The Mystery of the Bili Ape

[@thurstonclevehicks]

More clips of Bili chimpanzees here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oarTY4Nqrtx7fJI kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYvMXmSlmqybnpY kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmOrZqZtq7Oao9U kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnnTYp98mrGZp9k kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGmkZGOdlsiNick

[@TheBudgetMuseum]

Thank you so much Dr Hicks!

[@thurstonclevehicks]

@@TheBudgetMuseum My pleasure. And thanks for your interest in the Bili chimpanzees!

[@balazsvarga1823]

The bravery of scientists who go into the wilds to gain biological knowledge is admirable!

[@clevehicks2230]

@@balazsvarga1823 It is also so much fun!

[@Abdi-libaax]

@@thurstonclevehicks Hunting and killing lions sounds ridiculous.

[@shadymcnasty5920]

There's a theory in biology called Island dwarfism/gigantism where species get larger/smaller on islands compared to their mainland relatives. I'm guessing the jungle acts like an island and since nutrients are abundant and they are the only creature filling their niche they are able to grow to larger then average size

[@TheFi3nd]

Adaptation

[@Kurus-pq7xw]

I've never heard of insular gigantism. Only insular dwarfism.

[@rickwrites2612]

The mechanisms of evolution are not limited to Natural selection (adaptation) and Sexual selection (who gets chosen to breed by opposite sex). There is also Genetic drift/stochastic forces, and there is Founder effect/limited genepool. Likely they were a small population that became pretty isolated (this doesn't have to mean geographically, it could be behaviorally, or both). The population is large enough, or has enough few outsiders joining, that they aren't totally inbred into extinction via deleterious mutations, however, they just don't have the genetic diversity that most chimp populations do. Also it's not uncommon for the most high ranked males to do most/all of the mating, whereas most females get to breed. Let's say some brothers take over the male hierarchy, and their family carries some bizarre neutral mutations for great size and crest, well maybe the size and crest was what gave them an edge... and say it's X linked so descendents of both sexes can carry this gene. You may wind up with a small population where this look predominates. Then you can explain most of the behaviors because of size. Because they are big/heavy, nesting in branches causes accidents so they learn to make nests on ground. Chimps and orangutans differ in behaviors from troop to troop, there are troops that wash their food first, or use certain sticks for termite gathering etc. They have "cultures". So these guys developed a culture of nesting on ground. Occassionally, when a leopard has stalked or threatened them, some of the biggest males kill it. Chimps hunt monkeys as teams and can seem extremely blood thirsty, they can even hunt one of their own species and all tear him apart. So Occassionally a few have taken down a leopard. Thus the "lion killer" legends. The only thing that doesn't derive easily is the odd apathy. Could be due to how this solo villages ancestors interacted with locql wildlife for thousands of yrs. Maybe they never hunted Chimps bcus there was other meat plentiful, or bcus these Chimps were bigger, or for spiritual reasons. So these Chimps learn to ignore men and no reason to fear, there just seen as strange hairless Chimps too "stupid" to understand troops communications. Anyway some or all or none of that can be true. My point is just that it can all derive as cascade effects from an initial situation of a small, pretty isolated population, and with hierarchy and thus genes dominated by a certain family of large, robust genetic freaks.

[@TheFi3nd]

@@rickwrites2612 thanks

[@robbiirvine1038]

@@Kurus-pq7xw an example of it is the kākāpō! It's a giant, flightless, nocturnal parrot that lives only on a couple islands around New Zealand. They became larger because of the lack of predators, and abundance of food.

[@PancakePandaPie]

I genuinely feel this is the first proper, no-nonsense video on the "Bili Ape", thank you for this!

[@moneyseeker8886]

Yeah yeah the KZbinr doesn’t care

[@bobcat24]

Bob Gymlan did one about it awhile ago.

[@peterthompson8014]

I disagree. The first 10 minutes was very deceptive and misleading.

[@sethjones9480]

@@peterthompson8014 why? I want to learn

[@zidbits1528]

Sounds like a hoax or a joke. Feral? Howls at the moon? Hunts and eats lion? Is that not ringing a bell for anyone else? Sounds a lot like Goku from the original Dragon Ball (not Z).

[@harrymills2770]

Humans with extra growth hormone will have brow ridges, too. It's kind of natural in primates, generally. Remember what Andre the Giant looked like? All that bone above his eyes? Or "Jaws" from James Bond movies? There's a condition called "acromegaly" where the glands are just a little over-active, and you get great big people with big bony faces, knuckles, etc. Some are darn near crippled by it if it's too extreme. Sometimes, you just see a really big person!

[@mrhead2781]

These apes are Humanzees. Chimp human hybrid species

[@43MinutesWithJamieRose]

This can also occur from having a high amount of testosterone. Specifically the brow ridge being being more pronounced. My husband has a very prominent brow and jawbone. I call him a Neanderthal all the time.

[@chewy99.]

