Mahale Chimpanzees 50 Years of Research

About this book

Long-term ecological research studies are rare and invaluable resources, particularly when they are as thoroughly documented as the Mahale Mountain Chimpanzee Project in Tanzania. Directed by Toshisada Nishida from 1965 until 2011, the project continues to yield new and fascinating findings about our closest neighbour species. In a fitting tribute to Nishida's contribution to science, Mahale Chimpanzees brings together fifty years of research into one encyclopaedic volume. Alongside previously unpublished data, the editors include new translations of Japanese writings throughout Mahale Chimpanzees to bring previously inaccessible work to non-Japanese speakers. The history and ecology of the site, chimpanzee behaviour and biology, and ecological management are all addressed through firsthand accounts by Mahale researchers. The authors highlight long-term changes in behaviour, where possible, and draw comparisons with other chimpanzee sites across Africa to provide an integrative view of chimpanzee research today.

Contents

List of contributors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction Michio Nakamura

Part I. History and Overview:
2. Overview of the field site: Mahale Mountains and their surroundings
3. Research history
4. Chimpanzee distribution: accumulation of survey reports
5. Who's who

Part II. Social Organization:
6. Social system: features and variations
7. Demography of the M group
8. Home range
9. Fission–fusion grouping
10. Disappearance of K group male chimpanzees: re-examination of group extinction
11. Intergroup relationships

Part III. Ecology:
12. Climate and climatological trends in the Kasoje Forest
13. Mahale flora: its historical background and long-term changes
14. Patterns and trends in fruiting phenology: some implications for important chimpanzee diet
15. Mammalian fauna
16. Interspecific relationships

Part IV. Feeding:
17. Diet and feeding behavior
18. Taste of chimpanzee foods
19. Seeds from feces: implications for seed dispersal and fecal analyses
20. Hunting and food sharing
21. Insect-feeding behavior and insect fauna: with special reference to plant–insect relationships

Part V. Life History and Health:
22. Development and growth: with special reference to mother–infant relationships
23. Gerontology
24. Chimpanzee self-medication: a historical perspective of the key findings
25. Diseases and deaths: variety and impact on social life
26. Conspecific killings

Part VI. Social Relations:
27. Male-male relationships
28. Female–female relationships
29. Male–female relationships: affiliative, interventional, and dominant–subordinate interactions
30. Orphans and allomothering

Part VII. Social Behavior:
31. Intimidation display
32. Aggression and conflict management
33. Greetings and dominance
35. Sexual behavior and mating strategies
36. Social play: history of the studies at Mahale and a new perspective
37. Ethograms and the diversity of behaviors

Part VIII. Behavioral Diversity:
38. Culture
39. Vocal communication
40. Diversity of play
41. Laterality of hand function
42. Use of tools and other objects
43. Bed making and nocturnal behavior

Part IX. From Field to Lab:
44. Field endocrinology
45. Skeletal and dental morphology
46. Genetic studies
47. Internal parasites

Part X. People and Chimpanzees:
48. Current status of tourism
49. Culture and subsistence ecology of the Tongwe, and their significance in chimpanzee research
50. Conservation and the future

Appendix I. Plant list
Appendix II. Dietary list
Appendix III. Mammal list
Appendix IV. Meteorological data collected at Kansyana, 1983–2013
Appendix V. List of researchers who visited Mahale
Appendix VI. List of abbreviations used for Mahale chimpanzee names
Appendix VII. Research and conservation funds for Mahale

Index

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Biography

Michio Nakamura is Associate Professor at the Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan. He has studied the Mahale chimpanzees since 1994 and is a recipient of the Primate Society of Japan's Takashima Prize.

Kazuhiko Hosaka is Associate Professor at Kamakura Women's University, Japan. His research focuses on the social interactions, hunting and meat-eating behaviour of chimpanzees in relation to human evolution.

Noriko Itoh is a researcher in the Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University, Japan. She has studied the Mahale chimpanzees since 1995, focusing on grouping behaviours and related environments.

Koichiro Zamma is a researcher in the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies and in the Wildlife Research Center, both at Kyoto University, Japan. His research focuses on the impact of ectoparasite infections on grooming and on the sleep-related behaviours of chimpanzees.


Contributors:
- Frans de Waal
- Michio Nakamura
- Kazuhiko Hosaka
- Noriko Itoh
- Koichiro Zamma
- Yukio Takahata
- Shunkichi Hanamura
- Tetsuya Sakamaki
- Daisuke Muramatsu
- Hiroshi Ihobe
- Takashi Hayakawa
- Mieko Fuse
- Takuya Matsumoto
- Hitoshige Hayaki
- Michael A. Huffman
- Takanori Kooriyama
- Nobuyuki Kutsukake
- Shiho Fujita
- Eiji Inoue
- Masaki Shimada
- Takahisa Matsusaka
- Hitonaru Nishie
- Linda F. Marchant
- Daisuke Shimizu
- Hideo Hasegawa