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Oliver, the bipedal chimpanzee
May. 12th, 2006 08:16 amI knew I discussed this with someone at K.Zoo, and I've likely mentioned it elsewhere as well - imagine my surprise when ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
cryptomundo coughed up this article this morning.
Long story short: Oliver is a 32 year old chimpanzee who has always walked upright (there are a lot of photos at the link - more than I've ever seen anywhere else). He made the rounds of circuses as a "baby bigfoot" or some such back in the day; tests later proved he was a genetically ordinary chimpanzee who happens to walk upright, for whatever reason. He's in the news again because his host animal sanctuary is falling into disrepair.
So.. not a Bigfoot, but interesting nonetheless. The person/people I was discussing this with over the weekend suggested that long exposure to humans caused Oliver to imitate their upright stance, and I suppose that's possible (Disclaimer: I am not a zoologist/primatologist), even though IIRC ape physiology would make it unlikely as the head is set too far forward on the spine to make it practical - perhaps standing upright for so long has deformed Oliver's spine? I'd love to get Jane Goodall's take on this (yes, I know, that's what Google is for but I've gotta go to work :P)
cryptomundo coughed up this article this morning. Long story short: Oliver is a 32 year old chimpanzee who has always walked upright (there are a lot of photos at the link - more than I've ever seen anywhere else). He made the rounds of circuses as a "baby bigfoot" or some such back in the day; tests later proved he was a genetically ordinary chimpanzee who happens to walk upright, for whatever reason. He's in the news again because his host animal sanctuary is falling into disrepair.
So.. not a Bigfoot, but interesting nonetheless. The person/people I was discussing this with over the weekend suggested that long exposure to humans caused Oliver to imitate their upright stance, and I suppose that's possible (Disclaimer: I am not a zoologist/primatologist), even though IIRC ape physiology would make it unlikely as the head is set too far forward on the spine to make it practical - perhaps standing upright for so long has deformed Oliver's spine? I'd love to get Jane Goodall's take on this (yes, I know, that's what Google is for but I've gotta go to work :P)
