Book Description

An enthralling account of the parallel lives of two infants—one human, one chimpanzee, growing up together

In 1990, when Vince Smith was working as a senior keeper at Chester Zoo in the English countryside, a newborn chimpanzee in his care was abandoned by her mother. Named Sophie, the infant chimp was taken home and hand-reared by Vince and his wife Audrey. Six months later another new baby arrived: Oliver, their son. A Chimp in the Family is the compelling, entertaining account of Sophie’s life.

Vince Smith vividly describes the parallel upbringing of Oliver and Sophie—through her early years with Vince and his family, her traumatic journey back to the zoo and her unsuccessful efforts to socialize with other chimps, her repatriation to Africa and reunion with her human foster family, and her integration into a semi-wild group of chimpanzees. A book both humorous (a family outing with both babies to the local pizzeria) and ultimately heartbreaking, A Chimp in the Family is a finely told, fascinating look at the social and emotional bonds that are possible between humans and our closest living genetic relatives. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

An excellent text
Dixson's book is a very good collection of the published works of others and makes a very handy reference for students of primate sexuality. The text was thorough and included a review of neuroendocrine systems in nonhuman primates, which is especially useful to anyone considering the molecular basis of sexual behavior. It is a technical, comprehensive text and is especially useful in outlining the gaps in our understanding. All in all, an excellent addition to the library of a primatologist.

Reviw by "Nature".
Alan Dixson has drawn together an impressive body of literature in this landmark volume. The book takes a comparative perspective, seeking a seamless review from prosimians through humans, and viewing this taxonomic diversity from a Darwinian and phylogenetic perspective. Primate sexuality is an essential starting point in this field and a must for every primatologist's library.

Animal Behaviour 1999
"On more than 500 pages, with more than 2000 references, many tables, and hundreds of beautiful illustrations,Dixson provides a fascinating, comprehensive, up-to-date and unparalleled synthesis of our current knowledge about primate sexuality ." Andreas Paul University of Gottingen, Germany.

Trends in ecology and Behaviour 1998
"It is going to be and extremely important source of information and ideas for many years. There is no other book like it for primates, and I suspect none for any other Order." Professor A.H. Harcourt, UC Davis, USA.

great reference book
Dixson pulls together an unbelievable amount of information in this book. After presenting good background on sexual selection and mating systems, he launches into a review of anything you could want to know about primate mating behavior and the mechanistic basis for it. I read this book for a graduate seminar. It is highly recommended as a resource to anthropologists, biologists, primatologists for info on topics as varied as ovarian cycles in New World monkeys to axillary organs in gorillas. ... Read more

Book Description

The size and composition of primate groups varies tremendously across species, within species, and within groups over time. Written by leading authorities, this book focuses on the causes and consequences of variation in the number of males per group. This variation lies at the heart of understanding adaptive variation among primate social systems. The volume also provides an extensive overview of variation in group composition across all major primate taxa using up-to-date reviews, case studies, evolutionary theory, and theoretical models. A comparative review of birds and selected other mammals is included. This text will become a favorite with all those interested in the behavioral ecology of primates. ... Read more

Book Description

The extraordinary group of animals that demonstrate inquiring minds, sociable natures, superb agility, and manipulative ability -- the primates -- are the subject of this absorbing book. As human we consider ourselves the most remarkable creatures on earth, and yet the peculiar characteristics of the primates fascinate us and remind us of ourselves. Cousins covers every aspect of the world of primates, including the latest scientific theories about their behavior and evolution. The first chapter takes the reader into the world of primates and their evolution from the time of the dinosaurs onward, while the three subsequent chapters each describe in detail a distinct primate group -- prosimians, monkeys, and apes. The chapters are divided into sections that explore, using words and pictures, crucial questions about how these animals behave -- and why. In addition, pages dedicated to detailed information on particular species allow the reader to get to know these intriguing animals individually. Throughout the book, information is split into easily digestible chunks, creating a visually appealing yet mentally satisfying read and making this a great book for the whole family to enjoy. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The family album
Dunbar and Barrett guide us through the forest of our family trees on a lively and informative tour. From tiny tarsiers to gargantuan gorillas, we are introduced to relatives familiar and forgotten. Some are distant in both time and place, but they are all part of our bloodline - or genetic lineage - whichever you prefer. As such, you should get acquainted and this is a fine introduction to the relationship. Each group of our primate relatives is described and superbly illustrated. Home range, diet and other characteristics are tabulated for each group. Most importantly, the lifestyles and behaviour patterns given demonstrate how much we know and need to learn. "Acting like a monkey" is a shopworn phrase that will be discarded by anyone reading this fine survey.

In describing primate evolutionary roots, the authors explain their importance to us. Primates exhibit special characteristics. Their arboreal living is almost unique among mammals. They share binocular vision with predator species, even when they subsist on leaves, fruit or grass. Meat-eating is not common among primates - our own roots suggest meat was but a minor part of our nutrition until recently. Given the limited size of this book and the wealth of material covered, there are still a number of surprises. Pictures of snow-covered Japanese macaques in warm mountain pools are commonplace today, but the authors suggest they learned this trick from tourists as recently as the 1960s! Learning, it seems, is more widespread among apes than previously thought. Chimpanzees "teach" others in their local group how to use tools.

