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More About This Textbook
Overview
The local people know him as the "Man of the Forest," who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world's leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates.
In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.
Editorial Reviews
Nature
Required reading for anyone who wants to understand our nearest relatives, the great apes, in a world full of humans, and who believes that our cousins also deserve to live.
— Alison Jolly
New Scientist
Among Orangutans tells the story of van Schaik's discoveries, and their challenge to theories of primatology and the insights they offer into key moments in human evolution. Van Schaik covers the slog of six years' fieldwork in mosquito-ridden swamps, punctuated by the dizzy excitement of discovery—and followed by the grim necessity of conserving the creatures and their environment. Beautiful photos of wild orangutans taken by Perry van Duijnhoven complement a fine text that effortlessly manages to combine profound scientific knowledge with popular appeal.
— Adrian Barnett
Science News
The orangutan is a reclusive breed that lives only in parts of Indonesia. Its propensity for roaming high in treetops and for favoring areas inhospitable to people makes the species difficult to study. Van Schaik and his team were fortunate, then, to have stumbled upon Suaq Balimbing—a swamp in the forests of Aceh, Sumatra's northernmost province...He shares his discoveries of the orangutans of Suaq Balimbing and shows how these findings shed light on the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture.
Scientific American
In a beautifully written, compelling narrative that reads like a detective story, [van Schaik] weaves together several threads of evidence to argue that orangutan intelligence is intimately related to technological innovations that are passed down through social learning...Through the large number of outstanding color photographs, we meet many of the 100 orangutans his team recognized individually. They are handsome creatures with long red hair, expressive faces and round eyes that gaze out of the photographs with keen awareness.
— Barbara Smuts
Product Details
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Meet the Author
Carel van Schaik is Professor and Director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich.
Perry van Duijnhoven is a Dutch artist and photographer.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. The Great Ape Paradox
2. Planet of the Apes
3. Homo sylvestris
4. Orangutan Heaven
5. Arbo-Reality
6. Party On (and Off)
7. Life in Slow Motion
8. The Dawn of Technology
9. The Culture Club
10. Triangulating Human Nature
Epilogue: Living on Borrowed Time
Notes
References
Index