@@mrhead2781 I have a friend who definitely does, but she’s suuuuper short, like, her head is lower than my shoulders, and I’m not that tall.

[@clinteastwood5359]

Look at valuev the boxer lol

[@LususSaule]

@@mrhead2781 Where is your evidence that these apes are humanzees? Or are you just confusing your imagination with reality?

[@Chewbaccafruit]

Maybe the real Bili ape was the friends we made along the way

[@cheesetouchgamingtwo4619]

My friends are ugly as fuck……

[@bryandandoy885]

My friends looked like apes anyway

[@christhe2dprotogen511]

My friend: you think I’m a big dumb ape?

[@katyelizabethmendoza5159]

Hahaha bro your comment is funny as hell. That's like the moral of the whole story

[@rustyshackleford3914]

😂

[@yuibot5998]

Im sure the big cats that can climb sometimes hunt young or old/sick chimps, wouldn't be surprised if some are killed by adult chimps defending their troop. 2 to 3 chimps would probably take out a leopard without too much trouble if they were so inclined. They are insanely strong, fast, and have insane bite and grip strength. Also, it's not a huge surprise there is a group of huge chimps...Look at NFL linemen next to your average adult male...

[@reharp2037]

@@alantaylor6691 you gotta admit though, they still look ripped af

[@bobbuilder155]

Leopards are highly opertunistic predators especially young leopards, some leopards have even been recorded to take down 900kg Eiland. So it wouldn't surprise me that therr are leopards probably a young one with less hunting experience took a chance on a chimp, but I doubt one or two adult chimps can take down a full grown 80 -90kg leopard a leopard at that size is even a chellenge for a female lion. Leopards are known to even kill male gorillas and I doubt a large chimp can stand up to a male gorilla. Chimp hunt in packs and that gives them at advantage, so 3 or more chimps together could probably kill a 50kg or less leopard

[@alantaylor6691]

@@reharp2037 hi Reharo. Yes chimps are ripped af. Chimps are unique among the great apes in having a super low body fat percentage. 1% for males and 3 - 4 % for females. All other wild great apes are similar to fit humans in body fat percentage. And as you know with humans, being cut makes you look more muscly. For example strongmen have more muscle mass than in season bodybuilders but because the bodybuilders are cut they appear far more muscle bound. Not to say chimps aren’t good on muscle mass, but due to body fat percentage down around the 1% for males, they appear far more muscle bound than they would with a higher body fat. In arms the average male chimp is about 1.5 times stronger than the average man. In legs, slightly less. But in a fight they will beat the average man by more than 1.5 times over on account of their maul. Look at all chimp and gorilla attacks on humans and it’s always the maul that causes all the damage. They don’t have King Kong strength to rip us limb from limb like is popularly claimed

[@daverobson3084]

@@alantaylor6691 Did you read what the author of this " study" wrote about themself??? They are " Sauron", or " rather, Sauron as he should have been". They claim to be " CEO at Mordor Social Services Inc. for the Rehabilitation and Support of All Black Creatures1954-present" and studied at the " school of hard knocks". I'm open to the idea that past concepts of the relative strength of various primates may be inaccurate, but, please, find a ( muuuuuuch) better source than this one if you are going to try to convince anyone of anything.

[@harrisonotiso9234]

I highly doubt that considering leopards are fully capable of killing full healthy male chimps

[@eypick6987]

This is a lesson in sensationalized zoology. Never believe extreme claims. Still, this seems like an interestingly distinct tribe even if taxonomically, they’re undistinguishable from chimpanzees.

[@jhtsurvival]

It's like the Hutus and Tutsis

[@intergalactic.transmitter9911]

😂😂😂. You've clearly never heard of the well documented 3 year war. go look into that and tell me its made up. Take a good look at those Chimps chief.

[@fioafionawright8604]

Eeeeeejit

[@girlbuu9403]

Never believe extreme claims without good evidence to back them. Keep an open mind, but remain skeptical until it is proven. That should be the way people approach things like this. But they always seem to wander to one or the other extreme. Either believing it like a religious person's faith in a higher power or completely dismissing it as impossible and heckling people for even looking into the matter.

[@gregwilliamsono9360]

@@girlbuu9403 ... 100% And its frustrating. Seems like every good idea gets taken down a rabbit hole

[@BrianMax]

"Large males consistently flee from humans" that's how they grew to be so large.

[@Chilam.]

TRUE

[@jasonmiller5995]

4:15. "when encountered by humans , the apes would be completely fearless"

[@rickwrites2612]

Seems like a fairly isolated population of chimps that just run large and tend toward a crestlike structure, maybe due to founder effect. Say a few brothers dominated the local troops male hierarchies and thus contributed most of the local male DNA (female chimps all get to breed so a founder effect in them would be more pronounced if introduced through the dna of males who dominated breeding). Especially if it was x linked alot of the future generation members of both sexes could carry the gene. Then you have a population that trends toward the large and robust, they may Break tree nests branches so pass down to kids to nest on ground. Chimps do pass on learned behaviors and these have been known differ from population to population or troop to troop, ie what kind of termite sticks they use, etc. Oh OK, got to the end of video, he basically says this lol.

