution.

Varki A.


The surface of all mammalian cells is covered with a dense and complex array of sugar chains, which are frequently terminated by members of a family of molecules called sialic acids. One particular sialic acid called N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc) is widely expressed on most mammalian tissues, but is not easily detectable on human cells. In fact, it provokes an immune response in adult humans. The human deficiency of Neu5Gc is explained by an inactivating mutation in the gene encoding CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in generating Neu5Gc in cells of other mammals. This deficiency also results in an excess of the precursor sialic acid N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) in humans. This mutation appears universal to modern humans, occurred sometime after our last common ancestor with the great apes, and happens to be one of the first known human-great ape genetic differences with an obvious biochemical readout. While the original selection mechanisms and major biological consequences of this human-specific mutation remain uncertain, several interesting clues are currently being pursued. First, there is evidence that the human condition can explain differences in susceptibility or resistance to certain microbial pathogens. Second, the functions of some endogenous receptors for sialic acids in the immune system may be altered by this difference. Third, despite the lack of any obvious alternate pathway for synthesis, Neu5Gc has been reported in human tumors and possibly in human fetal tissues, and traces have even been detected in normal human tissues. One possible explanation is that this represents accumulation of Neu5Gc from dietary sources of animal origin. Finally, a markedly reduced expression of hydroxylase in the brains of other mammals raises the possibility that the human-specific mutation of this enzyme could have played a role in human brain evolution

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11786991

[FlaGranny]

14. Chimp that walks upright

Recently there was a documentary about a chimp that has walked upright since he was a baby. I think he was captured from the wild. He was a very strange looking chimp, too. The people that owned him even wondered if he were a cross between a chimp and a human, so they had DNA testing after it became available. He was pure chimp. I believe the chimp is now around 50 years old (?). They think he is either from an obscure, previously unknown group of chimps, or maybe just a sport. I've forgotten where he lives now.

[StopTheMorans]

15. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, DC, USA

[jdj]

20. Good one. LMAO.

This is going to be a very good day.

[Sequoia]

23. Stop that

I'm not allowed to laugh at work!!!!

[StopTheMorans]

25. sorry, couldn't resist:)

[FlaGranny]

41. A very big

:D

[Heyo]

19. Yup...

The one they thought was a "humanzee".. his name was Oliver.

wierd creature for sure... peculiar... walking upright and sticks his hand out to shake hands.....very humanlike.

I saw the same documentary.

Heyo

[bushisanidiot]

40. Oliver the Humanzee

you gotta see/hear this

http://www.jengajam.com/r/Oliver

[CheshireCat]

39. Saw the same documentary, FlaGranny.

The chimp really did look like a cross between a chimp and a human.

[JayS]

17. Evolution in action....but can she type? :) n/t

n/t

[Heyo]

18. I keep hearing reports about this....

.. that say this is the first time that this has happened.

It is not... there was a chimpanzee named Oliver who walked upright and was very humanlike long ago.... he may still be alive..

This is NOT the first example of this happening.

Heyo

[chiburb]

21. Oliver the Mutant Chimp

A chimpanzee named Oliver has stumped and astonished scientists for nearly twenty years. He is physiologically unusual, with a lack of hair on his chest and head, and a jawline and ears that are shaped differently from normal chimps. But more notably, Oliver very much acts human. Way too human.

Oliver was born in the Congo and sold to South African animal trainers Frank and Janet Burger in the early 1970s. From his youth he seemed not to belong with the other chimps, preferring instead to socialize with humans. He always walked upright and learned to use the toilet. His owners found that he enjoyed chores such as pushing a wheelbarrow and preparing dog food for the family dogs. Oliver was also fond of relaxing by watching television and drinking Seven-Up and whiskey. When his mind turned to sexual thoughts, Oliver was not interested in female chimps -- he went after Mrs. Burger and any other human women he saw.

Oliver's libido eventually forced the Burgers to sell him to an American trainer, and Oliver began a career of traveling as a trained chimp, demonstrating all manner of highly intelligent behavior. He came to be promoted as "The Missing Link," and there was much speculation about his genetic makeup. It was widely rumored that Oliver was a mutant chimp or even a human-chimp hybrid, perhaps the result of some secret genetic experiment. Some news reports indicated that Oliver had 47 chromosomes, one less than a chimpanzee, one more than a human.

In 1997, a series of genetic tests finally settled the question of what exactly Oliver is made of. Geneticists at the University of Chicago determined that Oliver is simply a chimp, not a missing link, and certainly no human-chimp hybrid. He also possesses the standard chimpanzee chromosome count of 48.

[jdj]

24. They have more chromosomes than us?

Wonder if Oliver ever had a stomach flu?

[TahitiNut]

30. A chimp is NOT a monkey. It's an ape.

They're saying it's a first for a monkey.

[Octafish]

32. Then, there's Pokemon.

My son loves this stuff. Me too, now that I think about it.

[Heyo]

45. monkey shmonkey...

we're talking primates here.

:toast:

Heyo

[molly]

26. Way back before I was in high school, I read a book

I've never forgotten it after ALLLLLL of these years -

"You Shall Know Them" - I finally found the link

http://www.ditext.com/vercors/vercors.html

[mumon]

27. Oh No!

Next thing is...



Will they recognize Bush as one of their own?

[johnfunk]

33. Put him in a blue blazer and tie...

... and he could pass for a Wartime Preznit!

[Octafish]

35. Here's looking forward to the future.

[DaveSZ]

37. Hehe

I thought you were talking about * for a sec there.

Curious George must have been sentenced under the Rockefeller drug laws.

[KansDem]

43. Curious George is in prison for another reason...

Something about a conspiracy involving the Man in the Forged Yellow Hat documents.

[seemslikeadream]

53. I'm not thrilled with this thread Mr. Fish

[Dover]

44. Hope the chimp is taking notes.........

it takes great skill to be upright and human.

[soundfury]

46. So the X Men are a possibility? :-) LOL!!!!!

Accidents happen. :-)

[Snow]

47. One of Jane Goodall's chimps contracted polio and lost use of

an arm. That fellow also had to walk upright. His friends must've thought of him as a cripple. Kinda hard to walk well when you really don't have the gluts for it.

[treepig]

49. that gawd-damned polio vaccine strikes again!

didn't i read on this website just a few days ago that's the only way polio is contracted nowadays?

anyhow, poor chimp.

[Snow]

54. Ya know, though, the monkey's illness sounds like polio -

severe stomach flu? WOnder if he was vaccinated. Wonder if they have checked for arm paralysis.

[Tight_rope]

50. I swear the looks like George W. Bush without clothes & make-up!...n/t

[seemslikeadream]

51. Octafish, please stop you're frighting the little ones