Great Ape Societies / Edition 1

by William C. McGrew, Linda F. Marchant, Toshisada Nishida, Jane Goodall, Junichiro Itani

Overview

The Great Apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans) are our closest living relatives, sharing a common ancestor only five million years ago. We also share key features such as high intelligence, omnivorous diets, prolonged child-rearing and rich social lives. The Great Apes show a surprising diversity of adaptations, particularly in social life, ranging from the solitary life of orangutans, through patriarchy in gorillas to complex but different social organizations in bonobos and chimpanzees. As Great Apes are so close to humans, comparisons yield essential knowledge for modeling human evolutionary origins. Great Ape Societies provides comprehensive up-to-date syntheses of work on all four species, drawing on decades of international field work, zoo and laboratory studies. It will be essential reading for students and researchers in primatology, anthropology, psychology and human evolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521555364
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/28/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Foreword: conserving Great Apes Jane Goodall; Part I. Apes Overviewed: 1. Towards an understanding of the orangutan's social system Carel van Schaik and Jan van Hooff; 2. Comparative socio-ecology of gorillas David Watts; 3. Comparative socio-ecology of Pan paniscus Frances J. White; Part II. Social Ecology: 4. Social ecology of Kanyawara chimpanzees Richard Wrangham; 5. Ranging and social structure of lowland gorillas in the Lope Reserve, Gabon Caroline Tutin; 6. Sympatric chimpanzees and gorillas in the Ndoki Forest, Congo Suehisa Kuroda, Tomoaki Nishihara, Shigeru Suzuki and Rufin A. Oko; 7. Dietary and ranin overlap in sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, Zaire Juichi Yamagiwa, Tamaki Maruhashi, Takakazu Yumoto and Ndunda Nwanza; Part III. Social Relations: 8. Social grouping in Tai chimpanzees; 9. Coalition strategies among adult male chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania Toshisada Nishida and Kazuhiko Hosaka; 10. Male rank order and copulation rate in a unit-group of bonobos at Wamba, Zaire Takayoshi Kano; 11. Comparing copulations of chimpanzees and bonobos Yukio Takahata, Hiroshi Ihobe and Gen'ichi Idani; Part IV. Minds: 12. Conflict as negotiation Frans de Waal; 13. Language perceived: Paniscus branches out E. S. Savage-Rumbaugh, S.Williams, T. Furuichi and T. Kano; 14. Reciprocation in apes C. K. Hemelrijk; 15. Chimpanzee intelligence in nature and captivity Tetsuro Matsuzawa; Part V. Apes Compared: 16. Comparative positional behavior of the African apes Diane Doran; 17. Nest-building behavior in the great apes Barbara Fruth and Gottfried Hohmann; 18. Comparative studies of African ape vocal behavior John Mitani; 19. On which side of the apes? Ethological study of laterality of hand use W. C. McGrew and L. F. Marchant; Part VI. Modelling Ourselves: 20. Savanna chimpanzees, referential models and the Last Common Ancestor Jim Moore; 21. Reconstructions reconsidered: Chimpanzee models and human evolution Adrienne Zihlman; Afterword - A new milestone in great ape research Junichiro Itani; Appendix: Study sites; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'This is an excellent book and the editors deserve praise for the efforts they have made to ensure that the chapters are of a uniformly high standard. The book will be a valuable source both for front-line researchers and those seeking an overview of contemporary research on great apes.' R. I. M. Dunbar, Trends in Ecology and Evolution

'Great Ape Societies is predictably good, given the concentration of expertise found within … an excellent statement of the state of research, suitable for advanced undergraduates or above.' Thomas Sambrook, THES

'McGrew, Marchant and Nishida succeed in giving a flavour of important patterns emerging from a whole host of studies with these charismatic animals.' Lindsay Murray, BBC Wildlife

' … every chapter contains much that is interesting, synthetic and important ... It sets high standards for the next 20 years of research and publication on the great apes.' P. C. Lee, Animal Behaviour

'… excellent book.' Pia Nystrom, Journal of Human Evolution

' … a great addition to the literature … It is essential reading for all primatologists and anthropologists.' David J. Chivers, Primate Eye

From the Publisher