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Discovery Lecture Series-Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
October 5, 2018 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Beautiful Minds: Dolphins, Apes and the origins of Human Intelligence
By Dr. Craig Stanford, USC
Everyone knows of Jane Goodall’s pioneering studies of wild chimpanzees, and all they have told us about what it means to be human. From maternal love to extraordinary intelligence, and from murder to infanticide, chimpanzees and other apes reveal to us the bright and dark sides of human nature. And most people know about dolphins; that they are clever, big-brained, highly social mammals of the sea. But very few people are aware of the striking parallels between apes and dolphins. In both groups we see shrewd politics, murder, sexual violence, sophisticated means of communication, and cultural traditions. Apes and dolphins are only very distantly related – they have not had a common ancestor for almost 100 million years. This convergence of traits is due not to shared ancestry, but the extraordinary intelligence they both possess. Their intelligence is in turn related to their societies and their social behavior.
Dr. Craig Stanford is an internationally renowned expert on animal behavior and human origins. Professor of Biological Sciences and Anthropology at USC, Stanford has conducted field research on chimpanzees and other animals for 30 years in Africa and Asia. He is best known for his research on chimpanzee hunting and meat-eating in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, in collaboration with Jane Goodall. Stanford holds a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and is the author of 16 books and 150 articles on animal behavior and conservation. His most recent book is The New Chimpanzee: a 21st Century Portrait of Our Closest Kin, to be published in March 2018 by Harvard University Press. He is deeply involved in wildlife conservation and lectures around the world on the need to preserve biodiversity in all its forms.
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