 |
Primatological Field Studies
|
|
the Awash Valley, Ethiopia
Our field project on the baboons (Papio hamadryas and P. anubis) and grivet
monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops aethiops) of the Awash National Park was
begun in 1973 in collaboration with Hans Kummer (University of Zurich)
and F.L. Brett (University College London), and since 1982 has been run
in collaboration with J. Phillips-Conroy (Washington University, St. Louis).
Many graduate students from both American institutions have participated
in fieldwork, and most of these have gone on to complete Ph.D. dissertations
on the material gathered. As well as being one of the longest-running
studies of primate populations in the wild, this was the first to investigate
a naturally-occurring primate hybrid zone (between the two baboon populations),
and the first to apply "hands-on" methods of live-trapping,
sampling, and release, to primate populations that were concurrently the
subject of behavioral observation. We thus have a unique genetic, developmental
and biomedical database that extends over nearly thirty years, and much
work remains to be done on it in the labs (see the section on "Population
Genetics and Molecular Anthropology Laboratory", above). Our quest
for understanding of the biological bases of behavioral variation continues
to lead us into new areas – we have recently become the first team
to assay behavior-related levels of neurotransmitters in the cerebro-spinal
fluid of wild non-human primates, and the first to document natural levels
of a "signalling" molecule related to nutritional levels and
the onset of pubertal changes. We anticipate that there will be future
opportunities for fieldwork by graduate students, both as members of the
trapping team, and individually in research projects.
Resources and Facilities in Physical Anthropology
|
top |
Rufus D. Smith
Hall
25 Waverly Place
New York, NY 10003 |
telephone: 212.998.8550
fax: 212.995.4014
anthropology@nyu.edu |
|
