The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior

Description

Few people...can really enter the mind of the chimpanzee and then emerge to write about it well, but Jane Goodall is indisputably the best. -- W. C. McGrew Nature. Fascinating reading...Miss Goodall's book may well emerge as the most significant ethological monograph based on field study in this half century. Its implications for the study of human evolution are enormous, as it brings together for the first time in book form detailed information on the biology, ecology and culture of an animal uncannily similar to ourselves. -- John H. Crook New York Times Book Review. Jane Goodall is one of the wise people in the field of primatology. There are few wise people in any field; they are precious...The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior sums up two and a half decades of research...Goodall's fascination with the chimpanzees as individuals, and her conviction that scientific study of chimp behavior should illuminate the role of individuals in society, make The Chimpanzees of Gombe a delight to read. -- Alison Jolly Natural History. I believe that Jane Goodall is one of the intellectual heroes of this century...She has amassed in this quarter century our first adequate and comprehensive account of the natural behavior of our closest animal relative. What in all natural history could possibly be of more interest and importance to us? This large and well-illustrated book (never forget that all primates are primarily visual animals) is a long progress report of work that must continue...I treasure this book most of all for its quiet and unobtrusive proof, by iterated example rather than theoretical bombast, that close observation of individual differences can be as powerful a method in science as the quantification of predictable behavior in a zillion identical atoms. -- Stephen Jay Gould New York Review of Books. An historical document. The book gives us for the first time a comprehensive analysis of chimpanzee behavior in its full range of activities, and draws extensively from the work of other investigators as well as from the studies at Gombe...With The Chimpanzees of Gombe, Goodall's primacy in animal behavior studies is brought into clear focus. Like the man [Louis Leakey] who hired her as an office worker 26 years ago, Goodall may already qualify as a legend in her own time. -- David M. Walsten Chicago Tribune. Fascinating reading...Miss Goodall's book may well emerge as the most significant ethological monograph based on field study in this half century. Its implications for the study of human evolution are enormous, as it brings together for the first time in book form detailed information on the biology, ecology and culture of an animal uncannily similar to ourselves. --John H. Crook, New York Times Book Review. I believe that Jane Goodall is one of the intellectual heroes of this century...She has amassed in this quarter century our first adequate and comprehensive account of the natural behavior of our closest animal relative. What in all natural history could possibly be of more interest and importance to us? This large and well-illustrated book (never forget that all primates are primarily visual animals) is a long progress report of work that must continue...I treasure this book most of all for its quiet and unobtrusive proof, by iterated example rather than theoretical bombast, that close observation of individual differences can be as powerful a method in science as the quantification of predictable behavior in a zillion identical atoms. --Stephen Jay Gould, New York Review of Books. A comprehensive, up-to-date account of the renowned scientist's quarter-century field study of chimpanzees details their distinct personalities, their complex society, and the surprising behavioral findings of the last few years A mammoth tome of 21 chapters and 5 appendices, containing very thorough analyses of Jane Goodall’s field studies of chimpanzee behaviour and introduction to the perceptual world and learning processes of chimpanzees - symbolic representation, spatial memory, concept of self, intelligence and rationality. The complex history of research at Gombe is described, followed by illustrated word profiles of 30 of the best known and studied chimpanzees, characters such as David Greybeard, Goliath, Figan, Flo and Fifi, Humphrey, Melissa, Passion and Stan. Demographic changes are described in full, with reference to injuries, mortality rates and the effects of polio and pneumonia. She describes the rich repertoire of communicative signals - visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory - that makes chimpanzee behaviour so complex, followed by a discussion of the uniqueness of the fusion-fission chimpanzee society, and the effects of patterns of association, year-to-year changes, males and females, and changes over the life cycle. This leads into a discussion of relationships - friendly, sexual, unfriendly - on which community structure ultimately depends, and the effects of age, sex, degree of familiarity and social stature, with a consideration of adaptive values in terms of ecological and social emotional/psychological and familial benefits. There is a full description of feeding on plant material, and an even fuller one on eating termites, ants, wasps, caterpillars, beetle grubs, crickets, honey, galls and termite clay, with a comparison of cultural differences between areas. Hunting for meat receives separate treatment; about 60 cooperative hunts have been observed each year, two-thirds successful - two-thirds of these involve red colobus monkeys but bushbuck, bush-pig and baboons also figure prominently. Jane Goodall next further explodes the myth that chimpanzees are peaceful animals in her description and discussion of aggression. This is to some extent balanced by the next two chapters on friendly behaviour and grooming. The complexities of dominance - with stable and opportunistic