jane goodall dian fossey and birutė galdikas

Her thesis, based on her first five years of work at the Gombe Stream National Park, was entitled “Behavior of the Free-Ranging Chimpanzee”.īelow is a timeline delineating some of Goodall’s landmark discoveries from 1960-1997, taken from Adrian G. In 1962, Goodall entered a doctorate program at Cambridge, where she received a PhD in Ethology, the study of animal behavior, without having ever attained a bachelor’s degree. For instance, Goodall witnessed dominant females killing younger females, and even practicing cannibalism, within their community in order to maintain their dominance. Chimpanzees adhere to social hierarchies within their communities – hierarchies that are often determined through belligerence and violence. In addition to these displays of affection, Goodall observed social aggression. These behaviors suggest that chimpanzees develop close, loyal, and sometimes life-long relationships between family members or other individuals within a community. They demonstrated “human” gestures such as hugs, kisses, back- and head-pats, and tickling. Moreover, Goodall made significant observations regarding the social interactions and hierarchies of chimpanzees. She asserted that chimpanzees had personalities, and were capable of thinking and feeling emotions such as joy or sorrow. Hylobatidae, or gibbons, sometimes referred to as lesser apes.Ĭhimpanzees sitting together, one’s arm around the other (courtesy of Huffington Post).Apes can be divided into two subgroups of living species: They are the largest primates in the world. The name “Leakey’s Angels” was coined by Galdikas, first used in her book Reflections of Eden(1995) – a nod to the fact that she met Leakey in Los Angeles, the City of “Angels”.īefore we go into the scientists, let’s first define “ape”.Īpes are a group of tailless primates native to Africa and Southeast Asia. They are Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. These three scientists are all incredible women who devoted themselves to studying apes collectively they comprise Leakey’s Angels, so named because they all worked with archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey.

Over the next three Sundays, Scientist Sunday will feature three scientists that comprise a group known as “Leakey’s Angels”. Ok, we are going to do something a little different. From left to right, Biruté Galdikas, Jane Goodall, and Dian Fossey (image from National Geographic)

Jane goodall dian fossey and birutė galdikas