Teco likes technology. The newest member of bonobo language research has been introduced to something quite different from previous generations. Teco, born on June 1 at Great Ape Trust, has shown a keen interest in children's applications on an iPad.
Great Ape Trust scientist, Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh introduced Teco to several iPad apps earlier this month. He not only views the programs but, as video shows, tries to manipulate the programs with his hands. Savage-Rumbaugh, a pioneer of language research with bonobos, said she's never seen such development in a bonobo that young.
Scientists at Great Ape Trust are confident that Teco could play an important role in ape language studies at the Des Moines-based research facility. Teco is the son of Kanzi and Elikya. A third-generation bonobo to be reared in Great Ape Trust’s hallmark Pan/Homo (Pan paniscus/Homo sapiens) environment, Teco is a portent for the future of ape language research, a 40-year body of work by Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh; her mentor Dr. Duane Rumbaugh and Great Ape Trust Scientific Director, William M. Fields.
Background Information
Great Ape Trust is a scientific research facility in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence, and to the preservation of endangered great apes in their natural habitats. Announced in 2002 and receiving its first ape residents in 2004, Great Ape Trust is home to a colony of seven bonobos involved in noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities, and to two orangutans. To learn more about Great Ape Trust, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, go to GreatApeTrust.org
