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The Gombe Skeletal Sample and Case Studies

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Life and Death in the Gombe Chimpanzees

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

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Abstract

Jane Goodall and her colleagues have studied wild chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania since 1960. During the study period, efforts were made to preserve the skeletons of animals who died. This chapter describes the Gombe chimpanzee skeletal collection, including demographics of the sample and individual descriptions. The sample represents 49 chimpanzees who died between 1960 and 2008. Methods for preserving the skeletons as well as for macroscopic evaluation of the skeletal elements are described. This chapter also includes observations on dental eruption, epiphyseal fusion, and cranial suture closure as well as summary data on dominance rank and a discussion of the importance of dominance rank in chimpanzee social life and life history. The majority of the chapter consists in descriptions of the skeletal elements associated with each animal, and any lesions of particular interest. These are presented as brief case studies that incorporate life history data from the behavioral record from Gombe.

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  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    Claire A. Kirchhoff

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Kirchhoff, C.A. (2019). The Gombe Skeletal Sample and Case Studies. In: Life and Death in the Gombe Chimpanzees. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18355-4_1

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