Nose-Picking in the Pongidae and Its Implication

The Primate Nooz concocts discoveries and discussions about primates. Perhaps its finest production is a document called ”Nose-Picking in the Pongidae and Its Implication for Human Evolution”. The piece begins:

Nose-picking and subsequent consumption of nasal detritus are activities that have been widely observed among extant species of pongids, and that appear to be almost instinctive behavior patterns in most, if not all, human groups (Barnesdale, 1975; Glicks, 1978; Bidwell and MacCown, 1979; Stevens, 1981; Marshall et. al., 1983; and Harrison, 1986).  Since it has not been recorded in the Cercopithecoidea (James, 1982), it is suggested that it represents a behavioral adaptation that arose some time after the hominoids diverged from the Old World monkeys approximately 20 million years ago….

(Thanks to investigator Janet Rosenbaum for bringing this to our attention.)