Editing Primatology (section)

==Western primatology==

===Origins===
Western primatology stems primarily from research by North American and European scientists. Early primate study focused primarily on medical research, but some scientists also conducted "civilizing" experiments on chimpanzees in order to gauge both [[primate intelligence]] and the limits of their brainpower.

===Theory===
The study of primatology looks at the biological and psychological aspects of non-human primates. The focus is on studying the common links between humans and primates. Practitioners believe that by understanding our closest animal relatives, we might better understand the nature shared with our ancestors.

===Methods===
Primatology is a science. The general belief is that the scientific observation of nature must be either extremely limited, or completely controlled. Either way, the observers must be neutral to their subjects. This allows for data to be unbiased and for the subjects to be uninfluenced by [[human]] interference.

There are three methodological approaches in primatology: field study, the more realistic approach; laboratory study, the more controlled approach; and semi-free ranging, where primate habitat and wild social structure is replicated in a captive setting.

Field study is done in natural environments, in which scientific observers watch primates in their natural habitat.

Laboratory study is done in controlled lab settings. In lab settings, scientists are able to perform controlled [[experimentation]] on the learning capabilities and behavioral patterns of the animals.

In semi-free ranging studies, scientists are able to watch how primates might act in the wild but have easier access to them, and the ability to control their environments. Such facilities include the [[Living Links Center]] at the [[Yerkes National Primate Research Center]] in Georgia, US and the [[Elgin Center]] at [[Lion Country Safari]] in Florida, US.

All types of primate study in the Western methodology are meant to be neutral. Although there are certain Western primatologists who do more subjective research, the emphasis in this discipline is on the objective.

Early field primatology tended to focus on individual researchers. Researchers such as [[Jane Goodall]], [[Dian Fossey]] and [[Birute Galdikas]] are examples of this. In 1960, Jane Goodall traveled to the forest at Gombe Stream in Tanzania where her determination and skill allowed for her to observe behaviors of the [[chimpanzee]]s that no researcher had seen prior. Chimpanzees used tools made from twigs to extract termites from their nests. Additionally, [[Dian Fossey|Dian Fossey's]] work conducted at the [[Karisoke Research Center|Karisoke Research]] station in [[Rwanda]] proved the possibility of habituation among the mountain gorillas. Fossey learned that female [[gorilla]]s are often transferred between groups and gorillas eat their own dung to recycle nutrients. The third "trimate", [[Birutė Galdikas|Birute Galdikas]], spent over 12 years becoming habituated to the [[orangutan]]s in [[Borneo]], Indonesia. Galdikas utilized statistics and modern data collection to conclude her 1978 doctoral thesis regarding orangutan behavior and interactions.

===Notable Western primatologists===
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* [[Jeanne Altmann]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~altlab/|title=Altmann Laboratory|website=www.princeton.edu}}</ref>
* [[Sarah Blaffer Hrdy]]
* [[Christophe Boesch]]
* [[Geoffrey Bourne (anatomist)|Geoffrey Bourne]]
* [[Josep Call]]
* [[Clarence Ray Carpenter|C. R. Carpenter]]
* [[Colin Chapman (primatologist)|Colin Chapman]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chapmancolin.com/|title=Colin Chapman|website=Colin Chapman}}</ref>
* [[Dorothy Cheney (scientist)]]
* [[Charles Darwin]]
* [[Frans de Waal]]
* [[Thomas Defler]]
* [[Alejandro Estrada]]
* [[Linda Fedigan]]
* [[Dian Fossey]]
* [[Agustin Fuentes]]
* [[Birutė Galdikas]]
* [[Paul Garber]]
* [[Richard Lynch Garner]]
* [[Jane Goodall]]
* [[Colin Groves]]
* [[Harry Harlow]]
* [[Philip Hershkovitz]]
* [[Alison Jolly]]
* [[Nadezhda Ladygina-Kohts]]
* [[Louis Leakey]]
* [[Robert D. Martin]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://robertdmartin.wix.com/how-we-do-it | title=Home | access-date=29 December 2015 | archive-date=3 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224715/http://robertdmartin.wix.com/how-we-do-it | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Emil Wolfgang Menzel, Jr.]]
* [[Russell Mittermeier]]
* [[John R. Napier]]
* [[Carlos A. Peres]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/c-peres|title=Carlos Peres|website=www.uea.ac.uk|access-date=17 December 2018|archive-date=18 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181218010538/https://people.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/c-peres|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Anne E. Russon]]
* [[Jordi Sabater Pi]]
* [[Robert Sapolsky]]
* [[Carel van Schaik]]
* [[Robert Seyfarth (scientist)]]
* [[Meredith Small]]
* [[Barbara Smuts]]
* [[Craig Stanford]]
* [[Karen B. Strier]]
* [[Robert W. Sussman]]
* [[Michael Tomasello]]
* [[Sherwood Washburn]]
* [[David P. Watts]]
* [[Richard Wrangham]]
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