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I don't spend this much time on many things like this but for some reason this came across as bad science.

A session with Google and no knowledge anthropology I found this:

Chimpanzee's habit was an entire Continent away from H. erectus
http://www.janegoodall.ca/abou...
(not that big of a deal we do have Hurricanes, Cyclones and Typhoons to mix the groups)

Chimpanzee's are a different time line than humans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

So what do the modern apes—and in particular our closest relatives the chimpanzees and bonobos—eat? Plants. Yes, plants. ... But most chimps don’t eat such meaty treats often. Three percent of the average chimp diet comes from meat. On average, nine days a year are meat days for chimps.
http://blogs.scientificamerica...

Despite their hunting behavior, however, only a very tiny percentage–perhaps as small as two percent–of a wild chimp’s diet consists of meat or insects.
http://www.allaboutwildlife.co...

Google this phrase: what do you feed a chimpanzee - give one this blurb:
It also eats leaves and leaf buds. Seeds, blossoms, stems, pith, bark and resin, insects, and meat make up the rest of its diet. While the common chimpanzee is mostly herbivorous, it does eat honey, soil, insects, birds and their eggs, and small to medium-sized mammals, including other primates.

http://www.janegoodall.org/ is a worthless site unless you wish to give money.

Topic: H. erectus meat consumption is associated with __________.
Not one answer includes teeth
http://science-forums.com/inde...

The only thing that associates chimpanzee (meat eating) and evolve of humans jaws to is the submitted article itself.

I think this discussion should be worried about the potential for racist comments rather than the homophobic as you suggested. The biggest clue to this is the word "ook" being used in the summary.

The scientific potential in this is that researchers could learn to understand and quantify the simplicity of the behaviors which lead to the more complex. It brings us back into the days of Jane Goodall, Koko the gorilla, and the Save the Gay Whales campaigns of our childhoods.

Larson used science as the basis for many of his strips.

And science returned the favor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thagomizer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strigiphilus_garylarsoni
http://www.janegoodall.org/product/far-side-t-shirt-front-cartoon

The we'd see more of this behavior.

Next thing you know they'll be taking down the Statue of Liberty..

Har har..

Anyhoo, just wanted to mention my favorite charity:

http://www.janegoodall.org/chimp_guardian/default.asp

The fact that chimpanzees are so close to us is a strong argument for us to defend them.

How should we relate to beings who look into mirrors and see themselves as individuals, who mourn companions and may die of grief, who have a consciousness of 'self?' Don't they deserve to be treated with the same sort of consideration we accord to other highly sensitive beings: ourselves?

- Dr. Jane Goodall
http://www.janegoodall.org/chimp_central/default.a sp

PS For those posters arguing "chimps aren't humans" - no, they're not. That's semantics, it's unrelated to the core issue.

Anyone with a sense of humor about Gary Larson's cartoon is someone your students should be learning about.

As for monolithic dead-tree biographies, not so much, but she's written a number of books and there's abundant information on the web.

From: http://www.janegoodall.org/chimp_central/chimpanze es/behavior/rain_dance.asp

An excellent example of a respect and intense curiosity of chimpanzees to an animate object is in their reaction to snakes, particularly pythons. Pythons could pose a threat to young chimpanzees, but it is not likely that any snake would take on an adult. However, when a single individual or group of chimpanzees encounters a python (even a small one), the reaction is remarkable. One would expect the chimps to issue alarm calls to warn others and as an expression of their fear, but then to move well out of harms way as soon as possible. Predictably, the chimpanzees do issue a specific vocalization called a snake wraa, but when it is uttered, the group often draws near, to stare at the snake. Some climb above if possible for a better look. Typical facial expressions are those of fear and curiosity. Physical reassurance contact is often made (especially mutual embracing), and eye contact among individuals is frequent. After tens of minutes, members finally begin to disperse. Some individuals however, (Skosha and Apollo, for instance) show exaggerated and prolonged interest. Both call time and again even after the other individuals have moved well away. I have seen both stay and stare and call for as long as 30 minutes.
It is difficult to explain why chimpanzees react to pythons in this way. It appears to be much more than keeping a close eye on a possible threat, as many species do. It also seems a great waste of energy and time. If pythons are dangerous, it would make much more sense to alarm call and move away as quickly as possible.

