Christian Aid | November 2011

The new Christian Aid report ‘LOW-CARBON AFRICA: LEAPFROGGING TO A GREEN FUTURE' demonstrates the considerable potential Africa has to achieve the win goals of tackling poverty and the threat of climate change by pursuing a low-carbon development pathway. The report argues that it is possible to lift Africa out of energy poverty without increasing Greenhouse Gases emissions.

10/11/2011
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Kruetzen M, Willems E. P. & van Shaik C. P. | Current Biology | 08 November 2011

Although geographic variation in an organism's traits is often seen as a consequence of selection on locally adaptive genotypes accompanied by canalized development [1], developmental plasticity may also play a role [ [2] and [3]], especially in behavior [4]. Behavioral plasticity includes both individual learning and social learning of local innovations (“culture”). Cultural plasticity is the undisputed and dominant explanation for geographic variation in human behavior. It has recently also been suggested to hold for various primates and birds [5], but this proposition has been met with widespread skepticism [ [6], [7] and [8]]. Here, we analyze parallel long-term studies documenting extensive geographic variation in behavioral ecology, social organization, and putative culture of orangutans [9] (genus Pongo). We show that genetic differences among orangutan populations explain only very little of the geographic variation in behavior, whereas environmental differences explain much more, highlighting the importance of developmental plasticity. Moreover, variation in putative cultural variants is explained by neither genetic nor environmental differences, corroborating the cultural interpretation. Thus, individual and cultural plasticity provide a plausible pathway toward local adaptation in long-lived organisms such as great apes and formed the evolutionary foundation upon which human culture was built.

08/11/2011
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Kruetzen M, Willems E. P. & van Shaik C. P. | Current Biology | 08 November 2011

Although geographic variation in an organism's traits is often seen as a consequence of selection on locally adaptive genotypes accompanied by canalized development [1], developmental plasticity may also play a role [ [2] and [3]], especially in behavior [4]. Behavioral plasticity includes both individual learning and social learning of local innovations (“culture”). Cultural plasticity is the undisputed and dominant explanation for geographic variation in human behavior. It has recently also been suggested to hold for various primates and birds [5], but this proposition has been met with widespread skepticism [ [6], [7] and [8]]. Here, we analyze parallel long-term studies documenting extensive geographic variation in behavioral ecology, social organization, and putative culture of orangutans [9] (genus Pongo). We show that genetic differences among orangutan populations explain only very little of the geographic variation in behavior, whereas environmental differences explain much more, highlighting the importance of developmental plasticity. Moreover, variation in putative cultural variants is explained by neither genetic nor environmental differences, corroborating the cultural interpretation. Thus, individual and cultural plasticity provide a plausible pathway toward local adaptation in long-lived organisms such as great apes and formed the evolutionary foundation upon which human culture was built.

08/11/2011
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The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/02/2011 

A report says 691 Borneo orangutans were slaughtered in Kalimantan – most of whom were eaten by residents.

The great apes were killed for several reasons, Suci Utami Atmoko, a field coordinator for report co-author The Nature Conservancy (TNC), said on Tuesday.

“Some [residents] were desperate and had no other choice after spending three days hunting for food,” 
she said.

02/11/2011
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MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada | October 25, 2011 (ENS)

Wild mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians are disappearing from the world due to overexploitation for bushmeat - the legal and illegal trade in the meat and other parts of wild animals.

Now, a new United Nations report says sustainable bushmeat harvesting is possible, but only if governments combine new mechanisms for monitoring and law enforcement with new management models, such as community-based management or game-ranching. Finding alternate means of livelihood for residents of forests and other wild lands also will help conserve vanishing species.

25/10/2011
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Copulation calls in primates are usually identified as sexually selected signals that promote the reproductive success of the caller. In this study, we investigated the acoustic structure of copulation calls in bonobos (Pan paniscus), a great ape known for its heightened socio-sexuality. Throughout their cycles, females engage in sexual relations with both males and other females and produce copulation calls with both partners. We found that calls produced during sexual interactions with male and female partners could not be reliably distinguished in terms of their acoustic structure, despite major differences in mating behaviour and social context. Call structure was equally unaffected by the size of a female's sexual swelling and by the rank of her mating partner. Rank of the partner did affect call delivery although only with male, but not female partners. The only strong effect on call structure was because of caller identity, suggesting that these signals primarily function to broadcast individual identity during sexual interactions. This primarily social use of an evolved reproductive signal is consistent with a broader trend seen in this species, namely a transition of sexual behaviour to social functions.

24/10/2011
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