Barbara Smuts
Barbara Boardman Smuts | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1950 (age 75–76) |
| Occupations | Anthropologist, psychologist |
| Known for | Social relationships among animals |
Barbara Boardman Smuts[1] is an American anthropologist and psychologist noted for her research into baboons, dolphins, and chimpanzees, and a Professor Emeritus at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Early life and education
[edit | edit source]Smuts was born to Alice Smuts (1921–2020) and Robert ("Bob") Walter Schmutz (later anglicised to Smuts) in 1950. She has a brother, Robert Malcolm Smuts, born 1949. Smuts moved to Michigan with her family in 1960, and in 1969 to Ann Arbor whilst her mother obtained her Ph.D.[1] She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard University in anthropology, and did a Ph.D. in neurological and biological behavioral science at Stanford Medical School with David Hamburg.[2][3]
Research
[edit | edit source]Much of Smuts' research concerns the development of social relationships between animals, particularly among chimpanzee and baboon populations. In the 1970s she began studying animal behaviour at the University of Michigan, including research with Jane Goodall on chimpanzees in Gombe National Park in Tanzania. In Gombe, Smuts had a violent introduction to field research, being among four field researchers kidnapped and beaten by a Marxist revolutionary group.[4] Though none of the captured spoke Swahili, Smuts was able to communicate with the leader of the guerrillas in French. She was then released after a week to communicate the rebels' demands to those working to get the victims released.[5]
Smuts began studies of wild baboons in 1976,[6] and her observations challenged the prevailing view of male dominance.[7] Studies she made of wild olive baboons in Tanzania and Kenya inspired her 1985 book Sex and Friendship in Baboons. The book, the fruit of two years' research, showed how two different groups of the same primate interact with each other socially. She determined that friendship was a critical predictor of sexual activity between male and female baboons: females preferred to mate with males that had previously engaged in friendly interactions with them and could interact with their other offspring as well.[8]
Smuts also carried out research into bottlenose dolphin social development, working extensively with Janet Mann.[9]
Smuts' more recent research at the University of Michigan has focused on social behavior among dogs.[3][10][11]
Awards
[edit | edit source]She received the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contribution to Psychology (Area: Animal Learning and Behavior) in 1988.[12]
Bibliography
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- Wrangham, R. and Smuts, B. B. (1980). "Sex differences in the behavioural ecology of chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park, Tanzania." Journal of Reproduction and Fertility. Supplement, 28, 13–31.
- Smuts, B.B. (2009. First printing 1985) Sex and Friendship in Baboons New York: Aldine Publishing Co. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Smuts, B.B., Cheney, D.L. Seyfarth, R.M., Wrangham, R.W., & Struhsaker, T.T. (Eds.) (1987). Primate Societies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- Smuts, Barbara B. (1997). "Social Relationships and Life Histories of Primates, in Morbeck, Mary Ellen et. al. (eds.), The Evolving Female: A Life-History Perspective, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 60–68.
References
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- ^ Profile Archived 2009-03-22 at the Wayback Machine at the Council of Human Development
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- ^ Barbara Smuts research profile at UMich.edu
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External links
[edit | edit source]
- Barbara Smuts faculty profile at the University of Michigan
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