Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Great Ape Project”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

[The Great Ape Project--human rights for the great anthropoid apes].

The Great Ape Project (GAP) is an appeal of 36 scientist from different disciplines aiming at the legal equalisation of the non-human great apes (chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans) with man. The appeal is expressed by a number of essays stating zoological, genetical, ethological, anthropological, ethical and psychological knowledge and, based on these arguments, demanding the abolition of the species barrier between human beings and great apes. The central point of the initiative is the "Declaration on Great Apes", claiming the inclusion of great apes in the "community of equals" and thus securing three basic rights for all great apes: 1. The Right of Life; 2. The Protection of Individual Liberty; 3. The Prohibition of Torture. Not only experiments with great apes and their capture from the wilderness will be banned, but it is also intended to enfranchise as many great apes as possible from research laboratories and zoos. As a legal basis for the achievement of basic rights most of the authors plead for the idea of conferring the moral status of "persons" on great apes. Criticism of the GAP is due to its anthropocentrism. Rejection is especially expressed by advocates of pathocentric ethics who argue that the species barrier will not be abolished but only shifted, running then between the great apes and the remaining living beings. However, the GAP resulted in a greater retention in the use of great apes for experiments in several industrial countries. Additionally, the popular literature published by ethologists in the passed decades has supported a more responsible attitude of the public towards primates. Despite of all efforts the survival of the great apes is greatly endangered within their native countries.

Animal Rights↗
PubMed2001

Genetic differences between humans and great apes.

The remarkable similarity among the genomes of humans and the African great apes could warrant their classification together as a single genus. However, whereas there are many similarities in the biology, life history, and behavior of humans and great apes, there are also many striking differences that need to be explained. The complete sequencing of the human genome creates an opportunity to ask which genes are involved in those differences. A logical approach would be to use the chimpanzee genome for comparison and the other great ape genomes for confirmation. Until such a great ape genome project can become reality, the next best approach must be educated guesses of where the genetic differences may lie and a careful analysis of differences that we do know about. Our group recently discovered a human-specific inactivating mutation in the CMP-sialic acid hydroxylase gene, which results in the loss of expression of a common mammalian cell-surface sugar throughout all cells in the human body. We are currently investigating the implications of this difference for a variety of issues relevant to humans, ranging from pathogen susceptibility to brain development. Evaluating the uniqueness of this finding has also led us to explore the existing literature on the broader issue of genetic differences between humans and great apes. The aim of this brief review is to consider a listing of currently known genetic differences between humans and great apes and to suggest avenues for future research. The differences reported between human and great ape genomes include cytogenetic differences, differences in the type and number of repetitive genomic DNA and transposable elements, abundance and distribution of endogenous retroviruses, the presence and extent of allelic polymorphisms, specific gene inactivation events, gene sequence differences, gene duplications, single nucleotide polymorphisms, gene expression differences, and messenger RNA splicing variations. Evaluation of the reported findings in all these categories indicates that the CMP-sialic hydroxylase mutation is the only one that has so far been shown to result in a global biochemical and structural difference between humans and great apes. Several of the other known genetic dissimilarities deserve more exploration at the functional level. Among the areas of focus for the future should be genes affecting development, mental maturation, reproductive biology, and other aspects of life history. The approaches taken should include both going from the genome up to the adaptive potential of the organisms and going from novel adaptive regimes down to the relevant repercussions in the genome. Also, as much as we desire a simple genetic explanation for the human phenomenon, it is much more probable that our evolution occurred in multiple genetic steps, many of which must have left detectable footprints in our genomes. Ultimately, we need to know the exact number of genetic steps, the order in which they occurred, and the temporal, spatial, environmental, and cultural contexts that determined their impact on human evolution.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Almost human.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animal Experimentation↗
PubMed1978

The Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center.