Of all the traits Dunbar and Barrett describe, however, none is more enlightening than their summaries of primate behaviour. Primates have a wide range of social structures, from wandering solitaries to various groupings. Orang-utans are isolated by habit and habitat. More familiar chimps, gorillas, baboons and many monkey species form groups of gender divisions - single or few males dominant to numbers of females selectively controlling male access. Social arrangements lead to group activities of staggering variety. The most significant practice, however, is grooming - the removal of dead skin and parasites. Grooming takes up a significant proportion of time and is so meaningful in the social context as to be the most likely root of human speech.

Dunbar's comment in the "Further Information" section at the end summarizes the theme. He cites Jane Goodall's "In the Shadow of Man" as "the book that started it all . . . " Her studies of the Gombe chimpanzee community overthrew everything we thought we knew about apes and monkeys. Primate research has made immense strides since that 1971 publication. The authors have summarized the accomplishments and point to where more studies are required. They point out the need for haste, however. Many habitats are depleted and extinction awaits many species if steps aren't taken soon. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Great teaching tool!
I home teach my two children and bought this book for it's great pictures. I was pleasantly surprised with the great text full of interesting information. I also loved the family tress -now my kids now know about the different primate families. We have a trip planned to the zoo and will definately be bringing this book along. I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Brilliant and Original
This brilliant and original book demonstrates that symbolic representation is the basic substance of language, and shows once and for all that language is not an exclusively human achievement. Savage-Rumbaugh's serendipitous discovery that the critical period for language acquisition in bonobos is in early infancy renders all earlier language experimentation with apes obsolete. Contrary to Chomsky and Pinker, grammar is a high level embellishment to language, rather than the foundation of communicative skill. The philosophical commentaries on Savage-Rumbaugh's work by Shanker and Taylor bring out the revolutionary implications of her findings, and provide a new and more sophisticated point of view on the continuities and discontinuities between ourselves and our nearest relatives. It's good to see contemporary science finally replacing the 17th century perspective of many linguists.

There's nothing 'personal' here!
I wonder if the reader from Austin, Texas, read the same book as I did! I could find no trace of any personal attacks (nor personal glorifications, for that matter) in this highly original, provocative and exceptionally well-argued book. Interdisciplinary collaborations on complex themes are notoriously difficult to pull off, but this team has succeeded admirably. The philosophical analysis of the significance of the bonobo ape research for our currently dominant ways of thinking about language, communication and animal capacities is strikingly original. Certainly, these authors do not hold back from exploring the wider significance of their proposed interpretations, but there is a wealth of well-documented and rigorous argument here to support their contentions, and not a shred of evidence of -animus- against those whose views they dispute. A serious and significant book for everyone interested in animal cognition.

thought-provoking and compelling
This is a rewarding book, especially in its middle two chapters. After the scene-setting of ch. 1, in which we learn just what the Bonobo ape Kanzi can do as far as communicating with a human is concerned, ch. 2 gives us a protracted survey of the Cartesian tradition of thinking about the 'mental' and hence communicative lives of animals, showing the degree to which writers like Pinker, and indeed many of us, are, largely due to an outmoded view of ourselves, caught up in a fallacy about the status of animals vis-à-vis humans which needs to be replaced with a saner outlook. In ch. 3 we are given an insight into the rhetorical strategies of those who perpetuate the Cartesian view, and shown to what extent such strategies may be motivated less by a search for truth than by the socio-politico-economic imperative of our exploitation of the animal world. The authors then proceed to show that arguments which have been used to bolster the 'existential gap' view in fact are incapable of supporting the notion that humans themselves have the exclusive and proprietary capacities which Cartesian thinkers have attributed to them. That is, (a) the evidence which such thinkers use purportedly to prove the existence of various capacities in humans is shown to be equally in evidence in at least one kind of animal, but (b) the evidence which is used purportedly to disprove these capacities in animals is shown in fact to be inadequate to prove the existence of those capacities in humans. In other words, as is further suggested in the final chapter, we have no logical or evidential basis for maintaining the Cartesian view, and the implications for our own human behavior are accordingly far-reaching.

Serious ideas packaged with a mean spirit.
If you liked Savage-Rumbaugh's "Kanzi" stay away from this book. I don't mean that there is nothing interesting here. To the contrary, three smart people with interesting analyses of non-human thinking and linguistic abilities wrote the book. The first chapter is a charming and (typical of Savage-Rumbaugh) insightful discussion of life with Kanzi and research that has led to the powerful claims that Savage-Rumbaugh and her colleagues make based on Bonobo research. There are cute pictures and it displays little of the paranoia that permeates the rest of the book. The first chapter is exclusively written by Savage-Rumbaugh. The other chapters are, we are told, a joint effort. Chapter two is undoubtedly spearheaded by philosopher Stuart Shanker and chapter three by linguist Talbot Taylor. The final chapter bears stronger signs of all three. Each chapter takes a slightly different perspective and, if Oxford University Press had provided a competent editor, each c! hapter would have been a delight to read--full of focused and insightful commentary. But, lacking an editor with good sense, this was not to be.

