Pangolins and bats living together in underground burrows in Lopé National Park, Gabon

First paragraph: In light of recent publications (e.g. Lam et al., 2020; Shang et al., 2020) that indicate a link between pangolin and bat coronaviruses related to SARS‐CoV‐2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), we believe that recent observations of pangolins and bats sharing burrows in Lopé, Central Gabon, is of general interest. Our observations were made during an ecological and spatial movement study of the giant pangolin, Smutsia gigantea

Approche holistique dans l’implantation d’un sanctuaire de chimpanzés (Pan troglodytes) au Gabon

Dans le cadre du respect des normes éthiques internationales, le Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF) a décidé il y a plusieurs années d’améliorer les conditions de vie de ses grands singes, gorilles et chimpanzés, en les plaçant dans des sanctuaires au Gabon. Les gorilles ont déjà tous rejoint le Projet Gorille Fernan Vaz (Ogooué Maritime). Les chimpanzés iront dans un sanctuaire dans la région de Gamba (Ogooué Maritime). Une ONG de droit gabonais, indépendante du CIRMF, est en cours de création et les chimpanzés du CIRMF lui seront confiés. Cette ONG se chargera de toute la gestion du projet sur le long terme. L’impact d’un tel projet doit largement dépasser l’objectif de l’amélioration des conditions de vie des chimpanzés. Son développement doit se faire de manière transversale, c’est-à-dire qu’il doit permettre la mise en place d’activités annexes comme le tourisme de vision et l’agriculture dont la production servira à nourrir les chimpanzés, mais également à approvisionner les marchés locaux en fruits et légumes. Les communautés locales sont, en effet, d’autant plus réceptives aux exigences de conservation qu’elles peuvent bénéficier d’une partie des revenus tirés du tourisme et de l’agriculture et c’est donc ce modèle de gestion intégrée où la communauté prend part au projet qui nous donne un gage de succès et de pérennité. Le tourisme de vision s’intègre parfaitement dans cette région du Gabon connue sous le nom de Complexe d’Aires Protégées de Gamba (CAPG) puisqu’elle se situe entre deux parcs nationaux : le parc national de Loango, le joyau des parcs nationaux du Gabon et celui de Moukalaba Doudou, dont la richesse écosystémique présente également un intérêt touristique évident. Non loin de Gamba se situe également la lagune du Fernan Vaz et c’est cet ensemble qui permet d’inscrire notre futur projet dans un circuit touristique cohérent. L’impact du projet agricole sur l’environnement doit être minime et l’approche classique de l’agriculture locale qui consiste à défricher la forêt et brûler les terres pour cultiver doit être évitée. C’est pourquoi nous planifions de développer, en partenariat avec l’Institut Gabonais d’Appui au Développement (IGAD), un projet d’agroécologie de manière à optimiser et pérenniser l’utilisation des terres exploitées. Les défis à relever pour ce projet d’agroécologie sont doubles. Ils tiennent d’abord au fait que ce projet sera implanté dans une région majoritairement sablonneuse où les sols sont pauvres et où des connaissances spécifiques d’agronomie doivent permettre de limiter l’utilisation d’intrants phytosanitaires. D’autre part, la région de Gamba est fortement pourvue en éléphants. Il s’agira alors d’être capable d’éviter les destructions des plantations par ces pachydermes. Montrer qu’il est possible de gérer le conflit hommes/éléphants par la protection efficace des plantations avec des mesures novatrices et la mutualisation des moyens constituera une solution encourageante pour tous les paysans de la sous-région d’Afrique Centrale et un signal très fort pour le milieu de la conservation. En définitive, la valeur intrinsèque de ce projet réside non seulement dans l’amélioration des conditions de vie des chimpanzés du CIRMF, mais également dans la création d’emplois locaux, dans le renforcement de l’offre touristique, dans l’initiation d’un projet agricole dans une région jusque-là peu tournée vers la culture vivrière, et dans l’apport de solutions novatrices pour l’exploitation des terres et la gestion du conflit hommes/éléphants. Nous espérons que cette approche holistique entrainera une adhésion forte de la population locale dont le libre arbitre permettra certainement d’avoir une visibilité sur le long terme dans la gouvernance de ce projet.Je souhaite remercier l’ensemble des personnes qui ont contribué ou qui participent à ce projet et plus particulièrement Anaïs Herbert, Sébastien Koumba de l’Institut Gabonais d’Appui au Développement (IGAD), Debby Cox de Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), Pierre Brice Maganga de World Wide Fund (WWF), Lee Ann Rottman de Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo, Angélique Todd et Dr Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo de l’Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN) et Laura Darby de Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP)

Bonobos Have A More Human-Like Second-To-Fourth Finger Length Ratio (2D:4D) Than Chimpanzees: A Hypothesized Indication Of Lower Prenatal Androgens

The ratio of the second-to-fourth finger lengths (2D:4D) has been proposed as an indicator of prenatal sex differentiation. However, 2D:4D has not been studied in the closest living human relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus). We report the results from 79 chimpanzees and 39 bonobos of both sexes, including infants, juveniles, and adults. We observed the expected sex difference in 2D:4D, and substantially higher, more human-like, 2D:4D in bonobos than chimpanzees. Previous research indicates that sex differences in 2D:4D result from differences in prenatal sex hormone levels. We hypothesize that the species difference in 2D:4D between bonobos and chimpanzees suggests a possible role for early exposure to sex hormones in the development of behavioral differences between the two species. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Bonobos fall within the genomic variation of chimpanzees.

