Toshisada Nishida talks with
ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about
this month's Emerging Research Front Paper in the field of
Social Sciences, general.
Article: Demography, female life history, and
reproductive profiles among the chimpanzees of
Mahale
Authors: Nishida,
T;Corp, N;Hamai, M;Hasegawa, T;Hiraiwa-Hasegawa,
M;Hosaka, K;Hunt, KD;Itoh, N;Kawanaka, K;Matsumoto-Oda,
A;Mitani, JC;Nakamura, M;Norikoshi, K;Sakamaki, T;Turner,
L;Uehara, S;Zamma, K
Journal: AMER J PRIMATOL, 59 (3): 99-121 MAR 2003
Addresses: Kyoto Univ, Grad Sch Sci, Dept Zool, Sakyo Ku,
Kitashirakawa Oiwakecho, Kyoto, Japan.
Sophia Univ, Inst Life Sci, Tokyo 102, Japan.
Japan Monkey Ctr, Inuyama, Aichi, Japan.
(addresses have been truncated.)
Why do you think your paper is highly
cited?
It is based on long-term and careful monitoring of wild chimpanzees in the
Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, Africa.
Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or
synthesis of knowledge?
Demography provides critical data to increase our understanding of the
evolution, ecology, and conservation of primate populations. It's a new
discovery which includes the lack of menopause among wild female
chimpanzees and it also documents many of the demographic parameters of
chimpanzees.
Would you summarize the significance of your paper
in layman's terms?
This paper reports on the number of infants female chimps have in their
lifetime, the causes of death, long-term population dynamics, the extent of
female transfer, which is influenced by the size and composition of the
unit group and size of the overall local community, the lack of menopause
(namely, human menopause is unique), and many other demographic
characteristics of wild chimpanzees.
Toshisada Nishida
Executive Director, Japan Monkey Centre
Inuyama, Japan
and
Professor Emeritus
Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science
Kyoto University
Sakyo, Kyoto, Japan
Related information: Toshisada Nishida’s contributions to
primatology
(PDF file)
Keywords: wild chimpanzees, Mahale Mountains National Park,
conservation of primate populations, lack of menopause among wild female
chimpanzees, demographic characteristics of wild chimpanzees, Toshisada
Nishida, primatology.