The problems start in the philosophy chapter, but remain and grow throughout the subsequent chapters of the book. The first serious problem is the vilification of any opposition. It is not that the authors disagree with the opposition: they resort to name calling and mean-spirited denigration of anyone who does not simply accept Savage-Rumbaugh's work as revolutionary. Such skeptics are biased, anthropomorphic, dogmatic and, by the last chapter (entitled "Beyond Speciesism") ultimately bigotted (in its most evil sense). This final chapter is an interesting summary of arguments for language and mind in non-humans punctuated by a nasty and rambling accusation of the personal integrity of anyone who fails to appreciate the self-proclaimed paradigm shift created by Kanzi. This anger is so strange, too. While these people seem! to think that everyone is a convinced Cartesian, shocked b! y the possibility that non-humans can think, I don't seem to be able to find that tendency at all. With my students, the difficult part is getting them to see that there is any issue at all about animals having complex minds. Among academics, the issue of animal thought is treated quite seriously. The authors seem to think that it is simply stupid and disreputable to have any doubts at all. Kanzi has solved all the problems--case closed!

The second big problem is the personal glorification of Savage-Rumbaugh. The cover shows what appears to be Kanzi on a throne with Savage-Rumbaugh humbly kneeling to him. This is a misrepresentation of the contents of the book. This document is not an ode to Kanzi, but an outraged demand for glorification by Savage-Rumbaugh and a thoroughly uncritical acceptance of her superiority by her co-authors. There are not even any giants on whose back Savage-Rumbaugh has stood. She is simply the Einstein of the mind who has shattered the evil misconc! eptions of all who came before. Makes ya' a little jittery.

What is mystifying about the nasty parts of this book is how completely unnecessary they are. Although it would appear from their writing that Savage-Rumbaugh is being ignored, the truth is quite the opposite. Nearly every new book on language (and there are many) treats Kanzi seriously. Yes, Steve Pinker was dismissive, but he was more flippant than mean. Just get over it, y'all. This stuff, however, is just downright mean. Furthermore, it is not as if Savage-Rumbaugh is overly generous with her potential supporters. Her ridiculing of Roger Fouts and Washoe in the earlier "Kanzi" (with Washoe running back and forth on her little island randomly searching for an object as Fouts, like a total fool, claims she understands--real nice, Sue) is part of her general dismissal of all previous ape research. This is necessary, because Savage-Rumbaugh's line is that you can't have language if you don't start young ! and if you don't get it through comprehension (rather than! production). Washoe did it the wrong way--so, a priori, no language for him. In addition, her first chapter casts doubts on the ability of (non-Bonobo) chimpanzees to achieve the same heights as Kanzi. It's pretty much Kanzi (and sister Panbanisha) or nothing.

Scientifically, there is a problem here: Savage-Rumbaugh controls the data. It isn't her fault. In itself, it isn't wrong. It is a problem, though. Ape research is very restricted and the Georgia family controls the keys to the door. They only let their friends in (ever tried to get some videotape from them? Forget it.). Part of the allure of Chomsky's original linguistic analyses is that the data were stunningly democratic--use your own linguistic intuitions about sentences and watch your child grow up. Mainstream cognitive psychology has spent a generation questioning linguistic insight as adequate data and it has certainly NOT accepted a Cartesian or Chomskian line. For ape research, there is one path: study Savag! e-Rumbaugh and, it appears, don't ask questions. It is not surprising that her co-authors are neither scientists nor are they friendly to science at all. Hard questions are solved by a cult of personality and intellectual victories are won by name-calling. Science is, for them, the act of studying the sacred texts (and, perhaps wisely for them, staying away from those oversexed apes). They proclaim paradigm shifts and throw away the gains and procedures of a dynamic and living science--a science that has been very generous to Savage-Rumbaugh and made possible the clever methods whereby questions about mind and language can be creatively studied.

I wanted to like this book. I thoroughly enjoyed "Kanzi" and I have read the serious science part of the animal language research carefully and respectfully (including technical publications). But this book has made me question the motives of the Georgia researchers and their commitment to honest analysis. And it is reall! y too bad. The questions in the current language debate are! really so wonderful and the evidence is diverse and fascinating. In most cases, the ideas are being traded with a lively and constructive spirit. Just not in this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Primate researcher Prince-Hughes has compressed years of gorilla observation into a composite diary chronicling the days of one gorilla family, capturing significant observations on diet, communication, aesthetic preferences, social behavior, and play-often leading to thought-provoking meditations on human values. Readers will learn something new about gorillas-and themselves-on every page of this poignant story. ... Read more

Book Description

The mysterious and often unpredictable world of primates is explained by Smithsonian scientists in a Q&A format.

A comprehensive response to the many thousands of calls and letters the Smithsonian receives regarding questions related to monkeys, apes, lemurs, tamarins, and their relatives. What are primates? How closely related are humans to other primates? How strong is a gorilla? Why do primates spend so much time grooming? Why can't apes talk? These and almost 100 other questions are addressed with clear, thorough answers. 99 color photographs. ... Read more

Book Description

This new release presents the wealth of information gleaned about nonhuman primate nutrition since the previous edition was published in 1978.

