Pliobates cataloniae is a small-bodied crouzeliid pliopithecoid from the Miocene (∼11.6 Ma) of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Ibe…

The small-bodied stem catarrhine Pliobates cataloniae (Pliopithecoidea: Crouzeliidae), from the Miocene (11.6 Ma) of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), combines catarrhine symplesiomorph...

Abstract. Primates display a wide range of locomotor behaviours, each resulting in distinct mechanical demands on the ankle joint. This study examines how

Abstract. Unlike other catarrhine primates, modern humans deliver a helpless newborn who requires prolonged extensive care. Such helpless infancy is associ

Fossil gibbons are exceedingly rare, with much of the hylobatid fossil record and, consequently, hylobatid evolutionary history remaining unknown. Kap…

Pliobates cataloniae is a small-bodied crouzeliid pliopithecoid from the Miocene (∼11.6 Ma) of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Ibe…

An observational study on wild mangabeys using a Bayesian method to estimate vocal repertoire size finds that vocal sequence diversity and length remain stable throughout ontogeny, indicating a lack o...

The 11.6. Ma pliopithecoid Pliobates was initially misinterpreted as a stem hominoid owing to multiple apelike postcranial features. Using 3D geometric morphometrics, we compare its radial shape with ...

Object play, seemingly non-functional interactions with objects, can promote the development of foraging skills, tool use, and behavioral innovation. Among Catarrhine monkeys, it was described in macaques and baboons. Wild geladas, although closely related to baboons, have been described as lacking object play (observed only in captivity) linked to their specialized grazing ecology. Here, we provide the first evidence of both social and solitary object play in a wild gelada population (NOMUs=13) at Debre Libanos (Ethiopia) and compare it with object play in sympatric olive baboons (Nindividuals=42). Notably, immature geladas engaged in object play both socially and solitarily, but the latter case was most frequent also with novel objects introduced by researchers. Solitary object play occurred at levels comparable to those of baboons, challenging previous reports of limited object interest in geladas. This finding aligns with the occurrence of object play in phylogenetically related species and with the retention in wild geladas of arboreal behavior and fruit consumption and hand morphology enhancing fine manipulation. Hence, object play in geladas under certain environmental conditions may reflect a biologically rooted capacity and underscores the importance of ecological variability, as distinct behavioral ecotypes can emerge across different populations of the same species.