[@RigoOXx]

It is somehow like the Kodiak bears, thats what it reminds me of

[@kathleenwoods8416]

Yeah, that's a pretty normal sequence of events. It even explains why larger ground bedding individuals might be more wary than the younger and simply smaller, and why they might need to be fearless in dealing with predators. Its an adaptive cascade.

[@jegjrtp87]

Dinosaurs never existed

[@WILD__THINGS]

The dead chimp pictured being held by two men doesn't even look abnormally large. It just looks like an average size adult male. Maybe the fact that it is a bit closer to the camera and also that the men are squatting creates an illusion of greater size. Plus people in that region are typically small in size. Also I think most people's idea of what a chimpanzee looks like is largely determined by movies and tv shows which generally include juvenile chimps.

[@alantaylor6691]

I thought that too, the chimp in the picture is just a chimp, and maximum-weight chimps can top out at 200-lbs anyway, so this picture isn't out of the ordinary. The jaw size, which is much larger than human jaws, gives the illusion of size as well.

[@bigalsnow8199]

That chimp is huge and those people are not small. They are clearly bigger than average Chimps. Scientists agree on this much.

[@limpa756]

You have to remember african humans are typically a lot shorter as well

[@bigalsnow8199]

@@limpa756 you can't make blanket statements like that. Africans are among the tallest people on the planet. The widest variations of humans exist in AFRICA. From the shortest to the tallest.

[@DeMooniC]

@@limpa756 There are african tribes that average shorter heights as there are african tribes that average very tall heights... In the Tutsi tribe, located in rwanda (central africa) men average an austounding height of 1.83 meters... While another different tribe called the Mbutsi tribe, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (also central africa, not that far from the Tutsis), men average a height of just 1.37 meters tall... So yeah you get the point.

[@c00mgoblin]

While my favorite dinosaur is probably a dilophosaurus or the velociraptor, sauropods have a special place in my heart as I was obsessed with them as a child. So the fact that one was found called Dreadnoughtus nonetheless, to find out how off they were about the size was extremely disappointing. Any knowledge is good knowledge, but misinformation just ruins the happiness surrounding it.

[@babaloons4887]

Apehtrpodaur is my favorite!

[@mitzylynn7958]

Parasauralaphus is my favorite 💖

[@Sebi076]

Maybe these chimps that are larger are actually on their way to becoming a subspecies or a new species itself. We are just discovering them at a very early stage of them becoming a new species. They are larger in size so maybe there is more to come!

[@Spicystachegamer]

Question is do they exist anywhere else on earth if not do they have similar adaptions like the mountain gorilla like resistance to inbreeding it's actualky been proven some animals like certain primates can survive at low populations with only hundreds of individuals because of of there genes.

[@GatoBeug]

I hope they survive and evolve long after us

[@Boyder8800]

Or maybe they lieing that they regular chimps to keep this species safe

[@LauranceDonMac]

Apparently they don’t even act aggressive or fearful toward people. They just inspect you.

[@edwardpeterson1634]

New species??? Impossible.

[@TheBaBaTV]

Congo is so large there is probably TONS of new species not discovered yet just like in the oceans... crazy to think there is still more out there hidden deep!

[@colt4518]

Lmao there is math you can do, only like ten or twenty species are left to find in the ocean

[@Gasmaskmax]

@@colt4518 ???

[@papo9363]

@@colt4518 I don't think you fully understand how little we know about what's in our waters

[@kirawantsaquietlife3596]

The oceans thing is not entirely accurate. Most of the ocean we haven’t explored yet would be impossible to live in due to pressure. We’ve discovered most of the livable parts of the ocean, so while there are possible new species to discover, it’s likely a very small number.

[@belland_dog8235]

@@colt4518 There's a lot more than that, but they're mostly insect species or other small creatures.

[@jakicevic]

Nice video, they're just big buff chimps, not some bizarre cryptid animals. People really tend to overexaggerate their sizes (Joe Rogan for example) and say Bili apes are 6ft tall. If I'm not mistaken, researchers did have one Bili chimp named Kermit who was described as being the size of a female gorilla and weighed between 270-300 lbs. Kermit was shorter than average human but much larger than a regular-sized chimp and hyperactive as fuck.

[@TheBudgetMuseum]

Yeah I believe their maximum height is still exceptionally large (5 feet or so) but nowhere near 2 meters. I haven't actually heard of the Captive Ape your referring to. The one in the video is a female named "Bili" who appears to be rather an average chimpanzee in terms of size.

[@jakicevic]

@@TheBudgetMuseum I was thinking of the chimp in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqPMfWR7hdtljKM The video was recorded before youtube existed and uploaded over 10 years ago before they concluded that Bili apes are just chimps, so the description of that video is still outdated.

