fred patenaude <[log in to unmask]>:
>Here is what Dr.
>Shaller says in his book "The year of the gorilla".

>(page 180)"I never saw gorillas eat animal matter in the wild- no bird's
>eggs, insects, mice, or other creatures- even though they had the
>opportunity to do so on occasion. Once a group passed over a dead duiker
>without handling the fresh remains, and another time a group nested
>beneath an olive pigeon nest without disturbing the single egg."

Tom:
I have been informed that Dr. Shaller's book was published in 1964,
long before the modern era of field studies of primates. Modern primate
studies involve continuous observation of primate behavior, and the
analysis of the droppings (feces) of primates, for food contents.
Shaller's work was not conducted per the more stringent, modern standards.
The paper I cited is dated 1989, and is an actual field study/observation.
Thus, it appears that Sheller's work is dated/outdated, and the paper
I cited is more reliable/relevant.

This should be mentioned - it is common practice among the fruitarian
crank science promoters to cite outdated refs. Other examples of
badly outdated refs. cited by the cranks include "The Comparative Anatomy
of Eating" by Mills (so poor it is an embarrasment - but still the cranks
promote it), and an outdated 1968 quote from Jane Goodall; a quote that was
superceded by her (excellent!) 1971 book on the chimps of Gombe.

P.S. no criticism is intended or implied re: Jane Goodall. Her research
on chimps is superb, and helped establish new standards for primate
research. Thanks to Jane Goodall for her research which helped debunk
the old "apes are fruitarians" myth.

Tom Billings