Scholars@Duke
Megan Cole

Megan Cole

Postdoctoral Associate
Evolutionary Anthropology

Scholarly Works

Female dominance is explained by age and muscle mass in African sanctuary chimpanzees

Conference AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY · March 2026 Link to item Cite

Sex-specific effects of social bonds on glucocorticoids in wild chimpanzees

Preprint · February 4, 2026 AbstractAcross social species, strong social bonds are linked to health benefits, including reduced disease risk and increased survival. Chronic glucocorticoid exposure, frequently associated with negative ... Full text Cite

Minimal Evidence of Inflammaging in Naturalistic Chimpanzee Populations.

Journal article American journal of biological anthropology · February 2026 ObjectivesWhereas chronic inflammation is a hallmark of aging in many human populations, inflammaging is reduced in groups characterized by frequent physical activity and diets low in processed foods. Since most biomarkers of inflammation require ... Full text Open Access Cite

Distribution and prevalence of <i>Sarcina troglodytae</i> in chimpanzees and the environment throughout Africa.

Journal article Journal of medical microbiology · July 2025 Introduction. Since 2005, the leading cause of death for western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (TCS) in Sierra Leone has been epizootic neurologic and gastroenteric syndrome (ENGS), associated with the b ... Full text Open Access Cite

Flexible information-seeking in chimpanzees.

Journal article Cognition · October 2024 Humans can flexibly use metacognition to monitor their own knowledge and strategically acquire new information when needed. While humans can deploy these skills across a variety of contexts, most evidence for metacognition in animals has focused on simple ... Full text Open Access Cite

Ecological variation in adult social play reveals a hidden cost of motherhood for wild chimpanzees.

Journal article Current biology : CB · March 2024 Though common among humans, social play by adults is an uncommon occurrence in most animals, even between parents and offspring.1,2,3 The most common explanation for why adult play is so rare is that i ... Full text Open Access Cite

Age-related physiological dysregulation progresses slowly in semi-free-ranging chimpanzees.

Journal article Evolution, medicine, and public health · January 2024 Background and objectivesLifestyle has widespread effects on human health and aging. Prior results from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), one of humans' closest evolutionary relatives, indicate that these lifestyle effects may also be shared w ... Full text Open Access Cite

Viruses in saliva from sanctuary chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Journal article PloS one · January 2023 Pathogen surveillance for great ape health monitoring has typically been performed on non-invasive samples, primarily feces, in wild apes and blood in sanctuary-housed apes. However, many important primate pathogens, including known zoonoses, are shed in s ... Full text Open Access Cite

Viruses in sanctuary chimpanzees across Africa.

Journal article American journal of primatology · January 2023 Infectious disease is a major concern for both wild and captive primate populations. Primate sanctuaries in Africa provide critical protection to thousands of wild-born, orphan primates confiscated from the bushmeat and pet trades. However, uncertainty abo ... Full text Open Access Cite

Healthy cardiovascular biomarkers across the lifespan in wild-born chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Journal article Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · November 2020 Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are a crucial model for understanding the evolution of human health and longevity. Cardiovascular disease is a major source of mortality during ageing in humans and therefore a key issue for comparative research. Curren ... Full text Open Access Cite