[@vitohezzycallie8579]

Randall Savage came from this group Change my mind

[@Sterlicht-Verheugen]

Just like sizes in pornography

[@MiguelMartinez-el1le]

@@Sterlicht-Verheugen 🤣😂🤣

[@entothechesnautknight1762]

Always fun to see isolated-Gigantism taking place, seems like a pretty solid example of that, considering how relatively isolated that stretch of jungle is, compared to most others that are ether easily accessable by both predators and competition, or been wrecked by humans.

[@eran3161]

i fail to see how this part of the jungle is isolated for apes. from human perspective, yes very much, but for apes?

[@dav9104]

Would be nice if researchers and locals didn't kill all the big ones to take a look at them.

[@harrymills2770]

I think the poachers go after the big males as trophies, which is why they're so timid.

[@dominictoretto9645]

@@harrymills2770 no if that was the case we would hear more about them. They live in a very very hard part to reach in the Congo forest which is the 2nd biggest rain forest in the world. Think how many parts of the amazon is still unexplored but add the fact Congo is unstable and you might run into Joseph Kony there, they got more shit to worry about.

[@hendilman]

Any population isolated for long enough will have traits beneficial to survival in it's territory become more pronounced. Evolution, as science understands it, doesn't stop. Bili apes may have been isolated for long enough to develop characteristics that would reduce if reunited with the parent group.

[@fried_knot1802]

May the KZbin algorithm treat this with grace

[@anargpap1435]

That was a very well made video if I ever seen one! You did a tremendous job with you research and the editing was on point! I really hope your channel will grow!

[@mariastevens6406]

*suspenseful music* "It's just a chimp. No, seriously, it's just a plain old chimp." LMAO

[@caesumcrimson6381]

This was a brilliant video from a narrative design level, a research level and just general presentation! I'm only just now getting into your channel but it's definitely great from the video topic choices, content chosen and more specific the level of research and attention to detail. I felt this was a great historical and biological dive into real-life zoological research and had parts crytpid debunking, parts comparative zoology and parts real-life research from the field. What a cool journey!

[@randallbates9020]

There is almost always a bit of truth in most legends. But whatever the truth may be I would prefer that they be left alone or studied from a distance as most animal interactions with humans end badly for the animals.

[@dlou3264]

This was SO interesting. I really enjoyed it! I appreciated your final conclusions. A good lesson and needed by everyone, not only for those who traverse foreign jungles to hunt legends and enigmas. Well done, and well presented!

[@TheKinseth]

Oh, man, this is some nostalgia. I remember avidly researching Bili apes back when I was in elementary school. That was before the DNA testing had been done, though, and I lost interest before they made the final call on whether or not the population was a new subspecies or not. Cool to know that they got their answer. Obviously, I'm not advocating for continuing armed conflict in the area, but I do hope that the wilderness areas of the Congo region remain relatively unbothered by humans.

[@g0inturbo]

Please write another paper and tell me more about your elementary school research

[@stevenhall8964]

Thank you for this video, it is the most comprehensive video about the Bili ape that I have yet seen on KZbin, with more complete and accurate information not found in the others!! Well done and thank you again!

[@maddogmcgruder5435]

Very interesting i can see you put a lot of work into the project,i liked that you put descriptions on the photos so none of the photos can be interpreted out of context,i loved your words at the ending and the pace and structure of the video.

[@tobiasraynie6558]

Can you begin linking your classical music selections, I've heard these songs before but I can never find their names. The one you used in the build up bili ape reveal threw some nostalgia at me.

[@timpasschier3936]

If you're referring to the piece starting at 09:17, it's Antonín Dvořák's symphony No. 9 ''From the New World'', the 4th movement. It was driving me nuts, so did some internet sleuthing.

[@AnthonyNaslas]

Love that piece. Any clue on the piano music at the end?

[@timpasschier3936]

@@AnthonyNaslas Pretty sure it's Chopin's Nocturne op. 9 no. 2

[@AnthonyNaslas]

@@timpasschier3936 That sounds like it! Thanks so much!

[@codysifford5470]

Joe Rogan watched half this video

[@steveessig6739]

Joe Rogan is full of snot

[@j_toledo419]

@@steveessig6739 yep, sadly was a fan for awhile until it became very regular for him to change his stance on controversial issues. I don't doubt or know one way or the other about Sasquatch but he was open to the idea as should most intelligent people that can't find proof one way or the other, then out of no where he began his "it's just a bunch of unfkable white guys" I couldn't believe he took that route because I really thought he was very intelligent. Sadly to me, if thousands of people (many of which don't want any fame or credit) report sightings and encounters of a massive upright or bipedal being in areas where no other ape would ever be, it's just ignorant to write it off. Especially by saying "it's just a bunch of unfkable white guys" 😐

[@valenj.9307]

@@j_toledo419 people change their minds, deal with it

[@Josiahx.o]

@@valenj.9307 ong lmao

[@danielpustovoyt9726]

@@j_toledo419 so he's not intelligent because he doesn't believe that there's a giant ape in America, walking on 2 legs, seen everywhere but without any credible evidence? Maybe you're the not so intelligent one.

