Meet the 3 Inspiring Women Who Changed Our Perception of Primates Forever

Until the 1970s, little was known about primates. We didn’t know, for instance,

that chimpanzees and gorillas use tools to perform tasks like catching food in the wild or that orangutans have a strong maternal instinct. Not to mention, we had no clue how similar primates are to us humans. If it weren’t for the renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey and his belief that understanding primate behavior was vital to understanding the origins of humans, maybe we still wouldn’t today.

Convinced that humans had evolved from the apes, Leakey wanted primates to be studied in the wild – something that had never been done before. According to records from the Leakey Foundation, he was responsible for initiating Jane Goodall’s long-term field study of chimpanzees in the wild, and he helped obtain and coordinate funding for similar projects such as Dian Fossey’s work with mountain gorillas in Rwanda, and Birute Galdikas-Brindamour’s work with orangutans in the Sarawak region of Indonesia.

None of these three women had much scientific experience or knowledge and that is precisely what Leakey wanted: minds uncluttered and unbiased by science. Interestingly, some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in science would be made by this trio; Leakey’s Angels, as they came to be known.

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