Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comCould be false alarm, researchers say — or male monkeys showing off
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big deal. That's how politicians react to EVERYTHING. ;)
Really...politics?
The most obvious reason is the perceived risk of a potential predator.
This must be a slow science day.
The only time I'll probably ever see a flying squirrel is when a monkey flies out of my butt!
Has any of these researchers entertained the idea that the monkeys view these squirrels the way we view rats. I mean there are plenty of animals that we don't react to, but when a rat shows up everybody freaks. The way the monkeys got right up to it but acted fearful suggests that they see it as "unclean" not as a predator. They will try to chase it away, but they aren't going to touch it. Who knows why they would see the animal as unclean, but it might be because of the peculiar way in which this mammal flies - unlike all other mammals they know. It might just freak them out.
Why are they telling us this?
because it's an interesting discovery about animal behavior and the world we live in, the consideration of which can be taken into account concerning our own species and behavior. it's in the science category.
Because it just proves the male apes wether it is maqaques or homo sapiens have a tendency to loss their composure over nothing and either act all macho OR everybody jumps up and down and shouts "SQUIRELL!". <shrug> Kind of obvious really, people are nothing but stupid, hairless apes and no better than a bunch of monkeys that spend all winter in the hot tub.
Sounds like another story trying to convince me that these animals "think like we do". The only way we will ever know that for sure is when they tell us so. When I was a child in school, I accepted the wholesale personification of animal behavior without judgement. Were there any female scientists quoted in this story in agreement with the male scientific assessment that the male monkeys were "showing off" how superior they were are males? Notice they said, "the male monkeys had a greater tendency...." the emphasis being on the word tendency. The females chased the squirrels, too. I agree -- what was the point of posting this story?
why did you bother to read it? ever thought you might learn something about the world we live in. but then again maybe not....
I don't know about you folks but both the monkeys and the squirrels are delicious !!! We cut the buttholes out of the monkeys before cooking and make whistles for the kids.
neat-o! also, on the comment about them acting kind of scared, i think you may be overestimating the size of these monkeys. a squirrel would be considerably formidable as an opponent to these guys.
Mr Schiffner, your response was poorly thought out. In studies done on various species that are prey to raptors any time a cardboard cutout that resembled a large raptor was passed over captive populations that had never even seen a raptor the reaction was alarm. This seemed to be true of both bird and mammal species. In the real world of nature for those monkeys to take time to analyze exactly what this raptor - like flying animal really is would result in the loss of one of their number.
Also, male macaques are larger and stronger than the females and have larger canines. In macaque societies it is the males who bear the primary responsibility of defending the troop. I find your anthropomorphic take on this to be quite amusing.
The first thing I thought of when I saw the headline was,
Natasha, look, I will finally get moose and squirel.
I love it when macaques are shocked or surprised! There mouths form the perfect O. Hilarious. Rebel Monkeys on Nat Geo, my favorite new show.
OK..... and moving right along.......