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A New Species Of Giant Ape?

Posted by timothy on from the afleckus-trismegistus dept.

jd writes "The New Scientist, The Age (an Australian newspaper), Daily Telegraph (a British newspaper), BBC, and the Discovery Channel are talking excitedly about a strange primate, found in the Congo. Locals say it is notorious for killing fully-grown adult lions. Optimists hope that it is a new species, maybe related to the gorilla. Pessimists claim it's an overgrown chimpanzee. In either case, primates aren't discovered every day, making this a rare find indeed."

2 of 398 comments (clear)

  1. whoa...actually went back and RTFA... by interactive_civilian · · Score: 4, Interesting
    and IMHO, with the exception of the coloration and the stone paddles, these "new" primates seem to resemble the grey gorillas in Michael Crichton's (sp?) Congo quite well. From the BBC article:
    They stand up to two metres tall, the size of gorillas, and like gorillas, they nest on the ground, not in trees.

    ~snip~

    She describes her encounter with them: "Four suddenly came rushing out of the bush towards me," she told New Scientist.

    "If this had been a bluff charge, they would have been screaming to intimidate us. These guys were quiet. And they were huge. They were coming in for the kill. I was directly in front of them, and as soon as they saw my face, they stopped and disappeared."

    That is not so different from the behavior of the gorillas in Congo...

    I wonder why they stopped attacking when they saw her...

    --
    "Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
  2. HOW do they kill lions? by aussie_a · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Chimpanzee's do employ natural objects in order to get maggots in trees. I just want to know, how do these apes kill lions? Do they use stones? Jaws of animals? Sure they can probably use their fists, but if they used tools, well it'd certainly be something noteworthy.