Specimens as individuals: Four interventions and recommendations for great ape skeletal collections research and curation.

Extensive discourse surrounds the ethics of human skeletal research and curation, but there has yet to be a similar discussion of the treatment of great ape skeletal remains, despite the clear interest in their ethical treatment when alive. Here we trace the history of apes who were killed and collected for natural history museums during the early 20th century and showcase how the guiding research questions of the colonial era continue to influence scholarship. We discuss best practices for improving industry and academic standards of research on, and the curation of, ape remains.

Investigating factors of metabolic bone disease in baboons (Papio spp.) using museum collections.

Objectives: To assess manifestations of metabolic bone disease (MBD) and their potential environmental and phenotypic factors in captive and non-captive baboon (Papio spp.) specimens.

Materials And Methods: Our sample consisted of 160 baboon specimens at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History accessioned from 1890 to 1971.

Anthropogenic effects on body size and growth in lab-reared and free-ranging Macaca mulatta.

The impact of anthropogenic pressures upon primates is increasingly prevalent, and yet the phenotypic aspects of these impacts remain understudied. Captive environments can pose unique pressures based on factors like physical activity levels and caloric availability; thus, maturation patterns should vary under differing captive conditions. Here, we evaluate the development and growth of two Macaca mulatta populations (N = 510) with known chronological ages between 9 months and 16 years, under different levels of captive management, to assess the impact of varying anthropogenic environments on primates.

What does it mean to be wild? Assessing human influence on the environments of nonhuman primate specimens in museum collections.

Objectives: Natural history collections are often thought to represent environments in a pristine natural state-free from human intervention-the so-called "wild." In this study, we aim to assess the level of human influence represented by natural history collections of wild-collected primates over 120 years at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH).

Materials And Methods: Our sample consisted of 875 catarrhine primate specimens in NMNH collections, representing 13 genera collected in 39 countries from 1882 to 2004.

A chomped chimp: New evidence of tooth marks on an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus).

Objectives: To describe and interpret previously unreported marks on the dry cranium of an adult chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) from Côte d'Ivoire at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (USNM 450071).

Materials And Methods: All marks on the cranium were documented and assessed through physical examination of the specimen, photography, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and 3D laser scanning. Pits and punctures were measured with digital calipers for comparison with published carnivore tooth mark measurements.

Identity Construction and Symbolic Association in Farmer-Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) Interconnections in St. Kitts.

Primates occupy a liminal space between humans and animals. On the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, translocated vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) are respected creatures, yet they cause problems.