The book expands coverage of natural dietary habits, gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology, and the nutrient needs of species that have been difficult to maintain in captivity. It explores the impact on nutrition of physiologic and life-stage considerations: infancy, weaning, immunology, obesity, aging, and more. And, the committee discusses issues of environmental enrichment such as opportunities for foraging.

Based on the world's scientific literature and input from authoritative sources, the book provides best estimates of nutrient requirements. The volume covers requirements for:

* Energy.
* Carbohydrates, including the role of dietary fiber.
* Proteins and amino acids.
* Fats and fatty acids.
* Minerals.
* Fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins.
* Water.

It analyzes the composition of important foods and feed ingredients and offers guidelines on feed processing and diet formulation. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

John G. Fleagle
"Guenons are one of the most specifically diverse groups of living primates, but the true extent of their behavioral, ecological, and phylogenetic diversity has remained largely unappreciated. This exciting volume describes many new aspects of guenon biology. The authors use the diversity of guenons to address, and often question, several major tenets of primate socioecology. Most significantly, this volume thoroughly demolishes the view that guenons are a uniform radiation."
- John G. Fleagle, State University of New York at Stony Brook

John F. Oates
"This book is a cornucopia of recently-gathered knowledge about the natural history of Africa's most species-rich group of anthropoids. The volume is particularly strong on behavioral ecology, but it also presents important new evolutionary analyses and, in a useful section on conservation, makes practical suggestions to address the growing threats posed to the survival of African primates by ever-increasing habitat loss and hunting."
- John F. Oates, Hunter College

Karen B. Strier
"The Guenons is encyclopedic in its coverage of this remarkably diverse group of primates. From chapters on evolutionary history, behavior, ecology, and conservation, The Guenons also offers a window into the world of primatology, as seen through the lenses of these monkeys and the researchers who study them. Glenn and Cords should be commended for assembling such an impressive set of contributions from so many guenon experts. This volume will be the standard reference on the guenons for many years to come."
- Karen B. Strier, University of Wisconsin-Madison ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the 1960s, the legendary paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey encouraged a trio of remarkable woman scientists--Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas--to study the world's great primates. In her memoir Reflections of Eden, written long after her fellow "trimates" published theirs, Galdikas described her efforts at Camp Leakey to rehabilitate ex-captive orangutans and release them into the nearby Borneo rainforest.

Those rehabilitation efforts became the center of controversies that swirl around Galdikas and the organization she helped found, Orangutan Foundation International. A debate about the effectiveness of rehabilitation reached a fever pitch in the late 1990s with the publication of several articles and books about Galdikas by Canadian novelist Linda Spalding. In A Dark Place in the Jungle, Spalding suggests that Galdikas's efforts in the name of conservation may in fact harm wild orangutan populations. Galdikas herself is characterized as an imperious and careless scientist, which no doubt played a role in Galdikas's decision in July 1999 to sue Spalding for libel.

What then are we to make of this book by Galdikas and her longtime collaborator Nancy Briggs? There is no dispute whatsoever about their primary message: orangutans are seriously endangered. Palm oil plantations, bush fires, and other intense human pressures are destroying millions of acres of orangutan habitat. The recently deposed Indonesian government of Suharto was notoriously corrupt and adopted policies that led to large-scale deforestation, although its legacy is treated gingerly by Galdikas, who lives there when she isn't teaching at the University of British Columbia. The close-up photographs that accompany their text show orangutans as full of personality, mischief, and devotion as humans. Perhaps, as Spalding suggests, that's part of the problem. It may be too easy to project anthropocentric values onto orangutans, which, after all, share 97 percent of their genetic heritage with humans.

It is difficult to judge either case on its merits since the books share similar flaws: neither presents notes or bibliography to document its arguments. So read them both. The gravely threatened orangutans deserve as much attention as they can get. --Pete Holloran ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Orangutan Odyssey
This book has wonderful historical information relating to the first accounts of orangutans and other animals like apes and chimpanzees. It also recounts how society's perception of these wonderful animals has changed over time, and how oragutans tie into our concept of human evolution. There a tons of just great photos and little stories. ... Read more

Book Description

Sheila Siddle's life was changed forever one fateful day in 1983 when a local game ranger brought a battered, malnourished chimpanzee to the door of her cattle ranch in central Zambia and asked her to do whatever possible to save it. As Sheila and her husband nursed it back to health, they treated the young chimp they would name Pal as if he were a human infant -- feeding him medicine and bottled milk, sharing their bed with him at night, and carrying him on their backs until he regained the strength to survive on his own. From these humble beginnings Sheila and David Siddle would go on to launch the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, an internationally acclaimed animal refuge that has grown to become the home for more than eighty chimps, one disarmingly domesticated hippopotamus named Billy, and a variety of other endangered animals. Currently the largest primate sanctuary in the world, Chimfunshi has been honored by the United Nations Environmental Programme as one of the Global 500 and called by Jane Goodall "the most wonderful place on earth." In My Family Tree is the uplifting story behind one woman's transformation from a grandmother on the brink of retirement to an international animal-rights activist -- and the unforgettable chimpanzees she has come to know and love along the way. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Heart-Warming, Inspiring, and Compassionate
Sheila Siddle and her husband, David, are an amazing couple. They show that life is not over when you are at a "retirement" age. They created a whole chimpanzee sanctuary at such an age. Love, compassion, determination, and strong opinions of what is right and wrong all allowed the Siddles to reach out to animals in desperate need. In doing this, they also touch everyone with whom they come in to contact. Mrs. Siddle's book allows them to touch a great deal more of us. Thank you for all of your efforts and for this great book Mrs. Siddle!!

