Talk:Oliver (chimpanzee)
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Is Oliver still alive, and can I go see him?
- Yes, Oliver is alive. But no, you cannot go see him since Primary primates is closed to the public.
video link:> http://www.cryptozoology.com/temp/humanzee.wmv
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[edit] Oliver For Sale?
Oliver certainly is different. Oliver can be further examined for HIV research without any harm.
Oliver may be genetically a "common chimp" but the important thing is that he is BIPEDAL by nature. There used to be a scientist, named Darwin, who took special note of the shape of the bills of finches. In effect those finches had a kind of"cultural" difference, that manifest in the beak shape. Bipedalism, if a trait of a small group of forest chimps, IS A BIG DEAL...if Oliver is one of a breeding group...however small. This guy should be studied and his type sought in the forests of West Afica. He is a kind of KING KONG it terms of uniqueness, even if he is a "common chimpanzee" in terms of gross DNA studies.Nativeborncal 09:00, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] What COULD have been...
As mentioned above, Oliver IS in fact a chimpanzee. As the scientists whom performed the genetic work confirmed, he is NOT a mutant chimpanzee or a new species of primate. Also, he is not a hybrid primate. Perhaps it is this fact that leads me to my "theory" (for lack of a better word). To explain my string of thought, there are a few events that would have to occurr (and, of course can never be proven). Primarily, this scenario requires that Mr. Burger never comes across Oliver in the first place. We have heard from experts on evolution for decades that the one event that probably had the single most important impact on the survival of early man was that, at some point in prehistoric time, a primate stood upright. This allowed him to survey the land for predators above the tall grasses and allowed him to transport items over distances. While there are other advantages to walking on two feet, the ultimate side affect was that as the amount of time and energy spent on basic survival decreased, the time for "thinking" increased. Ultimately this lead to man's ability to create fire and possibly to become "spiritual" as he finally had the time to observe his surroundings and contemplate his role in it. Now, back to the jungle. So here we find a young chimpanzee who walks on upright. Much like our own ancestors, his chances for survival are greatly increased by seeing the world from his most advantageous position. While chimpanzees are inherintly intelligent, Oliver is arguably at or near the top of the "Chimp I.Q." scale. For these reasons I find it highly likely that at least one point he would have mated. I understand that while in captivity he tended to dismiss other chimpanzees in favor of human companionship, I can't help but feel he may have acted differently towards his own kind if he lacked humans to compare his kin with. Here is the second event that would have to come to pass. Unfortunately, I know very little about the world of genetics, so I put this forward simply as a curiousity. The question is: What if whatever it is that caused Oliver to have an "evolved" appearance and more importantly to stand upright would be passed down to his offspring. What if this hidden string of genetic code was dominant (as brown eyes tend to dominate blue eyes)? If this is in fact the case, perhaps in just a few generations there would be dozens of arguably "human-ish" looking primates striding about the jungle. If this were to happen, I wonder how long it would be until they would "realize" that by working together, they could carry large objects over distances (perhaps working together to build primative structures consisting of downed trees). This would in fact further increase their chances of survival. Oliver (at least according to all accounts I was able to find) was able to learn a great deal about his surroundings. I won't go so far as to suggest that this (possible) new species would soon be gathered around campfires. However, I will suggest that as shelter improves and hunting/gathering becomes more efficient, the time for abstract thought increases. Survival of the fittest suggests that the best equipped will live (and thus reproduce). Perhaps over countless decades or centuries there would be a split between these upright striding chimpanzees and their knuckling counterparts. It is the cycle of evolution to which I write. Here is where this line of thought brings me. It pains me to suggest this, but is it not possible that in a single action, in removing a single young chimpanzee from the jungle, man has inadvertently prevented perhaps the single greatest evolutionary jump since our own ancient relatives took those first upright steps? While I understand that this is all theory, and truth be told the only information I have on Oliver is what I have heard/read others say, I wonder about what might have been.
--Bobbyegbert 03:43, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is not the place for original research which includes personal theories. However a quick comment on your claim, I'm not particularly sure why you assume bipedal walking and/or a flatter face is a sign of a high I.Q. among chimpanzees. Also, it sounds to me like your understanding of genetics and evolution might need to improve if you wish to propose radical theories. In any case, assuming that Oliver is one of a kind among chimpanzees as you appear to be suggesting and assuming he does prefer female humans to females chimpanzees as you claim (but which the article mentions is likely bullshit), he would probably have been a genetic dead end so there was no real loss from removing him. Nil Einne 21:49, 27 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] On the section of "His Japanese tour"
I have an additional source of information. Mitsuo IWAMOTO, who was a researcher of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, gave an account of Oliver trouble in his Japanese article published in 1976. He reported (without details) that he confirmed that the number of Oliver's chromosomes were 48, and included an image of 24 pairs of Oliver’s chromosomes (Momoki HIRAI took the picture). Why it did not include the details (about methods and results) was because the journal was a popular, not so highbrowed, one. However, this journal attracted only the interest of those who liked primates, so probably most Japanese people did not know the fact that Oliver was perfectly a chimpanzee. I referred here to this article: 岩本 光雄 [IWAMOTO, Mituso] (1976). オリバー君騒動記 [Oribā-kun sōdō-ki; On the visit of Mr. Oliver to Japan]. モンキー [Monkī; Monkey], No. 150 (Vol. 20, No. 3), pp. 30—33.--60.237.211.89 16:49, 1 August 2006 (UTC)
At that time, in 1976, Momoki HIRAI, who took the image of Oliver’s chromosomes, belonged to National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS). As consistent with this fact, on the other hand, in Japanese wikipedia article of Oliver ja:オリバー君, an examination in NIRS revealed that Oliver had 23 24 pairs of chromosomes, 4 pieces of lumbar vertebra (showed up on the X rays), and the same serum protein pattern as a chimpanzee has, and thus he was a common chimpanzee (though this Japanese wikipedia article did not specify the source on this NIRS’s research).--60.237.211.89 17:25, 1 August 2006 (UTC) (correction: 60.237.211.89 17:32, 1 August 2006 (UTC))
[edit] Species
Is Oliver a Common Chimpanzee or a Bonobo? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.29.74.132 (talk) 01:14, 30 January 2007 (UTC).
- If you read the first sentence to the article, you'll have your answer. Aleta 01:17, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
Well, that's what happens when you speed read.24.29.74.132 03:11, 30 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] The result of the origin of AIDs?
This just occurred to me. AIDS probably originated sometime before the 1970s, right? And Oliver was born near this time as well. What if Oliver could be the result of the man who had sex with a chimpanzee? I know the scientific results say he's actually a chimpanzee, but what if these results are false or misinterpreted?
- They have been independently verified. Oliver is just a funny looking chimpanzee with odd habits he probably picked up being raised as a performing chimp. There is no genetic indication that he is anything but a central african chimp. You might find the article Humanzee interesting since that article has a section on the rumors of human-chimp hybrids that have been whispered about for decades as well as a section on the Ivanoff Experiements which actually sought to cross apes and humans. It's a good article and getting better all the time with work.Lisapollison 05:48, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
