Papers by Birute Galdikas
Science, 2003
Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for ... more Geographic variation in some aspects of chimpanzee behavior has been interpreted as evidence for culture. Here we document similar geographic variation in orangutan behaviors. Moreover, as expected under a cultural interpretation, we find a correlation between geographic distance and cultural difference, a correlation between the abundance of opportunities for social learning and the size of the local cultural repertoire, and no effect of habitat on the content of culture. Hence, great-ape cultures exist, and may have done so for at least 14 million years.
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International Journal of Primatology, 2011
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Background: Recent findings of Plasmodium in African apes have changed our perspectives on the ev... more Background: Recent findings of Plasmodium in African apes have changed our perspectives on the evolution of malarial parasites in hominids. However, phylogenetic analyses of primate malarias are still missing information from Southeast Asian apes. In this study, we report molecular data for a malaria parasite lineage found in orangutans. Methodology/Principal Findings: We screened twenty-four blood samples from Pongo pygmaeus (Kalimantan, Indonesia) for Plasmodium parasites by PCR. For all the malaria positive orangutan samples, parasite mitochondrial genomes (mtDNA) and two antigens: merozoite surface protein 1 42 kDa (MSP-142) and circumsporozoite protein gene (CSP) were amplified, cloned, and sequenced. Fifteen orangutans tested positive and yielded 5 distinct mitochondrial haplotypes not previously found. The haplotypes detected exhibited low genetic divergence among them, indicating that they belong to one species. We report phylogenetic analyses using mitochondrial genomes, MS...
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Data are lacking on the specific diseases to which great apes are susceptible and the transmissio... more Data are lacking on the specific diseases to which great apes are susceptible and the transmission dynamics and overall impact of these diseases. We examined the prevalence of Plasmodium spp. infections in semicaptive orangutans housed at the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, by using a combination of microscopic and DNA molecular techniques to identify the Plasmodium spp. in each animal. Previous studies indicated 2 orangutan-specific Plasmodium spp., but our data show 4 Plasmodium spp. These findings provide evidence for P. vivax transmission between humans and orangutans and for P. cynomolgi transmission between macaques and orangutans. These data have potential implications for the conservation of orangutans and also for the bidirectional transmission of parasites between orangutans
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It would be very useful if any birdwatchers in the lowlands of Jambi Province would try to includ... more It would be very useful if any birdwatchers in the lowlands of Jambi Province would try to include some early morning or late afternoon river trips in their time schedule (this advice applies anywhere in the lowlands of Sumatra. Ed.). ... Holmes, DA 1976. A record of the White-winged ...
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The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is the most widespread feline in Asia. It has been rec... more The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is the most widespread feline in Asia. It has been recorded in a range of habitats, including monoculture landscapes, such as oil palm plantations. Here, we report on a study on the presence, home range, activity patterns and diet of the species in an oil palm landscape to assess their viability as biological pest controller of rats. The study took place in United Plantations/PT SSS estate in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. From July 2014 to March 2018, we captured 11 leopard cats in purpose-built cage-traps and fitted them with VHF radio-transmitters. They were tracked for a 44 months study period, during which we collected a total of 2.031 GPS locations used for estimating the respective cats’ activities and home-ranges. The cats are strictly nocturnal and prefer to hide and rest in thick bush, primarily consisting of sword-fern (Nephrolepis sp.) during day-time, but forage both on the ground and in the palm canopy at night. The av...
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PLOS ONE, 2016
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Scientific Reports, 2017
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Scientific Reports, 2016
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Confiscated and displaced mammals are often taken to sanctuaries, where the explicit goal may be ... more Confiscated and displaced mammals are often taken to sanctuaries, where the explicit goal may be reintroduction to the wild. By inadvertently collecting animals from different source populations, however, such efforts risk reintroducing individuals that have not been in genetic contact for significant periods of time. Using genetic analyses and 44 years of data from Camp Leakey, an orang-utan rehabilitation site on Borneo, we determined the minimum extent to which orang-utans representing non-native, geographically and reproductively isolated taxa were reintroduced into the surrounding wild population. We found two reintroduced females were from a non-native subspecies, and have since produced at least 22 hybridized and introgressed descendants to date, of which at least 15 are living. Given that Bornean orang-utan subspecies are thought to have diverged from a common ancestor around 176,000 years ago, with marked differentiation over the last 80,000 years, we highlight the need for...
