Chimpanzees in a hot, dry and open habitat: Mt Assirik, Senegal, West Africa Export

@article{citeulike:227-244, abstract = {The habitat of the chimpanzees of Mt Assirik, in the parc National du Niokolo-Koba, Senegal, is described in terms of rainfall, temperature and vegetation. The results are compared with those collected at five other sites of study elsewhere in Africa. Mt Assirik is the driest site at which chimpanzees have been studied, in terms of annual rainfall, proportion of dry months, and number of rainy days. Mt Assirik is also the hottest such site: the coolest mean maximum temperature at Mt Assirik exceeds the hottest such temperature at any other site. Mt. Assirik is the only site where chimpanzees have been studied in which the majority of vegetation is grassland. Forest constitutes less than 3\% of the surface area. In summary, Mt. Assirik presents a truly open svanna habitat and is thus unique amongst sites where chimpanzees have been studied. These results are compared with data from a tropical foraging human society, the!Kung San of southern Africa. The!Kung San's habitat is drier on most (but not all) criteria, but Mt. Assirik is hotter. The climate and vegetation of Mt. Assirik strikingly resemble those reconstructed for the Plio-Pleistocene in eastern Africa. This suggests that the chimpanzees of Mt. Assirik provide a useful model for inferring the processes of adaptation in early hominids.}, author = {Mcgrew, W. C. and Baldwin, P. J. and Tutin, C. E. G.}, citeulike-article-id = {148501}, journal = {Journal of Human Evolution}, keywords = {assirik, chimpanzees, climate, drylands, ecology, evolution, great\_apes, savanna, senegal, west\_africa}, pages = {227--244}, posted-at = {2005-04-03 15:39:21}, priority = {2}, title = {Chimpanzees in a hot, dry and open habitat: Mt Assirik, Senegal, West Africa}, volume = {10}, year = {1980} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:227-244 L3 - citeulike-article-id:148501 N2 - The habitat of the chimpanzees of Mt Assirik, in the parc National du Niokolo-Koba, Senegal, is described in terms of rainfall, temperature and vegetation. The results are compared with those collected at five other sites of study elsewhere in Africa. Mt Assirik is the driest site at which chimpanzees have been studied, in terms of annual rainfall, proportion of dry months, and number of rainy days. Mt Assirik is also the hottest such site: the coolest mean maximum temperature at Mt Assirik exceeds the hottest such temperature at any other site. Mt. Assirik is the only site where chimpanzees have been studied in which the majority of vegetation is grassland. Forest constitutes less than 3% of the surface area. In summary, Mt. Assirik presents a truly open svanna habitat and is thus unique amongst sites where chimpanzees have been studied. These results are compared with data from a tropical foraging human society, the!Kung San of southern Africa. The!Kung San's habitat is drier on most (but not all) criteria, but Mt. Assirik is hotter. The climate and vegetation of Mt. Assirik strikingly resemble those reconstructed for the Plio-Pleistocene in eastern Africa. This suggests that the chimpanzees of Mt. Assirik provide a useful model for inferring the processes of adaptation in early hominids. JF - Journal of Human Evolution EP - 244 TI - Chimpanzees in a hot, dry and open habitat: Mt Assirik, Senegal, West Africa VL - 10 SP - 227 KW - assirik KW - chimpanzees KW - climate KW - drylands KW - ecology KW - evolution KW - great_apes KW - savanna KW - senegal KW - west_africa AU - Mcgrew, WC AU - Baldwin, PJ AU - Tutin, CEG PY - 1980/// ER -