Pacific Standard May-June 2013 Cover

Even Great Apes Get the Midlife Blues

Sad orangutan

We’ve all been there. The trees we enjoyed climbing as kids no longer beckon quite so beguilingly. The fruits and nuts that were such delicious treats have largely lost their appeal. If we’re honest with ourselves, we are forced to admit: We’re in something of a mid-life crisis. Yes, getting older can feel oppressive to an orangutan. We can now add the middle-age blues to the list of experiences we mistakenly thought were exclusive to humans. In a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an international research team reports the well-being of ... Read More

The Gibbon of the Opera

Gibbon

What does a soprano have in common with an ape? Sure, it sounds like one of a long line of soprano jokes (presumably with the word “Wagner” in the punch line). But it’s a serious question, with a surprising answer: Their vocal techniques are virtually identical. New research from Japan reveals the same technique it took Renee Fleming years to master comes quite naturally to a gibbon. An ability we thought of as uniquely human is, in fact, something we share with at least one other species. “Our speech was thought to have evolved through specific modifications in our vocal ... Read More