A Life With Chimpanzees!
An exhilarating-even heroic-life caring for orphaned chimpanzees (and antelopes, monkeys, parrots, whathaveyou, even a hippo) on a farm in Africa, by Siddle, the caregiver herself. October 18, 1983: "I held a dying chimpanzee in my arms that day and it changed my life forever." So started the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage on Siddle's farm in central Zambia. There, she and her husband and a slowly gathering company of helpers have sought to rehabilitate chimps and return them to the wild. It was very much a seat-of-the-pants operation, relying on instinct with their first charge ("You might say we went a bit too far and nearly humanized' him-something I am careful to avoid now"), but they were good, loving instincts. Word soon flashed through the wildlife community, and the Zambian government, which at that date was cracking down on illegal trade in endangered species, that the Siddles were taking in orphaned chimps. Then they started to appear: chimps confiscated from poachers, chimps neglected or abandoned when their entertainment quotient sagged, chimps turned out by their owners when the novelty wore off. Siddle gives many of the chimps full biographical treatment: their physical and emotional recovery chronicled, their antics retold with obvious affection. She also charts the evolution of their compound, from its original five-acre enclosures to the two 500-acre areas of today. Though the chimps are the focus of her work, the anecdotes Siddle relates cover all their creatures, from the vervet monkey that tore into her husband, to the hippo, Billy, who attended a gathering at the ranch of seminarians from the local mission: "During the scripture reading, Billy seemed content to just stand there, listening meditatively." Then Billy ate the altar cloth. If the orphanage has but a fraction the warmth and gentleness of Siddle's voice in this story, then the word sanctuary would fit well. Beautiful acts, elegantly rendered.

A Must Read
In this beautiful memoir, Sheila Siddle takes readers on magical journey--to Chimfunshi, a wildlife sanctuary Sheila and Dave Siddle founded in Zambia in 1983. Siddle's honest account of their work on behalf of chimpanzees will make you laugh out loud at the wonder and joy of working with wildlife. Siddle's prose also brings the battle for chimpanzees, which is far from won, into vivid and tragic relief. Filled with both humor and profound courage, this book is an inspiring must read for anyone who loves chimpanzees and all wildlife.

