education… Famous Footprints: 49 years ago today, 3.6 million years ago (give or take) 20 Jul 2018 ... then, just ~3.6 million years later... Three and a half million years separate the individual who left these footprints in the sands of Africa from the one who left…
News and Links… Funny, funny apes 2 Jul 2018 Following up from my appearance on Planet Watch Radio, LM asked "What is bonobo's capacity for humor and what function does that serve?" A brief (and admittedly unsatisfying) answer on…
climate… Present and Persistent Palm Oil Problems 27 Jun 2018 The IUCN Oil Palm Task Force has just published a review of the current conundrums of industrial oil palm crops in the tropics. Land-clearing for plantations geard toward international palm oil production remain…
News and Links… 1001 Citations! 10 Mar 2018 I just checked my Google Scholar profile today, and noticed something semi-momentous: "Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture" has been cited by 1,001 other publications. This is the primary publication…
disasters… Global Demand for Natural Resources Eliminated More Than 100,000 Bornean Orangutans — Serge Wich’s research and projects 15 Feb 2018 We just published a new paper that indicates a massive decline of orangutans on Borneo. The paper was published in Current Biology. via Global Demand for Natural Resources Eliminated More Than…
disasters… Palm Oil reporting and interactive map 30 Jun 2017 The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) developed SPOTT to report on some of the main drivers of tropical deforestation and habitat loss. They've released transparency scores and assessments of the major palm…
climate… Earth Day & March for Science 22 Apr 2017 I'm heading to the lovely Santa Cruz March for Science and Earth Day celebration, and wanted to share a song to celebrate that: (You can also see the lyrics to…
primates RIP Elwyn Simons 17 Mar 2016 Elwyn L. Simons was one of the leading figures of paleoprimatology, and founder of the Duke University Primate Center. His fossil discoveries included Aegyptopithecus. He worked on primate conservation, focusing on…
Living Systems… World Wildlife Day: It’s about their lives 3 Mar 20163 Mar 2016 In this beautiful essay, naturalist Paul Rosolie reminds us that it's not just about ecosystem accounting. It's about individual, intelligent animals. It's about tapping into our compassion and empathy. It's…
climate… The Smoke of Centuries: Indonesia’s Fires 9 Nov 2015 The fires in Indonesia burn rainforest trees that have grown and fed and housed orangutans for decades or centuries, and peat that has stored carbon for centuries or millennia. George Monbiot…
