Carel van Schaik
Encyclopedia
Carolus Philippus "Carel" van Schaik (born 1953) is a Dutch
primatologist who since 2004 is professor and director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zürich
, Switzerland
.
Van Schaik studied biology at the University of Utrecht, graduating in 1979. He was a researcher for the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research until 1984 and finished his doctoral dissertation for the Utrecht University in 1985. After positions at this university and at Princeton University
, he became Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy at Duke University
in Durham in 1989. In 2004 he moved to the University of Zurich.
His book Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture tells the story of his discovery of a group of orangutan
s in northern Sumatra
and the challenge their tool use and sociality pose to theories of primatology and the insights they offer into key moments in human evolution
.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
primatologist who since 2004 is professor and director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zürich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Van Schaik studied biology at the University of Utrecht, graduating in 1979. He was a researcher for the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research until 1984 and finished his doctoral dissertation for the Utrecht University in 1985. After positions at this university and at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, he became Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
in Durham in 1989. In 2004 he moved to the University of Zurich.
His book Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture tells the story of his discovery of a group of orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s in northern Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
and the challenge their tool use and sociality pose to theories of primatology and the insights they offer into key moments in human evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
.
Selected publications
- van Schaik, C. P. (1982). Why are diurnal primates living in groups? Behaviour, 87, 120-144.
- van Schaik, C. P., Deaner, R. O. and Merrill, M. Y. (1999). The conditions for tool use in primates: implications for the evolution of material culture. Journal of Human Evolution, 36(6), 719-741.
- van Schaik, C. P. and Dunbar, R. I. (1990). The evolution of monogamy in large primates: A new hypothesis and some crucial tests. Behaviour, 115(1-2), 30-62.
- van Schaik, C. P. and Kappeler, P. M. (1996). The social systems of gregarious lemurs: Lack of convergence with anthropoids due to evolutionary disequilibrium? Ethology Formerly Zeitschrift fuer Tierpsychologie, 102(11), 915-941.
- van Schaik, C. P. and Kappeler, P. M. (1997). Infanticide risk and the evolution of male-female association in primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 264(1388), 1687-1694.
- van Schaik, C. P. and van Noordwijk, M. A. (1985). Evolutionary effect of the absence of felids on the social organization of the macaques on the island of Simeulue ( Macaca fascicularis fusca, Miller 1903). Folia Primatologica, 44(3-4), 138-147.
- van Schaik, C. P., Van Noordwijk, M. A., Warsono, B. and Sutriono, E. (1983). Party size and early detection of predators in Sumatran forest primates. Primates, 24(2), 211-221.
External links
- Anthropological Institute and Museum
- Great Ape Culture, an NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
discussion - Why not all orangutans are alike (archive)