You can learn more about Chimfunshi at [the website] ... Read more

Book Description

This is a fascinating analysis of chimpanzee behavior--based on an incredible 15-year long study.It sheds light on some of the central questions in human evolution and combines rigorous scientific observation and analysis with entertaining, first-hand experiences. It will appeal to anthropologists, behavior ecologists, primatologists, and anyone interested in human evolution. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Tai Chimps
The Chimpanzees of the Tai Forest is a fascinating analysis of chimpanzee behaviour based on a fifteen year study in the West African jungle of the Cote d'Ivoire. The authors engage with some of the fundamental questions in regards to the evolutionary relationship between primates, with a specific focus on the affinity between chimpanzees and humans. They combine rigorous scientific data, often in the form of statistical tables, with personal anecdotal descriptions. These lines of evidence are presented together, to create an authoritative and yet picturesque account of Chimpanzee behaviour.
In the first chapter the authors provide an orientation to the Tai Chimpanzee project by situating it within other data from prominent studies of wild chimpanzees of varying duration. In the second chapter the authors explain how the Tai chimpanzee community has gone through many demographic changes but has remained, for the entire study period, within the same area in the Tai forest. In the third chapter, on female life histories, they explain that dominant females have interbirth intervals 26 months longer for male than for female offspring, which results in a higher survival rate for males. In contrast, subdominant females invest 12 months more in daughters, which does not result in a higher a survival rate. In chapter four the authors suggest that at Tai, the males' life history is strongly influenced by their mother's investment. High-ranking mothers invest more in male infants who, as a result, become more interested in acquiring rank and have greater reproductive success than low ranking males. Thus, they suggest that reproductive strategies used by males are influenced by male-male competition as well as female choice. In chapter five the authors document the social structure of the Tai chimpanzees indicating that the inter-population variations of the fission-fusion system is influenced by the demographic factors of community size and adult sex ratio. In chapter six they show how social interactions are distributed within a community with strong associations between its members. This chapter offers a discussion of how chimpanzees show capacities for cooperation, reciprocal interaction and coalition behaviour and how these alliances are created through explicit social strategies. In chapter seven the authors argue that chimpanzees' inter-group aggression possesses several features considered typical for human warfare such as a group enterprise of large coalitions concentrated against neighbour groups. They also suggest that the Tai chimpanzees possess strategies for attack, which involve anticipation of possible outcomes. In chapter eight the authors describe how Tai chimpanzees hunt very regularly and have developed a system of reciprocity in which hunters are rewarded for their contribution which involves a system of individual recognition, temporary memory of recent actions and social enforcement of values. In chapter nine the authors explain that tool use among the Tai chimpanzees, especially in the context of nut cracking, involves elaborate planning and a long term learning phase that can persist for several years. They also discuss how nut cracking and food sharing intermingle in a manner that effects many aspects of social life. In chapter ten the authors review the cognitive abilities of wild chimpanzees and conclude that they show highly developed faculties relating to mental representations, the notion of causality and a theory of mind. They also argue that wild chimpanzees show a more developed understanding of causality than has been shown in captive chimpanzees. In the eleventh and final chapter of the book, the authors put forth a model of evolution of chimpanzees that attempts to account for the presence of their behaviorally similar characteristic to humans. Specifically, they argue that three characteristics, which are common to all chimpanzee populations, select for higher cognitive abilities related to causality and of third party attention. These characteristics are the fission-fusion social system, hunting behaviour in trees and flexible and numerous types of tool use. They propose that these characteristics were slowly elaborated in a synergistic manner that may have begun before the divergence between the chimpanzee and human lineage.
The book documents chimpanzee behaviour in such a way to reveal its striking diversity. In each chapter the authors attempt comparisons between the different chimpanzee populations to delineate the factors in the environment and in the social life of chimpanzees that generate the variations observed across sites. Additionally, they situate their observations within the broader context of research in behavioural ecology and compare their own data with other prominent work on chimpanzee populations. There is frequent reference to important studies by Jane Goodall and Toshisada Nishida.
The authors also adopt a perspective informed by feminist methodology, arguing that the view of chimpanzees as a purely male-oriented society does not reflect the social life of Tai chimpanzees. This is apparent in their discussion of the stronger role of female choice in reproductive strategies in chapter four and in the importance of female friendship discussed in chapter five. Their argument for the Tai chimpanzee society being bi-sexually bonded is also evident in the authors' contention that females have a dominant position in gaining access to meat (Chapter 8) and their discussion of female chimpanzees' greater involvement in territorial defense (Chapter 7).
In the last two chapters of the book a clear agenda emerges. The authors argue against a basic discontinuity between humans and other animal species and do so by portraying the affinity between apes and chimpanzees. To a large extent, this view is also about securing basic rights for chimpanzees. At points, their agenda becomes sufficiently transparent to undermine the authority of their data. This is particularly obvious in the degree of anthropomorphizing in anecdotal accounts throughout the later chapters of the book. However, overall the purity of the authors' intentions redeems them for these momentary indulgences in their own motivations. The authors argue that the limiting factor in the quest for human and chimpanzee identity is their survival. And it is this fight that the authors contend, should be our utmost priority. ... Read more

Book Description

Offers a multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary perspective.this anthology offers a collection of 33 readings on primate behavior, ecology, and conservation — originally published in Natural History Magazine. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Perfect for undergrads and beginners in primatology
This book is a wonderful introduction to primate behavior, ecology and conservation. A collection of articles originally published in Natural History magazine, this book provides a perfect balance of the above topics in primatology. If you are just getting started in the field or you are simply curious about our primate cousins this book is great. If you are a seasoned primatologist, this is a fun weekend read!

An excellent collection of skillfully introduced papers.
Natural History magazine has published a wealth of information about primates, written by leading experts in field research. Students of primatology, and anyone interested in animal behavior and ecology, will find this anthology relevant and informative. These studies demonstrate the diversity of our closest animal relatives and the intricacies of their lives and relationships amongst themselves and with other species.

The writings of field scientists such asChristophe Boesch, Robert Harding, Dawn Starin, Thomas Struhsaker and Patricia Wright cover wide taxonomic and geographic ranges. The editors' glue that effectively binds these essays together is the excellent prefacing overview accompanying each section (Behavior, Community Ecology, Diet, Reproduction and Conservation). These writings demonstrate the skills of biologists in translating field observations into literate and eminently readable images of their primate subjects.

This anthology provides valuable testimony tothe contributions of field studies in understanding our primate kin-- their context in nature, and the strategies they employ for coping with daily life and the encroachments of mankind.

Phillip T. Robinson - Society for the Renewal of Nature Conservation in Liberia, West Africa

... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

This book is a critique of the experiments of recent years that tried to teach language to apes.The achievements of these animals are compared with the natural development of language, both spoken and signed forms, in children.It is argued that the apes in these studies acquired merely crude simulations of language rather than language itself and that there is no good evidence that apes can acquire a language.A survey of the communication systems of apes and monkeys in nature finds that these systems differ from language in profound ways--language is a uniquely human attribute. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Student
I've used this book to base presentations on ape-language research at university seminars. Having read every work that I that know of that partians to the subject, I believe there quite simply is no more comprehensive review of the research in one single book. One who is interested in the evolutionary origins of language will be offered an excellent start by reading Wallman's chapter on the history of the ape-language controversy. The rest of your investigation will unfold from there. Overall, I would highly recommend this work to anyone whom seeks to achieve a foothold in the literiture. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Most evolutionary biologists agree that what makes humans unique among animals is our brainpower. But why--and how--did we evolve our oversized brains? Craig Stanford dusts off the old "Man the Hunter" theory, roundly criticized as replete with bad (and sexist) assumptions, and finds a thick, juicy, postmodern steak at the heart of it. He argues, "The origins of human intelligence are linked to the acquisition of meat, especially through the cognitive capacities necessary for the strategic sharing of meat with fellow group members."

