Who is Jane Goodall and what has she taught the world about chimpanzees? Jane Goodall is an English primatologist, ethologist, and anthropologist. Best known for her forty-five year study of chimpanzee social and family life, she is widely recognized for her work in preserving the natural habitat of chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. Goodall made it her lifelong quest to teach the world about chimpanzees. “In July 1960, at the age of 26, Jane Goodall travelled from England to what is today known as Tanzania and bravely entered the little-known world of wild chimpanzees. She was equipped with nothing more than a notebook and a pair of binoculars. But with her unyielding patience and optimism, she won the trust of these initially …show more content…
She learned that chimps aren’t all that different from humans
The structure of the chimpanzee brain is startlingly similar to that of the human brain. Many aspects of chimpanzee behavior and social interactions are the same as humans’. Various abilities once thought to be unique to humans have been convincingly demonstrated in chimpanzees. Nonverbal communication includes play tickling, punching, hugs, kisses, pats on the back, and so on. Chimpanzees also express many of the same emotions, such as sadness, fear, joy, and despair.
The chimpanzee developmental cycle is not that different from humans either. Infancy lasts for about five years, followed by childhood, and then adolescence, which lasts until the chimps are about thirteen. The Gombe chimps start to look old when they are about forty-five years old. In captivity, they can typically live for sixty-five years or more. Chimpanzee infants and human infants both have the capacity for endless energetic play, are highly curious, learn by observation and imitation, and, above all, need constant reassurance and attention. For both, affectionate physical contact is essential for healthy
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After choosing a suitable foundation, such as a horizontal fork with several branches growing out, the chimpanzee stands on this and bends down a number of branches from each side so that the leafy ends rest across the foundation. He [or she] holds them in place with his feet. Finally he bends in all the little leafy twigs that project around the nest, and the bed is ready. But the chimpanzee likes his comfort, and often, after lying down for a moment, he sits up and reaches out for a handful of leafy twigs, which he pops under his head or some other part of his body. Then he settles down again with obvious