Truly you are a brave and horny man:

link: By age five [chimps] are stronger than most human adults. They become destructive and resentful of discipline. They can, and will, bite. Chimpanzee owners have lost fingers and suffered severe facial damage.

Didn't Dr. Jane Goodall figure this out twenty-five years ago?

This is the tact Slim Shady is taking, which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard, An 8 year old raps a few lyrics and we interpret this as an endorsement by Marshal Mathers? He must think his fans are more peanut brained that most. Does he endorse every numbskull with a boom box sitting on a corner playing his music? Does he worry that I'll see a blood covered 8-foot killer carrying rusty machete with peices of flesh still hanging off and a boom box playing "8-mile" and think "He must be a nice guy, because Eminem endorses him?

Maybe its some dumb publiscist, like the one that went psycho on Gary Layson while Jane was out of the country for writing this cartoon. Jane later said she loved it and apologized to Mr Lawson.

I heard Breathed speak at FSU, not long after Bloom County was retired, as I recall, and he told a funny story that I think will be appreciated here.

Seems Breathed had licensed the rights to the Bloom County characters for, among other products, a screen saver (mentioned here).

Now, if you remember, Breathed makes the average slashdotter seem like a Bill Gates fanboy. He did some pretty funny stuff about Bill. What did Bill think about his appearances in Bloom County? Was he even aware of them?

Breathed said that he believed that he knew the answer to that for, just weeks after the screensaver hit the shelves, it was mysteriously pulled from those shelves by every major retailer. Breathed could not find out why this had happened. His theory, however, was that someone had approached all the major vendors and politely asked them, "Which would you rather sell, the Bloom County screensaver? Or Windows 95? Take your pick."

If Breathed's theory is true, I think that would speak volumes about Bill's personality. It would indicate to me that he is, emotionally, a very, very small man, despite all his wealth and power.

In contrast, many of you will recall that Jane Goodall wrote a forward for one of Garry Larson's books. That was her gracious, well-tempered reaction to Larson's well-known 'that tramp Jane Goodall' cartoon. I know little about Goodall, but I mark her down as someone I admire, at least for that.

This message has been provided as a public service to remind you: take your work seriously, yourself, never.

As the report points out, many species have declined precipitously over the last century or so, and if this trend continues, a lot of wildlife is headed for extinction. In addition to the rhinos, elephants, birds, and fisheries mentioned in the article, the numbers of many African primates have gone down dramatically, to the extent that some have predicted populations of chimpanzees and gorillas may be at non-viable levels within 5-15 years. (Also try a google search for "bushmeat"; another good site for more general conservation issues is conservation.org.)

Does this mean that humans are going to go extinct? I doubt it. I'm pretty sure that we could wipe out most of the wildlife on the planet and still support human life. However, I doubt that many people want to live in that world. I sure don't. The WWF could get a lot of support, probably more support, by highlighting the problem of species loss without claiming that the world will end if we don't colonize Alpha Centauri. [Although that does mean we get a space race victory.]

I emailed E*Trade, and asked them to donate to saving the chimps (which are apes, not monkeys, by the way). There was just an article today about how Jane Goodall's Gombe research facility is down to a 10 mile by 3 mile long strip of forest. Goodall speaks out against the use of chimps in commercials and movies, and I figure that the least E*Trade can do is to donate some. (They spent $2 Million on the ad, maybe they could drop a few hundred thousand on making the world a better place.) Especially considering that some people seem to think it was a great ad, and E*Trade will probably make a great deal of money off of it. I'd appreciate it if you gave them the same feedback. I know this is a tree-hugging kind of point to be making about a Super Bowl ad, but the chimps are screwed, unless they get some help. Also, isn't environmental preservation a nerd issue, too? It's nice to hack all day in front of a glowing screen, but it's also nice to know there's a world to go outside to, full of interesting animals, if you ever get the urge. *grin*