[@bunkfoss50yearsago53]

"Billy come eat dinner" "No Mom I'm learning about my long lost brothers"

[@machine-shopbilly6584]

Yeah

[@dav9104]

Amazing video, can't believe it's on such a small channel. Really hope you grow.

[@saintedheathen784]

The legends say the bili ape protects an ancient city in the heart of the congo

[@joejones8454]

really???

[@jeffharden2797]

There’s a book and movie about that you know?

[@balazsvarga1823]

Ia, ia! Congthulhu fhtagn!

[@the.aardvark]

@@jeffharden2797 Congo by Michael Crichton! I loved that book

[@jasonrandall5148]

Arrr the 1990s Congo wasn't a bad movie.

[@ThouguohT]

Our cousins seem to fall under the same rules that we do, such as gaining specific traits pertaining to their group and environment

[@someotherdude]

The story was very well told so thanks just the same! It's important to note that there ARE local/native tales that sound incredible but turned out to be true- a good example would be the indonesian tales of the Ebu Gogo on the inland of Flores. Look it up! Also, when europeans began communicating with native americans from the interior of north america, various tribes all told consistently of some huge, colossal animal with a long nose that worked like an arm- they were of course talking of the woolly mammoth.

[@penguinpie5056]

going back to the greeks, the nemean lion may have been a european cave lion as heracles killed it in a cave. trolls may be scandanavian stories about the last neanderthals. I find that interesting. We may be getting an inadvertent anthropology lesson that neanderthals lived in small family units often in caves, disliked loud noises, and hoarded many things in their cave, and toward the end when they were dwindling kidnapped young travelers so they could have a mate.

[@JacketCK]

Every species has unnaturally large spawns sometimes I mean, we are also Primates, and not everyone is the average height of 5'9, I'm 6' myself, and someone like Shaq is 7'1, also the tallest person on record is 8'3", so it is indeed odd how large these chimps are, but, it's nothing we've never heard of before

[@thatgamerguy6449]

“Are they some new species ,a sub species a hybrid species” Well you see it’s none they’re just built different

[@pomponi0]

Thank you so much for making this video. I first heard of Bili Apes like 2 years ago, felt it was a little too good to be true but still believed they were a very peculiar undiscovered subspecies of chimpanzee. Then, a few months ago I saw them being listed as Eastern Chimpanzees.

[@TheBaBaTV]

The large Congo has tons of undiscovered animals, just like the oceans, areas humans haven’t touched. They discovered only a few new species so far..

[@canadianmmaguy7511]

@@TheBaBaTV only half of canada is explored

[@herpydepth3849]

7:37 hell yeah, return to monke In all seriousness, this is a super cool and interesting video

[@chickensdontsurf]

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together.

[@chickensdontsurf]

@Antique Appraisal Interesting comment, "Antique Appraisal".

[@NelsonMuntz1]

This has been the best and most informative video on this subject so far! 👍🏻

[@KateKanenator]

I think it's even more interesting acknowledging that such physical & social diversity exists within one species, especially one that's so closely related to homo sapiens.

[@nitro8529]

Its not at all interesting. Look at humans, indeginous humans that life in jungles tend to be much smaller than for example african humans that life in a steppe or flat lands. We humans even have midgets and giants. So its nothing special that in our closest relatives there are differences in appearance, strength and social structures. Its evolution and we humans are nothing more than hairless apes, so we just need to look at ourselves to make predictions about other living apes.

[@garymaidman625]

It also does in our species, espresso in Africa. There is a tribe from the Congo forest called the Baka, which were historically known as Pygmies. There is another tribe in Rwanda called the Tutsi, which is arguably the tallest tribe in Africa.

[@Gambsmoore]

Glad I found this on my binge through Monkey and Ape related content.

[@hexazalea]

So essentially chimps have different ethnic groups and these guys are essentially the larger warrior culture. Ape Spartan Norsemen? An isolated apaclachian clan with a slightly over active pituitary gland? It’s kind of nice to know that we’re not the only apes to do this stuff Even if all of our immediate relatives are dead at least the chips are just as bad of “people” as we are

[@egg7247]

Orcas have a similar thing to races as well. I believe "races" or ethnic groups can appear in any intelligent animal with culture

[@avageo1724]

This video reminds me of a computer activity I did at my elementary school. Basically, they showed us an article about Tree Octopus and we had to do conclude if we believed it. It was made to teach us about false information and to look into sources of articles. Cool lesson to teach kids.

[@JurLLu]

Tree octopus sounds AWESOME though, and I wish this was a legit cryptid I could half-guiltily/half-ironically watch documentaries about and almost yearn to believe in.

[@fawnieee]

Thank you so much for this video It's a shame that people only seem to care about conservation methods when something new seems to exist, it's not surprising, but it's a shame.

