Diet may make monkeys hungry for sexendocrine systemMichael Wassermannatural settingsex Monkeys
Monkeys that eat leaves from a tree with estrogen-like compounds may care less about grooming and more about sex, new research shows.
“It’s one of the first studies done in a natural setting providing evidence that plant chemicals can directly affect a wild primate’s physiology and behavior by acting on the endocrine system,” says study lead author Michael Wasserman, who conducted the research as a graduate student at University of California, Berkeley.
“By altering hormone levels and social behaviors important to reproduction and health, plants may have played a large role in the evolution of primate—including human—biology in ways that have been underappreciated.”
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