Primatologist Mireya Mayor breaks down 10 monkey and ape attacks in movies, including "King Kong," based on realism.
Mayor debunks common misconceptions about the behavior and appearance of the great apes, such as the brutish strength and massive size of the gorilla-like ape, King Kong, in "King Kong" (2005), with Jack Black and Naomi Watts; the violent rampage of Gordy the Chimpanzee in "Nope," starring Daniel Kaluuya, Steven Yeun, and Keke Palmer; and the intelligence and communication skills of chimpanzees and bonobos in both "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," with James Franco. She looks at the realism of monkey and ape attacks against humans and other animals, such the plausibility of a reptile-like Godzilla fighting an ape-like Kong in "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire"; the fight between a gorilla and leopard in "Tarzan" (1999); and the mandrills attacking humans in "Jumanji: The Next Level," starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Awkwafina. Mayor also breaks down the evolution of ape and monkeys, such as the common ancestor of humans and apes, the hominin, in "2001: A Space Odyssey"; the Gigantopithecus in "The Jungle Book" (2016); and the capuchin monkey in "Night at the Museum," with Ben Stiller.
Mayor is a primatologist and explorer who has gone on expeditions to study apes and monkeys including mountain gorillas, western lowland gorillas, and the white-faced saki monkey. She is a wildlife correspondent for National Geographic, where she was also part of a research expedition that discovered a new species of lemur, considered to be the world's smallest primate. She wrote the book "Pink Boots and a Machete: My Journey From NFL Cheerleader to National Geographic Explorer," with a foreword by Jane Goodall. She is also the executive director for strategic projects and events and director of public policy events at Florida International University.
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