[@Raminess]

It's 6 am where I live and I just finished this video. It's always a great start to the morning when I've learned something new. Thank you for making this video about Bili apes. What a great story about hoe a genuinely interesting research subject can be dampened by selfish scientists.

[@lech525]

Welcome brother the algorithm brought all us here. Now we can return to monke and ape

[@ThatMeansHesMad]

🤢🤮

[@eamonahern7495]

Well when you think about it, it makes sense. There is even an example in humans. There's a Russian boxer by the name Valuev who was 7ft tall and had a prominent brow ridge that made him look like a missing link between modern and ancient human species. So these apes were so isolated that it's natural certain genetic traits like being larger than normal would be more common.

[@spazneria]

Commenting to help the algorithm. Great work, checked out your Great Apes vid and subbed :)

[@24macgregor]

When I was a kid, I had a Del Ray Star Wars book called “The Essential Guide to Alien Species”, circa ~2000. At 18:07 he’s using the same image of a human from that book to compare size to the Dreadnaughtus! A fun reminder of my childhood and (fingers crossed) a deliberate nerdy Easter egg

[@RationallySkeptical]

0:38 Man, he REALLY doesn't like to be called Bili. He goes by William.

[@kixigvak]

Great report. If you led a visiting anthropologist from another planet into an NFL locker room the scientist would be convinced he or she is looking at a species closely related to humans. The players, when viewed naked, are massive. Their bone structure is dramatically more robust. And their hands are giant. Same for an NBA locker room. "They look like a subspecies of human. They are much taller."

[@asscrap195]

Oh my!.. I think I have found a new favourite channel 😍👌

[@victorelting220]

This is the most incredibly well made KZbin videos I have seen in a while and I watch a shit load of videos similar to yours I have just never seen your channel before

[@codemcloud6073]

You couldn't pay me to go to the Congo! That place is where the stuff of nightmares thrives. Everything's bigger faster more poisonous and all around deadlier . That being said I would love to see video of others exploring the densest parts if there's anyone crazy enough to wear a go pro through there. There's places on earth that are still prehistoric and the Congo is the best example I can think of.

[@sven5632]

True, the amazon is larger but congo is much less explored

[@tyroneszak]

That lead up with "new world" was spectacular! Worth the wait!!

[@girlbuu9403]

I remember this specifically because I have a lot of friends who are bigfoot enthusiasts. They were all like "AH HA this vindicates us" then it turned out to be all faked and they were pretty mad about it.

[@marshallweishuai-actor]

🤣🤣🤣

[@captainalie9264]

What I personally love about this research project is that it was completely scientific with no bs. When they found that the Bili apes were not actually a new sub-species they would not jump to outlandish claims to prove it true. If they found it wasn't true then that was it, no bullshit. Awesome

[@SonKunSama]

Seeing all those pictures I was like "that's just a chimp!", "that's a large chimp, doesn't look like anything else to me". - "in the end, the Bili ape turned out to be just a chimp" *surprised pikachu face*

[@r31fishing]

First video I watched on your channel and I'm hooked! Fascinating stuff man

[@salehothman449]

It's not surprising, some primates might have great abilities to avoid/ eluded human and maybe they understand that this act determins their survival, it doesn't mean they don't exist, just like Crocodiles, Alligators, Caymans and maybe more we might not know yet.

[@derin111]

What a superb and measured presentation. Thank you.

[@michaelfox2433]

What a great lesson for science deniers and silly belief believers on how science is self repairing and just generally not a good place to attempt to spread misinformation....thanks for the research and video, I found it extremely interesting.

[@zenolachance1181]

What relevance does that have to science deniers? Why would you even mention science deniers? they're just going to deny it. Just like flat-earthers seem to figure out a way to explain away pictures of the Earth from space. I personally think these people know the Earth is round, they are just assholes, who can't stop trolling

[@michaelfox2433]

@@zenolachance1181 I was referencing the point that some make about science being controlled by a select few and decided by opinion more so than individuals that just deny it. I could have been a bit clearer on that.

[@zenolachance1181]

@@michaelfox2433 got it

[@Adamn19]

That’s like saying a brown bear is the same as a kodiak brown bear. Yes, scientifically they are the same, but one is twice the size as the other. The animals are just products of their environment, but that environment is what makes them unique. So yes, it is a different type of chimp, simply because of what they eat and how they grow.

[@Denuhm]

I will add my own first hand experience here about chimpanzees, they are very smart. They learn extremely fast and have a culture and things that they teach their young. Groups of chimps have often been recorded hunting mammals as a troop and while I doubt they’d necessarily ever hunt lions it’s certainly possible that they’d be able to kill lions, especially if they’re isolated. They’d perceive the lion as a threat by default

[@Denuhm]

^When he literally says all this in the closing statements. ^

[@bluefootedboobie1893]

Especially as revenge for killing young/territorial disputes.