The development and organisation of the centre which now has over 1,500 non-human primates representing more than 30 species, including great apes, is described. Important projects are mainly in the neural and behavioural field, including language acquisition, but also on aspects of experimental pathology.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed1999

A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes.

We report the existence and distribution of an unusual type of projection neuron, a large, spindle-shaped cell, in layer Vb of the anterior cingulate cortex of pongids and hominids. These spindle cells were not observed in any other primate species or any other mammalian taxa, and their volume was correlated with brain volume residuals, a measure of encephalization in higher primates. These observations are of particular interest when considering primate neocortical evolution, as they reveal possible adaptive changes and functional modifications over the last 15-20 million years in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region that plays a major role in the regulation of many aspects of autonomic function and of certain cognitive processes. That in humans these unique neurons have been shown previously to be severely affected in the degenerative process of Alzheimer's disease suggests that some of the differential neuronal susceptibility that occurs in the human brain in the course of age-related dementing illnesses may have appeared only recently during primate evolution.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed2001

Genome of the apes.

The Human Genome Project has generated both the information and technological infrastructure needed to accelerate genetic comparisons between humans and the African great apes (chimpanzees and gorillas). Sequence and chromosomal organization differences between these highly related genomes will provide clues to the genetic basis for recently evolved, specifically human traits such as bipedal gait and advanced cognitive function. Recent studies comparing the primate genomes have the potential to affect many aspects of human biomedical research and could benefit primate conservation efforts.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Polymorphic aspects of male anthropoid canines.

Interspecific variation in the architecture of male anthropoid maxillary canines is documented. Extant taxa are polymorphic, and most can be sorted into two major groupings based on quantitative measures of shape, distal edge sharpness, and interspecific changes in their linear dimensions (projection, mesiodistal length, and buccolingual breadth) relative to each other and to body mass (scaling). One group includes the great apes and ceboids; the other includes cercopithecoids and hylobatids. Statistically significant differences between these groups were found for canine shape, for trajectories of regressions for canine projection on canine length and canine breadth, and for canine projection and canine breadth relative to body mass. The data indicate that explantations of canine variation in male anthropoids must include a mechanical interpretation of form in addition to assessments of habitus, heritage, and body mass.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Great apes and rhesus monkeys as subjects for psychopharmacological studies of stimulants and depressants.

A group of experiments is described in which chimpanzees and orangutans are utilized as subjects in research projects designed to evaluate the effects of stimulant and depressant drugs on learning and performance. Efficiency of performance on a task which measures spaced responding was impaired when subjects smoked cigarettes containing delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol prior to testing. In a sequential learning task, these subjects also demonstrated reduced performance when stimulatn drugs were orally administered before testing. Depressant drugs did not produce comparable decrements in sequential learning performance. Physical and behavioral tolerance and dependence on ethanol were investigated in rhesus monkey subjects using a variety of experimental procedures, including forced oral acceptance, intragastric intubation, intravenous infusion, and conditioned voluntary oral acceptance.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Comparative mapping of ZFY in the hominoid apes.

Within our project of comparative mapping of candidate genes for sex-determination/testis differentiation, we used a cloned probe from the human ZFY locus for comparative hybridization studies in hominoids. As in the human, the ZFY probe detects X- and Y-specific restriction fragments in the chimpanzee, the gorilla, the orangutan, and the gibbon. Furthermore, the X-specific hybridization site in the great apes resides in Xp21.3, the same locus defining ZFX in the human. The Y-specific locus of ZFY maps closely to the early replicating pseudoautosomal segment in the telomeric or subtelomeric position of the Y chromosomes of the great apes, again as found in the human. Thus, despite cytogenetically visible structural alterations within the euchromatic parts of the Y chromosomes of the human species and the great apes, a segment of the Y chromosome defined by the pseudoautosomal region and ZFY seems to be more strongly conserved than the rest of the Y chromosome.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Relative placement of the mandibular fossa in great apes and humans.

