With over 180 chimpanzees to remember, names matter. Lucky us, there are more chimps to identify each year! Greetings from the Ngogo Chimpanzee Project. Here’s a little research update from a doctoral student.
Some of my last posts have illustrated the lives of old chimpanzees. So now, I want to share with steemit a few of the newest additions to the Ngogo chimps. Above, a new born male pops his head out from behind mom's fur.
INFANT #1 - Chimamanda
What are you laughing at? Penelope’s daughter, Chimamanda, is a little less than a year old. Her name sake is the Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
INFANT #2 – Charlize’s boy
One the newest arrivals at Ngogo, Charlize’s baby boy, still unnamed. He’s lucky to have his big sister Eleanor around. This photo is a reminder that being a mom is a full-time job for a chimp.
INFANT #3 – Jolie’s boy
One of my favorite chimps, Jolie, recently had a baby. I was lucky to snap this picture in my last day in the forest this summer.
Do you have any name suggestions for our new borns?
What’s in a name?
No one person names the Ngogo chimps, so there's an array of themes across the years. Many of the older males and females are named after Jazz musicians, and then other classic musicians and artists. There was a period of honoring powerful women. For instance, we have a chimpanzee named Doudna after the nobel prize winner. We haven't heard back from many celebrities on whether they in particular find this to be an honor.
Many other primate sites keep family named defined be a letter. For instance at Gombe where Jane Goodall started research, there is a famous F family. The matriarch, Flo, had offspring named Faben, Figan, Fifi, Flint, and Flame. Ostensibly, this makes it easier to remember names and recall their relationships. However, you might quickly see a problem here. Pretty soon, you've got to reach pretty far for a good name. If you have many families, you either repeat letters (confusing) or have tricky letters (imagine chimps Xiaver, Xerxes, and Xabat). At Ngogo, there is no such naming rule. Although this can make a steeper learning curve at the beginning, it's ultimately liberating when naming our chimpanzees. I think we've selected some excellent names and perhaps the lack of a shortcut helps us focus in on the chimps as individuals. Read more on the F Family
Flo carries infant Flint on her back in Gombe Stream Reserve, Tanganyika. Photo credit: © the Jane Goodall Institute
There is a story that Jane Goodall met resistance when she wanted to give her chimps human names. Stodgy academics, the tale goes, bristled at this, because such naming implied the chimpanzees have individual attributes akin to humans and moreover, it could come in the way of objective science. Jane Goodall stubbornly kept to her schema, maintaining that the chimpanzees are in fact, individuals with unique personalities.
Do chimp names bias us?
I agree with Dr. Jane that names do not come in the way of objective science, but help us view the chimpanzees as the individuals they are. A researcher’s methods should always be the front line in protecting against subconscious tweaking of results or observations. Biased researchers are inevitable, but that doesn't mean biased results are.
Moreover, I think that as researchers get to know chimpanzees, their name origin becomes irrelevant. When I look at Jolie, I no longer think of the actress from the movies. When I see Struhsaker, I don't think of my old professor. I see the chimps since I've gotten to know them as individuals. We do this with people we know all the time when they share names with others. And the point is, chimps aren't so different.
Thanks for reading, steemit! Looking forward to your questions, name suggestions, and sharing more chimpanzee adventures.
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