[@dk-fk4xm]

oh my gawd another awesome channel discovered. keep doing what you're doing man. some like me are just seeing your channel for the first time. i'm sure you'll snowball to a 100k subs in no time.

[@creakingskull7008]

This was an actually amazing video

[@Lenape_Lady]

Goddamnit Williams. You had one job. Women in STEM fields, esp ones that take place out in the field (deep in the jungles, deep under the sea, etc)…always have to work harder to prove themselves and are usually questioned on whether or not they are as smart/strong/informed/educated as men.

[@daviddoch4872]

Here in Canada we have found wolf coyotes, Coywolfs. A mix. In Nature it is possible.

[@beastmaster0934]

@Jason O'Connor No, they actually can reproduce, just looked it up.

[@austinhinton3944]

Coyotes and wolves are in the same genus, Canis, as they are much more closely related to each other than chimps are to gorillas. Chimps are closer to us than to gorillas.

[@seka1986]

BillyWolf

[@frutfly]

i cannot explain in words how much i love your monkey related videos. they make me so happy

[@sigurdurkjartansson696]

they start to nest on the ground when they get older or if they become more familar with their surrounding

[@bradleypreshanpillay1968]

thumbs Up for good solid research & for the courage to air your findings!

[@mannyob7164]

Damn imagine a chimp that measures 2 meters 6’6 that’s scary as hell, they might be weighing at 230-300lbs, probably as strong as a jr silverback, and multiple of them now let that sink in....

[@فهدعز-غ7م]

Even bili apes are not as strong as gorillas

[@fionamacdonald3904]

First of all.....thoroughly enjoyed this, no over dramatising and filled with facts without ANY boredom! I can admit that when I normally make comments I pause the video but with this I watched it all the way through! Wonderful! On to my next points, I can kind of understand why someone would lie to get funding, let's face it funding for the more obscure research is thin on the ground but it not only negates the research made which could be completely factual but makes fund hunting harder for others! And finally, surely you are going to have genetic anomalies in family groups exactly the same way we have in our own families?

[@bucketsAMF]

2:25 I think you might wanna look up the definition of feral. These apes were never captive, or domesticated...

[@TheBudgetMuseum]

Thank you for pointing that out.

[@TheBaBaTV]

No wild animal can be “domesticated” , it’s called captivity “trained” or “tamed”, stop misusing the term. Domestication TAKES MANY GENERATIONS ....

[@WHOOOSHXDOfficial]

I feel like finding a large chimp that’s grown much larger than what people the size of the chimp is still interesting, that’s like if we found a gorilla that’s 6-7 feet tall tbh

[@keenanweind1780]

There is also a species of Bili which reside in hilly regions, aka hillbillies...

[@erikbrush]

Probably (aside from the larger size of many of these Eastern Chimpanzees) THE most fascinating aspect of this regional variant of species morphology that was completely overlooked in this discussion of the Bili ape is the proliferation of grey hairs in their fur. It's far more widespread than any other group of Pan, and in conjunction with their large size, it's a unique physiological aspect of these apes. It really should have been mentioned. It was clearly visible in the photograph of the captive Bili ape alongside the regular chimpanzee. It may seem minor or trivial, but if you are going to discuss the hype about these animals, you may as well cover all of the information. Also remember that what may appear trivial to you as the presenter, can be far more significant to a primate researcher or biologist, because unique physiology is indicative of factors about this group that are specific to something influencing that deviation from others in the larger general population.

[@mauriceboone7865]

Let me say this I’m no scientist or great thinker however I think anything is possible because there is an large animal called a Saola (Asian unicorn)native to Vietnam and it was supposedly discovered in Vietnam in 1993. Biologists were all hot and bothered about this until locals said they had known about the Saola as long as they could remember. So I guess what I’m trying to say is this Bili Ape could be the same type of discovery.. but what do I know..

[@khango6138]

This happens all the time. Sometimes, a person grows up from a rural community, becomes a scientist, and then realizes that an organism they're so familiar with as a child might actually be new to science. Speaking of the Saola and Vietnam, where I'm from, it's a bit of sad story, as the Saola is critically endangered (in fact we haven't seen a live one in a long time) due to habitat loss, poaching, etc.

[@elfiefromangelcity6142]

Anybody know the name of the classical piece at 9:25 ? I know it, but I can't recall it right now. Heck, I know the composer, but it's not coming to me. I'm thinking Rimsky-Korsakov or Holst, but not sure. EDIT: Nevermind, I used an app and figured it out. It is Dvorak's Symphony no. 9 No wonder I couldn't remember its name or composer. Wonderful piece though! Thanks for the memory jog, and now I gotta listen to it again! 🎶

[@Fede_99]

Well almost 100 subscribers, it won't be the biggest or the most important reaching but it's still something

[@milesspencer1410]

"Well almost 100 subscribers, it won't be the biggest or most important reaching but it's still something"

[@milesspencer1410]

That's what you sound like, stinky boy

[@Fede_99]

@@milesspencer1410 are you alright?

