Among Orangutans

Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture

Carel Van Schaik, Perry Van Duijnhoven

244 pages, parution le 16/12/2004

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Résumé

The local people know him as the "Man of the Forest," who refused to speak for fear of being put to work. And indeed the bear-like Sumatran orangutan, with his moon face, lanky arms, and shaggy red hair, does seem uncannily human; one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the orangutan may have much to tell us about the origins of human intelligence, technology, and culture. In this book one of the world's leading experts on Sumatran orangutans, working in collaboration with nature photographer Perry van Duijnhoven, takes us deep into the disappearing world of these captivating primates.

In a narrative that is part adventure, part field journal, part call to conscience, Carel van Schaik introduces us to the colorful characters and complex lives of the orangutans who inhabit the vanishing forests of Sumatra. In compelling words and pictures, we come to know the personalities and temperaments of our primate cousins as they go about their days: building double-decker tree nests; using leaves as napkins, gloves, rain hats, and blankets, and sticks as backscratchers and probes; nurturing their infants longer and more intensely than any other nonhuman mammal. Here are the births and deaths, the first use of a tool, the defeat of a rival, the gradual loss of influence that, while fascinating to observe, may also help us to reconstruct human evolution.

L'auteur - Carel Van Schaik

Carel van Schaik is Professor and Director of the Anthropological Institute & Museum, University of Zürich.

L'auteur - Perry Van Duijnhoven

Perry van Duijnhoven is a Dutch artist and photographer

Sommaire

Preface
The Great Ape Paradox
Planet of the Apes
''Homo sylvestris''
Orangutan Heaven
Arbo-Reality
Party On (and Off)
Life in Slow Motion
The Dawn of Technology
The Culture Club
Triangulating Human Nature
Epilogue: Living on Borrowed Time
Notes
References
Index

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Auteur(s)	Carel Van Schaik, Perry Van Duijnhoven
Parution	16/12/2004
Nb. de pages	244
Format	21 x 24
Couverture	Relié
Poids	862g
Intérieur	Quadri
EAN13	9780674015777
ISBN13	978-0-674-01577-7