African explorers think they've found a new kind of great ape, an aggressive, predatory "chimp with gorilla-like characteristics." That's physical characteristics as well as behavior.
Known locally as "lion killers" (because they kill lions), these guys have crested skulls like gorillas, act a little like chimps, but make permanent nests unlike either.
From the above link: Last year Shelly Williams, an independent primatologist affiliated to the Jane Goodall Institute in Maryland, in the United States, became the first scientist to see the creatures close up and is sure that they are a new species.
"We could hear them in the trees, about 20 feet away," she said. "My tracker made a sound of an injured duiker [antelope] and four came rushing through the brush towards me.
"If this had been a bluff charge, they would have been screaming to intimidate us. These guys were quiet. And they were huge. They were coming in for the kill. I was directly in front of them, and as soon as they saw my face, they stopped and disappeared."
Lost apes of the Congo! |