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

This video reminded me a little of the New Zealand Moose. Moose are supposedly long-extinct from New Zealand, however some signs point to them still existing within huge, extremely difficult to navigate areas within a national park. Confirming this on-foot is very difficult however, due to both the terrain and moose' excellent capacity for detecting and avoiding humans. It's been agreed by researchers that you could 100% confirm or deny their existence with a few thorough sweeps of the region by helicopter, however nobody really cares enough to fund such an endeavour. Now, if they started making noise about a "brand new moose subspecies" I'm sure that would change, which is where the appeal of over-hyping research lies.

[@Gah941]

16:00 "VERY REAL ANIMAL FOUND IN MY BACKYARD, MIGHT BE A LIZARD OR SOMETHING" lol

[@KLeo-ss1kn]

Didn't Williams discover the Eaglehorse? Gotcha. Checkmate son! Credibility restored.

[@jondigiacomo5539]

Thank You for your research.

[@timothysullivan7711]

I like the exploited

[@golgarisoul]

Thank you algorithm for sending me here. Subscribed.

[@P1015532oni]

You just convinced me in this video that just like normal people, some scientists (with PHDs and all) will still lie about things just to further their careers. We shouldn’t just take a person’s word for anything just because they have the word “Doctor” before their name. We have to do our own research and examine other people’s research to reach a conclusion.

[@andreweden9405]

I guess I never thought that it was anything other than an unusually large group of chimpanzees. Regular chimpanzees are f'ing scary enough for me! The possibility of a remote group of them that are relatively unstudied? That's downright terrifying!

[@omggiiirl2077]

Maybe they're what animals are right before becoming a new species or sub species. So like dogs, when tested come up as wolf. That could explain the different features, and size, but still test as typical apes.

[@dvorok499]

And now we know the rest of the story. Kudos TBM for sharing. Great 'Presentation'!

[@cromcccxvi3787]

Apes howling at a full moon is something I've seen working at a zoo, 30 years ago.... Why is that "absurd"... have you ever looked at a big bright full moon? It can be pretty fascinating to more intelligent species, you should look at one yourself sometime

[@DP-cd5wr]

Yeah I have a mate who worked in conservation and he said the chimps howl at the moon doesn't seem that wild in any case.

[@steavenjosey]

Bruh these videos are fire. I don't even really care about animals like that. But your videos are so interesting I gotta subscribe.

[@Minister1Little]

I think my mother in law might be a Bili ape

[@johndoe7270]

Your videos are great. It was nice to get to hear the Noctures as well.

[@kaynefryday4720]

Fair enough, I like to think they rip the faces off nosy humans who don’t leave them in peace! That would be a nice story. Some people make up anything for fame, because they are boring and really suck at there field. Hopefully one day one of them will turn up with there face ripped off ! Nice

[@Michigander269]

Great video, and I love the subtle classical background music!

[@ollielong6523]

There are supposedly chimps with spines on their back in the Congo also. They say they have no fear of humans. Also supposedly there were 2 other types of chimps there. The normal ones in the trees that they could kill with poison darts and the ones who stayed on the ground that the poison darts didnt do anything to. /shrug

[@MoBahar687]

Did you not watch the video?

[@seka1986]

Type 3 chimp manufactures the poison darts!

[@SlapstickGenius23]

The sad truth is that the quilled chimp was in fact a chimp who got heavily injured by a porcupine. Sick!

[@jasestrong]

I absolutely love your work , thank you!

[@UndercoverRami]

GOD DAMN THIS ABSOLUTE UNIT IS PACKIN THAT SHMEAT. 4:40

[@BenTacoCatBen]

Did you just realize animals have balls

[@megs4193]

You definitely kept it honest, I to am a little sad, any new species is exciting, but they are animals, and amazing animals 👋🙂 thank you for your hard work and research 🦧👍🦘🇦🇺🦘.

[@donjon123]

how ius it doubtful. Humans hunt lions with spears, and there has been sighting of normal chimpanzee's using spear like stick's to kill their prey, so why wouldn't the bigger chimpanzee(who are definitely stronger than humans) be strong enough to kill a lion.

[@TheBudgetMuseum]

The problem is not if they can hunt them, but why. Lions and other big cats are both uncommon and, even for spear-wielding humans or in this case, apes, very strong and dangerous. Why spend energy and blood to hunt this creature when more abundant, weaker animals exist to hunt instead? Of course if driven to desperation I bet the Bili Apes could probably kill a leopard of lion, but this would be very rare. Also, only a select few population of chimpanzees use spears to hunt, and the Bili Apes are not one of these groups.

[@belland_dog8235]

Humans can use spears to hunt effectively because we can throw harder, faster, and more precise than any other creature on the planet. A trait which our Great Ape cousins don't have. This is combined with humans unparalleled group tactics among mammals due to language and intelligence

[@donjon123]

@@TheBudgetMuseum good point it may sound like I was being a cocky know it all, but I was genuinely asking a question thanks for answering it.