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Kukila, Oct 3, 2011
Tanjung Puting National Park is located on the south coast of Kalimantan (Borneo) in the province... more Tanjung Puting National Park is located on the south coast of Kalimantan (Borneo) in the province of Kalimantan Tengah, between 2"35'S and 3° 20'S and 111° 50' and 112° 15'E. Tanjung Puting was first established as a game reserve in two parts during 1936 and 1937 by the Dutch colonial government and the Sultan of Kotawaringin. Consisting of 305,000 ha the reserve was established primarily for the protection of orangutans Pongo pygmaeus , Proboscis Monkeys Nasalls larvatus and rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis with the latter, however, becoming extinct in the 1940's due to severe hunting pressure for its horns. Orangutans and proboscis monkeys still remain plentiful. In 1982 the status of Tanjung puting was upgraded to National park.
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エコソフィア, May 1, 2000
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Primates, 1983
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Reproductive Biology of the Great Apes, 1981
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The Neglected Ape, 1995
The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) once ranged widely over Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The species ... more The orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) once ranged widely over Southeast Asia and Indonesia. The species is now reduced to the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Within Borneo, continued habitat destruction is fragmenting the remaining wild populations into isolated subpopulations or demes. These two processes, overall reduction in population numbers and fragmentation of surviving populations, pose the greatest threat to the ultimate survival of endangered species in the wild.
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The Neglected Ape, 1995
At Tanjung Puting, adolescent female orangutans were the most social of all age/sex classes and s... more At Tanjung Puting, adolescent female orangutans were the most social of all age/sex classes and should not be described as solitary or even semi-solitary. Non-exclusive groupings involving adolescent females and subadult males were the associations most commonly seen at Tanjung Puting. Adolescent female interactions with adult males were almost totally restricted to consortships which the female initiated, maintained, and terminated. Adolescent female interactions with adult females were largely absent due to adult female agonism. This agonism probably relates to child-care constraints and food competition experienced by the adult female. Adolescent female interactions with subadult males involved long term associations in which no copulations took place and short term (<1 day) association in which “resisted mating” occurred. Overall, heterosexual associations were social. Adolescent females did not consort with subadult males. Adolescent female interactions with their own age/sex class were invariably social, and adolescent females always traveled together following encounters. Adolescent females were the only age/sex class observed to carry out interunit grooming. First parturition for wild orangutan females is estimated at approximately 14 or 15 years of age. Adolescent females experience a period of sterility which may exceed one year prior to first parturition. Adolescent females copulate at higher rates than do adult females. Adolescent females were the only age/sex class at Tanjung Puting to display high levels of proceptive behavior. This proceptive behavior, while not always successful, appeared crucial to inducing consorts to copulate. Adolescent females preferred adult males as sexual partners, but themselves were not preferred by adult males. A large amount of learning appears to take place during the orangutan’s adolescence as a result of increased sociality. Due to their small size, rapid travel and long day ranges, sociality probably is not as costly for adolescent female orangutans as it is for adults. Adolescent females probably benefit from associating with other orangutan units because, based on the age/sex class they are associating with, grouping provides: a) a potential context in which to learn adaptive solutions to social and/or environmental problems, b) increased foraging efficiency, c) protection from predators and/or “enemies,” and d) a potential context in which dominance and affiliative relations between individuals can be developed.
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Human Evolution, 1993
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The Neglected Ape, 1995
Imitation and tool use are expressions of intelligence that have, at one time or another, played ... more Imitation and tool use are expressions of intelligence that have, at one time or another, played central roles in evolutionary reconstructions of human intelligence. It is fairly well established that both occur in great apes, but questions remain over the relations between the two. This relation is critical because imitation could offer a powerful process for the social transmission of tool related skills. We explored the relation between imitation and tool use with data from our observational study on spontaneous imitation in the rehabilitant orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Indonesian Borneo. From 395 hours of observation and other reports on 26 orangutans, we identified 354 incidents of imitative behavior; 48 of these involved tool use where features of the behavior strongly suggested that the tool skills were imitatively acquired. In this paper, we discuss these incidents: the qualities of this “imitative” tool use, evidence that it was imitatively rather than experientially acquired, and the implications of these findings for models of primate and human intelligence.
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Science, 1978
Pongid remains are rarely recovered from tropical rain forests. Observations of a Bornean bearded... more Pongid remains are rarely recovered from tropical rain forests. Observations of a Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) scavenging an orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) carcass and the recovery of an orangutan skull fragment corroborates evidence from Africa and suggests that the scavenging of wild pigs may play an important role in the destruction of pongid remains.
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Papers by Birute Galdikas