Bruce Patterson
I am the MacArthur Curator of Mammals in the museum’s Department of Zoology. I began studying the Tsavo lions in 1997, with the goal of understanding their distinctive appearance, their evolution and ecology, and their associated behaviors. This broad range of interests has led me to establish research collaborations with several different biologists, whose talents and activities greatly enhance and extend the overall research program. This zoological program complements anthropological studies in Tsavo by Chap Kusimba and Sibel Barut Kusimba and their colleagues. With Roland Kays, Curator of Mammals at the New York State Museum, I am studying the ecology and behavior of maneless lions in Tsavo. We have collected information on group size, spacing, and composition through two seasons of fieldwork in Tsavo, and are initiating a new series of studies directed towards population structure, space-use, endocrinology, and parasitology. With Jean Dubach, Conservation Geneticist in the Brookfield Zoo’s Department of Conservation Biology, I am studying evolutionary relationships of African lions. Genetic samples from lions in Tsavo and other parts of Kenya have been incorporated into a continent-wide analysis based at Brookfield Zoo that will determine levels of variability and patterns of differentiation among extant populations. With Ellis J. (Skip) Neiburger, a practicing dentist in Waukegan, Illinois, and curator emeritus of Anthropology at the Lake County Museum, I am documenting forensic evidence for man-eating by the Tsavo and Mfuwe man-eaters. Comparing dental trauma and associated pathologies in free-living lions and marauders, we are evaluating a classic hypothesis for man-eating made famous by tiger hunter Jim Corbett. During the summer of 2001, I completed a book-length review and synthesis of this research program and its historical forerunners. The book is tentatively entitled “The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-Eaters.” I anticipate that the book will appear in late 2001 or early 2002, published by McGraw-Hill. << back to research |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Home | Man-Eaters | Research | Image Gallery | Lions Merchandise | Field Museum Home | Reasearch and Collections | Africa Website |
||
| © 2007 The Field Museum, All Rights Reserved 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605-2496 312.922.9410 |
Technical Support webmaster@fieldmuseum.org |
|