coalitions, and the effects of personality and time - and of sexual behaviour - mating patterns, male strategies, female choice and strategies, lack of incest and known paternity - are then discussed. Violence rears its head again in the description of territoriality, in the reactions of males to neighbouring males and strange females and the changes in community structure and ranges. The full description is concluded with chapters on tool use and social awareness. There are 8 classes of object used as 12 types of tool, used for feeding, body care, investigation, intimidation, play and so forth, forming definite cultural traditions. Examples are given of the acquisition of social knowledge, predicting the consequences of behaviour and manipulation and deception by both dominant and subordinate individuals. The conclusion shows the need for cognitive abilities in the wild, with regard to spatial and temporal memory of food distribution, planning (for tool use), social relations, and imagination (to predict mentally for real performance). The perception of relations is argued to lead to concept formation and thus to symbolic thought. The thorough discussion of so many aspects of chimpanzee behaviour are well illustrated by quantitative data and qualitative case studies. One aim is to demonstrate the similarity between chimpanzees and humans. Despite the flexibility of sexual relations, she sees a capacity for pair bonding from which human love can be derived. In the violence shown during hunting and social interactions, including territoriality, there is the origin of human violence and warfare. Jane Goodall spells out the similarities - long dependency, complex non-verbal communication, emotional expressions, importance of learning, start of dependency on culture and striking resemblance of basic cognitive mechanism - and differences - symbolic language, conscious ability to be unselfish, and comprehension of suffering caused by violence - between humans and chimpanzees. While they are of degree rather than kind, the degree is overwhelmingly large. Thus, here is a great wealth of information on one of our closest relatives. Its success lies in Jane Goodall being able to avoid the harsh objectivity of many ethologists, that would deny animals, even close human relatives, of experiencing emotions similar to our own. The Chimpanzees of Gombe The Chimpanzees of Gombe Patterns of Behavior Jane Goodall Contents Introduction 1. The Darkness Lifts Field Studies Language Acquisition Psychological Testing Captive Colonies 2. The Mind of the Chimpanzee The Physical and Social Environment Goal-Directed Behavior Tutelage Factors That Influence Learning Ability Cross-Modal Transfer Abstraction and Generalization Displacement in Time and Space Symbolic Representation Concept of Self Inferring Purpose in Others Intentional Communication 3. Research at Gombe Reactions of the Subjects Attitudes of the Observers 4, Who’s Who 5. Demographic Changes Immigrants and Visitors Peripheral Females Diseases Injuries Disorders Following Death of the Mother Old Age Reproductive Disorders Birth Abnormalities Effects on Health Effects on Reproduction Causes of Death Differential Mortality 6. Communication Visual Communication Tactile Communication Auditory Communication Olfactory Communication 7. A Unique Society Patterns of Association Composition and Size of Parties Year-to-Year Changes Males versus Females Changes over the Life Cycle 8. Relationships Figan’s Relationships Commentary 8.2 Fifi’s Relationships Male and Female Compared Same-Sex Relationships Male-Female Relationships Ecological Benefits Emotional or Psychological Benefits Family Benefits 9. Ranging Patterns Year Range Life Range 10. Feeding Termites Ants Caterpillars Other Insects Honey, Galls, and Termite Clay 11. Hunting Arboreal Monkeys Bushpigs Bushbuck Fawns Baboons Human Infants Cannibalism Scavenging Adult Males Adult Females * 12. Aggression Threat The Charging Display Attack Coalitions Snowballing Immediate Causes Punishment, Retaliation, and Challenging Intervention in the Affairs of Others Contagion Fear of the Unfamiliar Encounters with Strangers Behavioral Contexts Interspecific Aggression Historical Factors Genetic and Physiological Factors 13. Friendly Behavior In Fear or Excitement Submission and Reassurance s Word Picture 13.1 Word Picture 13.2 14. Grooming 15. Dominance The Charging Display and Fighting Coalitions Word Picture 15.1 Motivation and Alpha Status Loss of Rank Lack of Motivation 16. Sexual Behavior The Group Situation The Consortship Visiting Success in the Group Situation Success in the Consortship Situation 17. Territoriality Kasakela and Northern Males Kahama and Kalande Males Kasakela and “Eastern” Males Possible Attacks on Kasakeia Females The Attack on Godi The Attack on De The Attack on Goliath The Death of Charlie The Attack on Sniff v The Attacks on Madam Bee The Assaults on Stranger Females—An Unsolved Puzzle Are Chimpanzees Territorial? Do Chimpanzees Show Intent to Kill? The Precursors of Warfare On the Threshold of War? 18. Object Manipulation Ant Dipping Probing Rousing the Occupants of Holes Drinking Miscellaneous Other Chimpanzee Populations Whipping, Flailing, and Clubbing Aimed Throwing Contexts for Weapon Use Individual Differences 19. Social Awareness In Dominant Individuals In Subordinates Conclusion In-Camp Data Follows of Target (or Focal) Individuals Mother-Infant Data Incidental Observations Rainfall and Temperature Banana Feeding Selection of Targets Training of Field Assistants Recording Equipment Organization of Data Observer Performance Appreciation and Respect Identification of Chimpanzees Familiarity with the Ethogram Personal Bias and Objectivity Integrity in Data Collection Enthusiasm and Motivation Report from the Field Target: Adult male Jomeo, 9 May 1981 Field Assistants: Yahaya Alamasi and Godfrey Kahela Report from the Field Target: Adult male Jomeo, 24 October 1982 Field Assistants: Eslom Mpongo and Gabo Paulo