Chimpanzees of the Lakeshore

by Nishida, Toshisada

• ISBN13: 9781107015784
• ISBN10: 1107015782
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-31
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Chimpanzees are humanity's closest living relations and are of enduring interest to a range of sciences, from anthropology to zoology. In the West, many know of the pioneering work of Jane Goodall, whose studies of these apes at Gombe in Tanzania are justly famous. Less well-known, but equally important, are the studies carried out by Toshisada Nishida on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Comparison between the two sites yields both notable similarities and startling contrasts. Nishida has written a comprehensive synthesis of his work on the behaviour and ecology of the chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. With topics ranging from individual development to population-specific behavioural patterns, it reveals the complexity of social life, from male struggles for dominant status to female travails in raising offspring. Richly illustrated, the author blends anecdotes with powerful data to explore the fascinating world of the chimpanzees of the lakeshore.

Author Biography

Toshisada Nishida (1941-2011) was Executive Director of the Japan Monkey Centre and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Primates. He conducted pioneering field studies into the behaviour and ecology of wild chimpanzees for more than 45 years.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xvi
Introduction	p. 1
Origins of Japanese primatology and Kinji Imanishi	p. 1
Quest for the missing link	p. 2
No familoid exists	p. 3
At the beginning	p. 7
Lake and forest	p. 7
The African ape research party sets out	p. 15
Food and feeding behaviour	p. 31
Fission and fusion of parties ranging for food	p. 31
Dispersal of seeds	p. 42
Tastes of food	p. 45
Leaf swallowing and bitter pith ingestion	p. 57
Hunting	p. 60
Scavenging	p. 67
Insect eating	p. 71
Daily activity rhythm	p. 78
Predation on chimpanzees	p. 81
Growth and development	p. 86
Developmental stages	p. 86
Infancy	p. 86
Development of feeding techniques	p. 92
Food sharing between mother and offspring	p. 94
Weaning	p. 98
Juvenility	p. 108
Adolescence	p. 111
Siblings	p. 116
Ageing and death	p. 120
Play and exploration	p. 125
Exploration	p. 125
Play	p. 130
Locomotor-rotational play	p. 132
Object play	p. 137
Social play	p. 142
Comparisons with human play	p. 153
Communication as culture	p. 157
Social grooming	p. 157
Courtship	p. 167
Vocal communication	p. 173
Other behavioural differences	p. 174
Female life histories	p. 176
Foster mothers and orphans	p. 176
The extinction of K-group	p. 182
Immigrant and resident female relationships	p. 187
Infanticide and cannibalism	p. 193
Female friendships	p. 197
Sexual strategies	p. 201
Initiation of mating	p. 201
Sexual selection	p. 205
Male and female sex appeal	p. 210
Male political strategies	p. 217
Male intimidation displays	p. 217
Alpha males and power takeovers	p. 225
Power takeovers in K-group	p. 227
Ntologi, unparalleled leader of M-group	p. 236
Kalunde's rule	p. 240
Ntologi restored	p. 247
Ntologi loses again and Nsaba's hegemony begins	p. 250
The age of new leaders	p. 255
Meat sharing and chimpanzee politics	p. 261
Turnover mechanism of power	p. 265
Culture	p. 270
Chimpanzee culture	p. 270
Innovations that spread	p. 271
Innovations that failed to spread	p. 275
What spread and did not spread	p. 277
Human and chimpanzee cultures compared	p. 278
Conservation and the future	p. 281
The significance of chimpanzee research	p. 281
Ecotourism	p. 283
Keeping a pristine environment	p. 286
Preservation of the chimpanzee	p. 289
Postscript	p. 293
References	p. 295
Index	p. 311
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