The following came from another internet newslist.  I thought it might be
of interest to some here.

Bob Avery ([log in to unmask])

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------

>From: Jen Williams <[log in to unmask]>
>Date: 11 June 1998 20:51
>Subject: re:your letter to Jane Goodall
>
>
>>
>>Hi John,
>>Dr. Goodall recently forwarded your letter of 27/11/97 to us at the
Center
>>for Primate Studies, so here are some answers to your questions.
>>
>>I haven't read Diamond's "The Third Chimpanzee", but the idea that
males
>>share meat more frequently with sexually receptive females is more of a
>>supposition, in that it has not been tested with data. Male chimps are
>>certainly more likely to hunt than females, but females do hunt,
especially
>>smaller prey. Hunts at Gombe do not appear to be ritualized. If
anything,
>>the Gombe chimps are more successful in catching colobus monkeys (their
>>most frequent prey) when the hunt is very chaotic. Christophe Boesch in
the
>>Tai Forest (in Cote d'Ivore) claims that his chimps do in fact hunt in
a
>>cooperative way. He's published several papers on this (one is in
>>"Chimpanzee Cultures," 1995 ed. by Wrangham et al). One of the students
>>here at the Center for Primate Studies is looking at the importance of
meat
>>as a social tool. If his suppositions are correct, meat may serve as
>>currency in a service economy (de Waal has a recent paper on evidence
for
a
>>service economy functioning in his captive colony, I don't have the
full
>>reference).
>>
>>As for your query re: whether chimps may have developed liking for
foods
>>that override their nutritional ideal, chimp reproduction seems to be
very
>>limited by food (i.e. nutrition), so we assume that individuals
exhibiting
>>non-optimal food choice wouldn't pass on very many of their genes.
Given
>>this assumption, the chimp desire for meat, termites, etc. is probably
an
>>effective way for them to get enough protein and fat. Unnutritional
>>cravings are only an issue in humans because we have released ourselves
>>from being limited by food (to support this, chimps in captivity do
become
>>very overweight when they are allowed to eat based on their cravings).
>>
>>re: data collection of feeding data, yes most of the time people record
>>time spent foraging, rather than recording how much they ingest. A few
>>studies have looked at ingestion (though I don't think in chimps), this
>>usually entails counting the number of items put in the mouth, and
assuming
>>each item is an average mass. This is extremely difficult & time
consuming
>>since the observer frequently can't see the animal putting items in its
>>mouth, so no, we don't generally correct for this. Since we frequently
have
>>no idea of the nutritional content of the species eaten in Gombe, we'd
be
>>hard-pressed to relate feeding time to exact nutritional gain in any
case.
>>
>>The data you quote on Kanyawara chimps is from Richard Wrangham
(chapter
in
>>"Ecology and Social Evolution", 1986, ed. by Rubenstein & Wrangham, I
>>believe).
>>
>>As for your interest in lactation etc., I know very little about any of
>>this - I'm sure such work has been done in captivity. Chimps wean their
>>offspring around age 4-5 years, but young chimps are probably getting
most
>>of their nutrition from food for about a year of that.
>>
>>Finally, re: the article you read in which the author claimed that
humans
>>have adapted to eating cooked food in 1100 years, I find that rather
>>questionable. Certainly large changes can occur under extreme selection
in
>>a short period of time, but I can't see why such strong selection would
>>have been taking place during that period. Seems more likely that we
>>broadened our diet by cooking things that are not nutritional raw, due
to
>>disease risk or toxic plant compunds.
>>
>>Hope this answers most of your questions (and that you have a copy of
them,
>>still, to refer to). As far as I know, Jane has no direct access to
email
>>or other handy modes of communication while traveling, which as you
>>probably know is about 90% of the time.
>>
>>Yours, Jen Williams
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>Research Coordinator
>>The Jane Goodall Institute's Center for Primate Studies
>>Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, U. of Minnesota
>>1987 Upper Buford Circle, St. Paul, MN 55108
>>phone:612-624-6714; fax:612-624-6777
>>email:[log in to unmask]
>>
>


--------- End forwarded message ----------

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