The following post features exemplary work from one of my SA 202: Introduction to Anthropology students. For this assignment students were to pick a famous anthropologist and provide a brief biographical description of the anthropologist's contributions to the discipline. Please acknowledge this student's hard work by letting him know how well he did and how much you enjoy his work. :)
By: Wyatt Loethen
Dr. Jane Goodall is a British
biological anthropologist who is well known for her many significant
discoveries about primates while studying chimpanzees. She has on numerous occasions completely
changed the way scholars viewed chimpanzees, humans, and primates at large, and
how and why we interact. Goodall is also
a very notable animal activist and has worked dutifully for the welfare of the
animals she studies. Today, she spends
most of her time devoting herself to the conservation of the great apes and
their habitats through her non-for-profit organization, The Jane Goodall
Institute. Goodall’s many contributions to primatology have redefined the whole
identity and definition of what it means to be human, and how we relate
socially to other species in our taxonomic family (Jane Goodall Institute
[JGI], 2016).
Goodall’s anthropological career
began in the year 1960 when she left her home in England and traveled to what
is modern day Tanzania to study chimpanzees (JGI 2016). Goodall studied the chimpanzee’s social
interactions and most simple actions, and compared them to how we as humans
interact. One of the first observations
Goodall made while in Africa, and one of her most important observations, was
when she witnessed a chimpanzee using a stick as a tool. The chimpanzee modified the twig by removing
its leaves, then stuck it down a termite mound in order to more easily eat
termites (Goodall, 2002). This was the
first documented example of a non-human organism making and manipulating an
item into a tool. This was such an
important event because before Goodall witnessed this phenomenon humans were
defined by scholars as “the toolmakers”, making it part of the human identity
and superiority that humans are the only organism capable of using tools. After
hearing about Goodall’s discovery, her mentor, Lewis Leakey remarked, “We must
now redefine ‘man’, redefine 'tool,' or accept chimpanzees as humans” (Goodall,
2002).
Before Goodall traveled to Africa
very little research had been done on chimpanzees, making her one of the first
pioneers to study how similar humans are to chimpanzees, especially
socially. Goodall dispelled many
conventions on what is “human”, such as compassion, life lasting emotional and
familial bonds, hunting in large sophisticated groups (Goodall, 2002), and even
war (Balter, 2014). Goodall’s research
has helped us understand how similar humans are to chimpanzees, as well as how
sophisticated they really are as a species.
Goodall’s
scientific contributions to anthropology have proven to be some of the most
important discoveries in the 20th century, not only for the sake of
us understanding more about chimpanzees, but it also helps us understand what
social and psychological traits our common ancestors could potentially
had. Goodall’s works also have helped educate
people about many issues that chimpanzees, our closest relative, are facing,
such as overhunting and a loss of habitat due to deforestation and pollution.
Goodall has worked diligently to inform people on how they can help prevent
this and protect the natural world.
Dr. Jane
Goodall’s many significant contributions to biological anthropology have been
some of the most important discoveries in the field. Goodall’s research of chimpanzees has shown
that they are just as capable as humans of feeling emotions and modifying
objects as tools. This breakthrough has had a huge impact on the way people
think about what is “human” and what is not.
Many chimpanzees, their habitats, and their way of living have also been
saved by the help of Goodall’s work by her conservation efforts. Goodall’s work in anthropology has helped
shaped the thought on how contemporary scholars view what makes us human, and
without her contributions to the field of biological anthropology the view of
all primates would be considerably different.
Works Cited
Balter, M. (2014, September 7). Why Do Chimps Kill Each
other. Retrieved September 6, 2016, from
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/09/why-do-chimps-kill-each-other
The Jane Goodall Institute. (n.d.). About Jane. Retrieved
September 5, 2016, from www.janegoodall.org/who-we-are/about-jane/
Jane Goodall: What Separates Us from Chimpanzees [Video
file]. (2002, March). In TED Talk. Retrieved September 5, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_goodall_on_what_separates_us_from_the_apes?language
=en
31 comments:
it's crazy to think that how without her contributions the view of all not just some nut all primates would be different.
We should learn to and appreciate, she has done a lot of the primates and w/o her they wouldn't be who they are now.
Dr Goodall sounds like an awesome person and anthropologist. Humans need to learn the importance of preserving the natural land, these species deserve to live in their habitat and not be hunted to the point of extinction. It was interesting to learn that chimpanzees are complex and intelligent enough to understand how to use tools as humans do. Is that not a good enough reason to sustain their habitat and species. I feel that God created us all for a purpose even animals. How would we like it if some one was hunting us and tearing down our habitats for their own personal selfish gain?
