First observation of a chimpanzee with albinism in the wild : social interactions and subsequent infanticide

Maël Leroux was funded via the Swiss National Science Foundation grant awarded to Simon W. Townsend (31003A_153065). Pawel Fedurek was funded via the European Research Council project grant awarded to Catherine Crockford (grant agreement number: 679787).Albinism- the congenital absence of pigmentation- is a very rare phenomenon in animals due to the significant costs to fitness of this condition. Both humans and non-human individuals with albinism face a number of challenges, such as reduced vision, increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation, or compromised crypticity resulting in an elevated vulnerability to predation. However, while observations of social interactions involving individuals with albinism have been observed in wild non-primate animals, such interactions have not been described in detail in non-human primates (hereafter, primates). Here, we report, to our knowledge, the first sighting of an infant with albinism in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), including social interactions between the infant, its mother, and group members. We also describe the subsequent killing of the infant by conspecifics as well as their behavior towards the corpse following the infanticide. Finally, we discuss our observations in relation to our understanding of chimpanzee behavior or attitudes towards individuals with very conspicuous appearances.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Friends in high places:interspecific grooming between chimpanzees and primate prey species in Budongo Forest

Funding: EF’s fieldwork was supported by The Clarendon Fund at the University of Oxford, The British Institute of Eastern Africa (BIEA) and Keble College at the University of Oxford.While cases of interspecies grooming have been reported in primates, no comprehensive cross-site review has been published about this behavior in great apes. Only a few recorded observations of interspecies grooming events between chimpanzees and other primate species have been reported in the wild, all of which have thus far been in Uganda. Here, we review all interspecies grooming events recorded for the Sonso community chimpanzees in Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda, adding five new observations to the single, previously reported event from this community. A new case of interspecies play involving three juvenile male chimpanzees and a red-tailed monkey is also detailed. All events took place between 1993 and 2021. In all of the six interspecific grooming events from Budongo, the ‘groomer’ was a female chimpanzee between the ages of 4–6 years, and the ‘recipient’ was a member of the genus Cercopithecus. In five of these events, chimpanzee groomers played with the tail of their interspecific grooming partners, and except for one case, initiated the interaction. In three cases, chimpanzee groomers smelled their fingers after touching distinct parts of the receiver’s body. While a single function of chimpanzee interspecies grooming remains difficult to determine from these results, our review outlines and assesses some hypotheses for the general function of this behavior, as well as some of the costs and benefits for both the chimpanzee groomers and their sympatric interspecific receivers. As allogrooming is a universal behavior in chimpanzees, investigating the ultimate and proximate drivers of chimpanzee interspecies grooming may reveal further functions of allogrooming in our closest living relatives, and help us to better understand how chimpanzees distinguish between affiliative and agonistic species and contexts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

New approaches to investigate drug-induced hypersensitivity

The workshop on “New approaches to investigate drug-induced hypersensitivity” was held on June 5 2014 at the Foresight centre, University of Liverpool. The aims of the workshop were to (1) discuss our current understanding of the genetic, clinical and chemical basis of small molecule drug hypersensitivity (2) highlight the current status of assays that might be developed to predict potential drug immunogenicity, (3) identify the limitations, knowledge gaps and challenges that limit the use of these assays and utilise the knowledge gained from the workshop to develop a pathway to establish new and improved assays that better predict drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions during the early stages of drug development. This perspective article reviews the clinical and immunological bases of drug hypersensitivity and summarises various experts’ views on the different topics covered during the meeting