FfFfFfFF 58,120 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 The world's largest tree climbers, orangutans now have another superlative to their name: They nurse their young longer than any other primate, a new study says. Surprising new research has revealed that the colorful great apes suckle for up to eight years, and in some cases longer. Little is known about when the shaggy great apes wean in the wild, in part because they're so challenging to study—they spend most of their time aloft and out of sight. But knowing when juveniles strike out on their own is important for conservationists working to save them. (See "Orangutans Are More Like Us Than You Think.") For the new research, Tanya Smith and colleagues developed a creative method for tracking how long orangutans nurse: Analyzing the levels of barium, a trace element, in young orangutans' teeth. Because barium absorbs into young orangutans' skeletons from their mother's milk, it can reveal how long an orangutan had been nursing. S: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/orangutans-nursing-mothers-endangered/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilMonst3r 5,681 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoful 13,304 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Why did I read this like there was a nurse who specialized in orangutans "My name is Dita, I'll be your Mistress tonight..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeIena Gomez 1,609 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Yas nurse those babies! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chromatislaps 34,854 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Well in the culture from people in mongolia, it is more common to nurse your kids longer than 5-6 years.. sometimes even longer than 8 years. So I guess aside from Orangutans, we are also primates who can do it... just depends on the culture Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisBitch 3,436 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Beautiful creatures, they're so mythical Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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