Overview

The chimpanzees are the closest living evolutionary relatives to our own species, Homo sapiens. As such, they have long exerted a fascination over those with an interest in human evolution, and what makes humans unique. Chrisophe Boesch and Hedwige Boesch-Acherman undertook an incredible observational study of a group of wild chimpanzees of the Tai forest in Cote D'Ivoire, spending some fifteen years in the West African jungle with them. This fascinating book is the result of these years of painstaking research among the chimps. Chimpanzee behaviour is documented here in all its impressive diversity and variety. Aggression, territoriality, social structure and relationships, reproductive strategies, hunting, tool use - each of these is given its own chapter, along with topics such as chimp intelligence, life histories, and demography. The authors take care to place their observations within the broader context of research in behavioural ecology, and to compare and contrast their findings with other important work on chimpanzee groups, such as that by Jane Goodall. The book concludes with a summary chapter relating the chimpanzee findings to our understanding of human evolution. Combining careful scientific observation with a store of entertaining anecdotes, this is a lively and readable book. It also succeeds in shedding light on some of the central questions around the evolutionary relationships between the primates, and in particular the affinity between chimpanzees and humans. 'This is a major contribution to the study of the great apes, and a significant addition to debates about human/ape evolution. It has all the makings of a classic monograph.'

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9780198505075

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a truly remarkable book British Journal of Psychology As natural history with an agenda, it doesn t get any better than this Ethology Combining careful scientific observation with a store of entertaining anecodotes, this is a lively and readable book. It also succeeds in shedding light on some of the central questions around the evolutionary relationship between primates, and in particular the affinity between chimpanzees and humans R Human Evolution

a truly remarkable book British Journal of Psychology As natural history with an agenda, it doesn t get any better than this Ethology Combining careful scientific observation with a store of entertaining anecodotes, this is a lively and readable book. It also succeeds in shedding light on some of the central questions around the evolutionary relationship between primates, and in particular the affinity between chimpanzees and humans R Human Evolution

Each chapter, however, is fascinating, with new facts and new observations to surprise and please even the most devoted chimpanzee reseacher.The non-specialist psychologists reading this book will be equally rewarded with the richness of information, the style of reasoning, and, I think a renewed sense of awe and wonder in chimpanzee behaviour and nature British Journal of Psychology '... clearly written and will be fascinating to anyone interested in apes or human evolution' BBC Wildlife

Author Information

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Inselstrasse 22 04103 Leipzig Germany 00-49-341-99-52-201 00-49- 341-99-52-119 (fax) boesch@eva.mpg.de

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