Stanford studied the great apes, especially chimpanzees, and came to the conclusion that among primates, meat is a valuable commodity both nutritionally and socially. Although many other foods are nutritionally desirable, meat is unique in its social desirability, and for males, it represents power:

Underlying the nutritional aspect of getting meat, part of the social fabric of the community is revealed in the dominance displays, the tolerated theft, and the bartered meat for sexual access. The end of the hunt is often only the beginning of a whole other arena of social interaction.

In Stanford's view, females play a crucial role in keeping groups together and cementing individual relationships. Meat plays an important role in the way males fit in to a society, and the ability of males to get meat readily may very well explain their societal dominance. These conclusions are not liable to be nearly so controversial as the way Stanford gathered his data--he drew broad parallels between chimps and modern hunter-gatherer societies. Stanford also admits that a lack of fossil evidence supporting his meat/brain link is problematic. The Hunting Apes is an interesting look at what is likely the worthwhile center of a discredited evolutionary theory. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Steak, sex and society
With a wealth of primate research supporting his thesis, Stanford argues that meat is an essential element in human evolution. Although not the older and simpler "Killer Ape" hypothesis of some years ago, Stanford sees meat hunting and consumption as the foundation of human society. Meat also acted as a basis in developing the resource voracious human brain and associated communication skills we developed. Among those primates who consume meat, its acquisition remains a male-dominated activity. However, instead of resulting in inexorably male-dominating societies, meat distribution and consumption results in complex negotiation patterns in which females play significant, if not equal roles. This concept suggests humans must seriously reassess their role in Nature. Urging that humanity's lineage is far from linear, he presents a good overview of recent studies. Although the number of definitive fossils is meager, they still demonstrate that our primate roots are not in doubt. The struggle by researchers to properly place humans within the larger animal community has been stoutly resisted by many, both scholars and the lay public alike. Feminist anthropologists, in particular, have striven to displace the male dominated academic group with excessive roles of females in various primate cultures. Some have stretched the idea to the point of seeing females as the true source of language, nutritional foods and even tool making. Stanford addresses these suggestions as mostly unrealistic. Instead, he notes how meat plays a major role in mating scenarios, granting females an active role in selection. Acquiring meat may be accomplished through various strategies, from opportunistic scavenging to actively seeking prey. The true hunter, he contends, must develop a sophisticated array of skills in pursuing meat - prey location, stealth, communication, and the tools able to kill and process. Once obtained, the distribution of the kill becomes an essential element in societal arrangement. He reviews many forms social structures have taken, from selfish monopolization of the kill to the hunter himself receiving but limited return for his effort. What the hunter does gain in all societies is respect and recognition of the group. For Stanford, this is but one indication of the diversity encountered in all primate societies, human and otherwise. The only universal is the hierarchical structure resulting from the hunting role. While hierarchy is the norm, dominance doesn't necessarily follow. In this study, Stanford examines the many social structures primates have developed. These range from nearly solitary, such as the orang-utan, to both male-male and male-female bonding strategies. These elements are essential to understanding the roots of human societal structures. As an example, in primate societies, in contrast to many other animals, it is the female who migrates from the natal group. Stanford doesn't follow this to suggest that dowries and bride-bargaining derive from this behavior, but the inference is clear. Indeed, part of the value of this book is his restriction to biological patterns. One need only accept that humans are included in the primate community. Stanford's book may raise some hackles, but it's far too important an idea to dismiss lightly. He's a skilled enough writer not to get bogged down in a pedantic rendition of the evidence or his conclusions. With the large number of works on the vagaries of human evolution appearing in recent years, finding worthwhile books can be a daunting task. Rest assured that The Hunting Apes is worth your attention and investment. Future research may modify it slightly, but is unlikely to supplant it.

Weak Hypothesis From Berkely Graduate
This book by Craig Stanford started to show some real information toward a hypothesis than lost all track. It lead to be a dull and redundant essay. It lacks logical sense in scientfic theory and has a biased theme. I would suggest another book most likely a book by Jane Goodall.

Great little book
I found Hunting Apes to be a superbly written summary of current debates in human evolution. Stanford makes a case for meat-sharing's supremacy that may or may not be true, but even if his theory were someday disproved, this book would stand as an excellent piece of readable science.

A Weak Little Book
This is not a work of fiction, so the reader's response should not be "Did I like it?" but "What did I learn?" The answer is, little. (I should qualify that by saying I have read quite a bit on this topic.) Stanford presents little that cannot be found elsewhere, more incisively. Every time you think he is going to say something, he shies off. In fact, I think there is only one sentence in the whole book: "While women may collect most hunter-gatherer protein, we should not ignore the fact that men are able to use meat for their own selfish and manipulative political ends." (p212) This is new?