While I realize that you were probably making a rhetorical question there it is actually an excellent metaphor for some of the social problems that exist in our society.
It is interesting to lean about chimpanzees, humans, and primates at large, and we should appreciate her hand work.
I find it incredible that one person can help an entire planet learn so much about something. Especially an animal that is so closely related to humans.
it is crazy that with all the time and effort that was put into doing all those things that you still can be under-appreciated and know known to many who don't take an interest in learning about animals
Salute to Dr Jane Goodall for her research in the Biological Anthropology field and breaking the barriers between chimps and humans. Hopefully we will be able to stop the pollution problem so we can continue to study the relationship between us to hopefully discover, we're not that different.
Dr. Jane Goodall is an extremely amazing anthropologist in my opinion. I have always found her and her work fascinating! Without her work, we probably wouldn't understand half of what we do now as it pertains to chimpanzees and primates as a whole. - Shannon
I think what she is doing and has done is a good things and should be appreciated a little bit more than what she is getting credit for.
Ainya Lomax Soc.412
I salute Dr.Jane Goodall works because as stated by previous comments, without her and the work she has done with chimpanzees, we wouldn't know much about how chimpanzees and primates can learn and the barriers they can have between themselves and humans. -Brianne Pickett
I think what Dr. Goodall is doing is very outstanding. I love to read and learn about animals. I love to watch shows that gives me a close look on how animals live and interact in their environments/ habitat. It's pretty amazing that she studies chimpanzees that one of my favorite animals.
Dr. Jane Goodall is a great anthropologist to me as well. The fact that she had time to travel and study chimpanzees is good , it help to give people more information about a specie that's the closets relative to human, which I did not know personally. I feel that anyone who take out time to study something others might not think about brain holds a lot of knowledge and can help others.
I respect people like Dr. Goodall because she studies primates so that people like you and me can have a better understanding of the primate lifestyle. She also helps us understand ways how we can possibly prevent the extinction of these primates.
I feel like Jane Goodall is a very influential figure to animal world being that she had ground-breaking discoveries and research on chimpanzees.
-Arthur Holloway
I had seen a video about her research how chimpanzees where using twigs as utensils. Its funny how smart they are as chimpanzees and using certain objects for their everyday life.
i find her research very interesting. it makes me think that theirs a lot of stuff that we do not understand about animals, especially the chimpanzee. Before this i did not know how much in common we have with animals, and that emotions are not just limited to humans.
Back in high school i had to opportunity to really study Jane when I wrote a research final on her but I really never understood her job as clearly as I did after reading this article.
Her should be appreciated by everyone. She put her life into her studies and without her efforts we would've never knew so much about primate species.
I think that it would be quite interesting to learn about our "closest relative" primates. They are very interesting animal in my mind. I think it is interesting that it was discovered in the 20th century about the importance of the primates. The using of the tools and such are very interesting. I think it is quite strange of how close Monkeys are to humans.
Ashley Jacobson
Jane is a very interesting anthropologist, she does alot of great research and working with monkeys I believe you would have to be good with patience and test done on these monkeys to see a rise in how well they can work individual and in groups. You kinda have to look at in the human stand point a lot of work gets done better in groups then by yourself depending on what is being taught.
Steven, we haven't gone over this yet in class yet, but the proper term is apes. Monkeys have tails, and as chumpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, etc. do not they're apes.
Dr. Jane Goodall seems to be a great woman. She’s a smart woman who inspires and changes the world, for every walk of life.
Brandon Allen
Dr.Jane easily earns a lot of respect for all she has done with these primates. she really put her all into these animals and they lifestyle would probably still be undiscovered if it wasn't for her.
Goodall was a very intellegent women, she inspires me and without her we would have no knowledge of the things we know now.
I remember learning about the intelligent primates in class and how many words they can remember in sign language.
Jovie Black
After being in class and learning about the different primates, I can see how human oriented they are. I now view them in a different way, because these species are all smart in their own way. Most of the things they do are equivalent to humans.
Dr. Goodall deserves a lot of respect. It's crazy to think that one person can make such a difference and even start changing others perspectives on the topic.
From this article it seem like it to Dr. Goodall did a lot to get at the position she's at right now. She had to do a lot of research and that proves how intelligent woman she is. i find it amazing how primates can be so intelligent to the point they know to use sign language to communicate with humans.
Kenneth Granger
I love when people take the time out to save a animal or a group of species. That shows all people aren't against animals. Dr. Goodall, you deserve all the good thats coming your way.
I like how she is using her attention/fame to help save our animals. Maybe if she continues to do this then she would be a hero for many animals to come.
-Jasmine Busby
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