This grant permits Dr. Susman and his colleagues to continue their research on the pygmy chimpanzee ( Pan paniscus ) in the Lomako Forest of Central Zaire. Previous work by the team has been hampered because of the difficulty of locating and tracking individual animals for extended periods of time. The species is aboreal and the vegetation thick. With NSF support radio collars will be placed on focal animals. These collars, which have been tested for safety, do not hamper the animals, and with the aid of a receiver, will allow researchers to pinpoint the location of individual animals. Thus the team will acquire an accurate record of individual and group movements to calculate home range areas and assess ranging behavior. These variables will then be correlated with resource distribution and availability. The size and shape of an animal's home range and the spatial relationships between groups are often the starting points for understanding socioecology. Home range size has been a focal variable in studies of the adaptive significance of body size, group size, diet, and social organization. To understand the size and shape of home range areas requires long term data on the movements of known individuals. Without these data home ranges can only be estimated. Unfortunately, most studies of forest primates rely on ranging data that is pieced together, often from discontinuous observations on a number of individuals over an extended study period. This project will, for one species at least, remedy this situation. This research is important because of the light it will shed on the earliest stages of human development. Of the extant great apes, the pygmy chimpanzee is nearest in size to early hominids. Thus it provides the best baseline against which uniquely human triats can be compared. This work should also aid in the protection of this extremely rare species.