I was taken aback by Stanford's approach. "This has yet to be shown. But the notion that a high-quality diet frees the metabolism of an evolving hominid to develop a larger and larger brain is extremely appealing because it would explain both the trend toward greater encephalization and toward more meat in the diet of the evolution of the human lineage (p50-51)." Appealing? (Also, I never knew that evolution had a diet.) "Surely bonobos and gorillas ought to make use of such a valuable resource whenever possible." (p95) Come on, you guys, get with it, what's the matter with you, why don't you eat hamburgers, like God intended us to? I wish Stanford would just come out and say, "Eating meat is good for you, because I was raised on an American diet with plenty of meat, and I know what I want to hear and what you want to hear. Therefore, I am going to prove that eating meat is good for you, and what's more, it's good for all of us. Dumb gorillas, don't know a valuable resource when they see one!" Stanford's method reminds me of the half joking advice to young scholars: "Put forth your hypothesis, examine all the evidence, and throw away everything that does not agree with your hypothesis." I was also aware that academics prefer not to give credit to Ardrey's African Genesis, which effectively kicked off evolutionary psychology. Nonetheless, I was surprised to read on page 182 that "In their search for evidence that modern people operate on a cognitive plane shaped by a long history of natural selection, evolutionary psychologists have erred in their level of analysis. There is no reason to consider the cognitive domains by which we respond to our social environment to be uniquely human." I thought that was the whole point of evolutionary psychology, that our congnitive domains are NOT uniquely human.

In short, if you wish to learn something, I suggest you read The Wisdom of the Bones by Walker and Shipman, Moral Animal by Wright, Lemur's Legacy by Russell, or any one of a large number of books that are more tightly reasoned than this one.

Well-written overview with intriguing hypothesis
I found this book very well written, easy to read and full of substantial information. This was a new topic for me, and I particularly found the contrasting information about hunting vs. scavenging was interesting. While the book is certainly about "hunting," it really isn't -- it's more about the politics behind meat, and about the move from being scavengers. Actually, the information about scavenging was most valuable. ... Read more

Book Description

When the Panama land bridge between North and South America formed three million years ago, plants and animals surged back and forth in the Great American Biotic Interchange, an evolutionary cross-fertilization that has created one of the world's richest and most fascinating environments. The Monkey's Bridge is the story of Central America's role as an evolutionary link between continents. This critically acclaimed exploration combines vivid travel writing, reflections on landscape and culture, and meditations on the ecosystems unique to this region. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A great start to understanding the Central American tropics
Reviewed for The Wilderness Record, publication of the California Wilderness Coalition.

Most California environmentalists are familiar with the works of David Rains Wallace, having read his award-winning The Klamath Knot, the superb natural history of the greater Siskiyou region, or The Turquoise Dragon, an enchanting eco-thriller that takes the reader from the Bay Area to the Trinity Alps and Kalmiopsis wilderness areas. If you enjoyed these or a dozen other of his books, you will appreciate The Monkey's Bridge.

Wallace's latest natural history treatise looks at the region that linked North and South America some three million years ago and the amazing mix of flora and fauna that surged back and forth across this land bridge. His knack for bringing an region to life makes it a delight to learn about hundreds of species, volcanoes, plate tectonics, and gomphotheres.

But Wallace tells more of the story than just the natural history. He begins with the adventurers who sailed from Europe and conquered some, but definitely not all of the native peoples of Central America. Next are those trying to find a shortcut from the Alantic to the Pacific, including the French attempt to build a canal at a cost of an estimated 22,000 lives. He then brings in the naturalists, from those with the first explorers to Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.

Much of the story is embedded in geology. The fossil record in North and South America led evolutionists to recognize the importance of this land bridge, and the revolutionary theory of plate tectonics gave us the mechanism to explain how the bridge formed.

But what really brings this book alive is that Wallace has been there, from his first three-month journey in 1971, a return in 1987 for a "gaudy bird-watching trip," and repeat visits during the last decade. He climbs the volcanoes, claws through the dense rain forests, and snorkels the coral reefs. "Big marine toads plopped in and out, acorn woodpeckers called 'Kraaaa! Kraaa' in the pines, and a flock of parakeets flew shrieking overhead," he colorfully writes.

As you surely imagine, this is not a totally happy tale. Wallace discusses the "island ecology" theories of habitat fragmentation and loss of species. He mentions the recent extinction of the flightless, grebe-like poc and the golden toad and recounts the decline of the harpy eagle. But he also describes efforts to reverse this loss of habitat through programs like Paseo Pantera ("the path of the panther") that is a major element of The Wildlands Project's strategy to protect the biodiversity of the North American continent.

Wallace clearly is in awe of the complexity and diversity of the Central American rain forest. "Sometimes I think the human language, or simply human mentality, hasn't evolved yet to the point where tropical rain forest is comprehensible or describable," he writes.

But with The Monkey's Bridge, Wallace has made a great start. ... Read more