Several researchers have investigated, or commented on, the relative placement of the hominin mandibular fossa with regard to brain expansion and masticatory function. Two confounding factors are identified in this previous work. First, a number of different measurement techniques have been applied, confusing comparisons between studies. Second, the effects of squamous thickening due to temporal bone pneumatization are shown to influence measurements based relative to the ectocranial margin of the skull. To investigate the influence of these factors, a sample of adult human (n=12), chimpanzee (n=12), gorilla (n=15), and orang-utan (n=8) skulls from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, University of Wisconsin Zoology Museum, and University of Wisconsin Anthropology collections, were CT scanned. Coronal scans were horizontally aligned and measured on a personal computer using ImageJ (NIH). To identify fossa placement, fossa breadth was measured as the projected distance in the coronal plane between the tip of the entoglenoid to lateral margin of the articular surface. A second distance, from the tip of the entoglenoid to a sagittal plane, tangent to the lateralmost margin of the endocranial surface was taken to indicate the extent of medial placement of the fossa. By eliminating the influence of pneumatization, these data unambiguously confirmed the medial placement of the human fossa and show all great apes as having a laterally placed fossa. Similar measurements on three fossil hominins, KNM-BC 1 (Homo sp. indet.), OH 5 and KNM-ER 23000 (Paranthropus boisei) demonstrate that, while all specimens demonstrate a broad fossa, only KNM-BC 1 is characterized by a relatively medial placement while the latter two display lateral placement.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The capacity of animals to acquire language: do species differences have anything to say to us?

Following the Gardners' discovery that an ape named Washoe could learn to produce and combine a number of hand movements similar to those used by deaf human beings, a variety of 'ape-language projects' sprang up. Some projects used different symbol systems, others used different training techniques, and others used different species of apes. While debate still rages regarding the appropriate way to interpret the symbolic productions of apes, three species of great apes (gorilla, orangutan, and chimpanzee) have now been credited with this capacity while no lesser apes or monkeys have been reported, at present, to have acquired such communicative skills. Among all of the claims made for the various animal species, the philosophers have entered the fray attempting to define the essence of what it is about language that makes it 'human'. This paper will compare and contrast the above positions to arrive at behavioural definitions of symbolic usage that can be applied across species. It will then present new data on a fourth ape species Pan paniscus which is proving to be the first non-human species to acquire symbolic skills in a spontaneous manner.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Quantifying temporal bone morphology of great apes and humans: an approach using geometric morphometrics.

The hominid temporal bone offers a complex array of morphology that is linked to several different functional systems. Its frequent preservation in the fossil record gives the temporal bone added significance in the study of human evolution, but its morphology has proven difficult to quantify. In this study we use techniques of 3D geometric morphometrics to quantify differences among humans and great apes and discuss the results in a phylogenetic context. Twenty-three landmarks on the ectocranial surface of the temporal bone provide a high level of anatomical detail. Generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA) is used to register (adjust for position, orientation and scale) landmark data from 405 adults representing Homo, Pan, Gorilla and Pongo. Principal components analysis of residuals from the GPA shows that the major source of variation is between humans and apes. Human characteristics such as a coronally orientated petrous axis, a deep mandibular fossa, a projecting mastoid process, and reduced lateral extension of the tympanic element strongly impact the analysis. In phenetic cluster analyses, gorillas and orangutans group together with respect to chimpanzees, and all apes group together with respect to humans. Thus, the analysis contradicts depictions of African apes as a single morphotype. Gorillas and orangutans lack the extensive preglenoid surface of chimpanzees, and their mastoid processes are less medially inflected. These and other characters shared by gorillas and orangutans are probably primitive for the African hominid clade.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Short adolescence in early hominids: infantile and adolescent growth of the human femur.