To gain insight into the patterns of genetic variation and evolutionary relationships within and between bonobos and chimpanzees, we sequenced 150,000 base pairs of nuclear DNA divided among 15 autosomal regions as well as the complete mitochondrial genomes from 20 bonobos and 58 chimpanzees. Except for western chimpanzees, we found poor genetic separation of chimpanzees based on sample locality. In contrast, bonobos consistently cluster together but fall as a group within the variation of chimpanzees for many of the regions. Thus, while chimpanzees retain genomic variation that predates bonobo-chimpanzee speciation, extensive lineage sorting has occurred within bonobos such that much of their genome traces its ancestry back to a single common ancestor that postdates their origin as a group separate from chimpanzees

A new species of sucking louse from the mandrill from Gabon with a review of host associations and geographical distributions, and identification keys to members of the genus Pedicinus (Phthiraptera: Anoplura: Pedicinidae)

Members of the sucking louse genus Pedicinus are ectoparasites of cercopithecid primates in Africa, Asia, and Gibraltar. Pedicinus gabonensis n. sp. is described based on adult male and female specimens collected from the mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) in Gabon. The new species is compared morphologically with other members of the genus Pedicinus, and a nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha gene sequence is provided. Host associations and geographical distributions of the 18 previously recognized species of the genus, and of Pedicinus gabonensis n. sp., are reviewed. Updated identification keys are provided for males and females of all known valid species of Pedicinus

On the diversity of malaria parasites in African apes and the origin of Plasmodium falciparum from Bonobos

The origin of Plasmodium falciparum, the etiological agent of the most dangerous forms of human malaria, remains controversial. Although investigations of homologous parasites in African Apes are crucial to resolve this issue, studies have been restricted to a chimpanzee parasite related to P. falciparum, P. reichenowi, for which a single isolate was available until very recently. Using PCR amplification, we detected Plasmodium parasites in blood samples from 18 of 91 individuals of the genus Pan, including six chimpanzees (three Pan troglodytes troglodytes, three Pan t. schweinfurthii) and twelve bonobos (Pan paniscus). We obtained sequences of the parasites' mitochondrial genomes and/or from two nuclear genes from 14 samples. In addition to P. reichenowi, three other hitherto unknown lineages were found in the chimpanzees. One is related to P. vivax and two to P. falciparum that are likely to belong to distinct species. In the bonobos we found P. falciparum parasites whose mitochondrial genomes indicated that they were distinct from those present in humans, and another parasite lineage related to P. malariae. Phylogenetic analyses based on this diverse set of Plasmodium parasites in African Apes shed new light on the evolutionary history of P. falciparum. The data suggested that P. falciparum did not originate from P. reichenowi of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), but rather evolved in bonobos (Pan paniscus), from which it subsequently colonized humans by a host-switch. Finally, our data and that of others indicated that chimpanzees and bonobos maintain malaria parasites, to which humans are susceptible, a factor of some relevance to the renewed efforts to eradicate malaria

Flow chart of the analytic approach to identify lineage-specific biomarker levels.

<p><b>A:</b> differences in biomarker levels were sorted as specific to (i) humans, (ii) great apes, (iii) bonobos, (iv) chimpanzees, (v) Central African chimpanzees, (vi) West African chimpanzees and as (vii) non-lineage specific. <b>B:</b> Human-specific changes were defined as significant differences to chimpanzees and bonobos taken together (but not between the latter two species) as well as to rhesus macaques (shown); and as significant differences between humans and the individual great ape species (not shown), regardless of significant differences between species born and living under different environments. Relations of species as shown in cladograms derived from [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0134548#pone.0134548.ref103" target="_blank">103</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0134548#pone.0134548.ref104" target="_blank">104</a>].</p

Lineage-Specific Changes in Biomarkers in Great Apes and Humans

<div><p>Although human biomedical and physiological information is readily available, such information for great apes is limited. We analyzed clinical chemical biomarkers in serum samples from 277 wild- and captive-born great apes and from 312 healthy human volunteers as well as from 20 rhesus macaques. For each individual, we determined a maximum of 33 markers of heart, liver, kidney, thyroid and pancreas function, hemoglobin and lipid metabolism and one marker of inflammation. We identified biomarkers that show differences between humans and the great apes in their average level or activity. Using the rhesus macaques as an outgroup, we identified human-specific differences in the levels of bilirubin, cholinesterase and lactate dehydrogenase, and bonobo-specific differences in the level of apolipoprotein A-I. For the remaining twenty-nine biomarkers there was no evidence for lineage-specific differences. In fact, we find that many biomarkers show differences between individuals of the same species in different environments. Of the four lineage-specific biomarkers, only bilirubin showed no differences between wild- and captive-born great apes. We show that the major factor explaining the human-specific difference in bilirubin levels may be genetic. There are human-specific changes in the sequence of the promoter and the protein-coding sequence of uridine diphosphoglucuronosyltransferase 1 (UGT1A1), the enzyme that transforms bilirubin and toxic plant compounds into water-soluble, excretable metabolites. Experimental evidence that UGT1A1 is down-regulated in the human liver suggests that changes in the promoter may be responsible for the human-specific increase in bilirubin. We speculate that since cooking reduces toxic plant compounds, consumption of cooked foods, which is specific to humans, may have resulted in relaxed constraint on UGT1A1 which has in turn led to higher serum levels of bilirubin in humans.</p></div