Did the first hominids have a short developmental period similar to that of the great apes or a longer period closer to that of modern humans? Evidence from studies on dental and facial growth favors the first point of view. Additional evidence presented in this report is provided by a morphogenetic analysis of the lower limb. Some morphological modifications undergone by the human femur during infantile and adolescent growth are shown to be excellent markers of different developmental stages. The angular remodelling of the femoral diaphysis, which results in femoral bicondylar angle, is a marker of infancy, while the reshaping of the distal femoral epiphysis is a marker of adolescence. This reshaping of the bony epiphysis consists of the strong projection of the external lip of the femoral trochlea, the increase of the radius of curvature of the external condyle, and the anteroposterior lengthening of the whole epiphysis. The growth spurt in linear dimensions of the femur, characteristic of human adolescence, is shown to be associated with qualitative changes of the distal femoral epiphysis engendered by the late closure of the distal epiphysis. The femur of the first hominids (Australopithecus afarensis) shows only features of infantile growth, whereas characters of both precocious and later growth are typical of later hominids (Homo). The absence of the derived epiphyseal features in Australopithecus would be linked to their early epiphyseal closure and short adolescent growth period; their presence in Homo would have been promoted by their delayed epiphyseal closure and prolonged adolescent growth period. The transition from Australopithecus to Homo appears to have involved a heterochronic process of time hypermorphosis (Gould, [1977], Ontogeny and Phylogeny [Cambridge: Harvard University Press]) in which the size of the femur increases, the epiphysis is modified, and the period of peripubertal growth is prolonged. The shape of the distal epiphyses of KNM-WT 15000, an immature Homo erectus (Brown et al. [1985] Nature 316:788-792), lies clearly within the range of modern human adolescents. In contradiction to Smith's ([1993] in A. Walker and R. Leakey [eds.]: The Nariokotome Homo erectus Skeleton [Cambridge: Harvard University Press], pp. 195-220) hypothetical reconstruction of life span of Homo erectus, we infer that a growth spurt had begun with Homo erectus but was probably less pronounced and of shorter duration than in modern humans. Our findings on the femur are consistent with studies of the growth on the hominid pelvis (Berge [1996] in LF Marcus, M Corti, A Loy, G Naylor, and DE Slice [eds.]: Advances in Morphometrics [Chicago: Plenum Publishing Corp.], pp. 441-448). It is suggested that the lengthening of the adolescent growth period, from Australopithecus to Homo, would have been also associated with the shape changes of the pelvis and with the lengthening of the lower limbs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2002

Complex SNP-based haplotypes in three human helicases: implications for cancer association studies.

We have initiated a candidate gene approach to study variation and predisposition to cancer in the four major ethnic groups that constitute the U.S. population (African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, and Asians). We resequenced portions of three helicase genes (BLM, WRN, and RECQL) identifying a total of 37 noncoding single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Haplotype inference predicted 50 haplotypes in BLM, 56 in WRN, and 47 in RECQL in a sample of 600 chromosomes. Approximately 10% of the predicted haplotypes were shared among all ethnic groups. Linkage disequilibrium and recombination effects showed that each locus has taken a diverse evolutionary path. Primate DNA analysis of the same loci revealed one human haplotype per gene shared with the great apes, indicating that the observed diversity occurred since the divergence of humans from the last common ancestor. In BLM, we confirmed the presence of a founder haplotype among Ashkenazi Jews homozygous for the blm(Ash) mutation. The cosegregating haplotype was seen in all (6/6) samples of Ashkenazi descent, whereas in the general population it has a low frequency (0.02) and was not found in African Americans. In WRN, ethnic samples were studied for their haplotype content and the presence or absence of six previously described coding SNPs (cSNPs). Hispanic individuals carrying two of these cSNPs showed a 60% increase in the frequency of a common haplotype (haplotype No. 28). In the pooled sample, no association was found. Because (1) the majority of the haplotypes are population specific and (2) the patterns of linkage disequilibrium, recombination, and haplotype diversity are markedly different between gene regions, these data show the importance of either ethnically matched controls or within-family-based disease-gene association studies.

Alleles↗