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The photographs of primates on exhibit here were
collected in the Congo basin from 1909-1915 by the AMNH-sponsored
American Museum Congo Expedition. With the generous support
of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, these photographs and the
thousands of others taken during the expedition are currently
being scanned and incorporated into a Web site. This site will
provide a comprehensive access to photographs, field notes and
formal scientific publications as well as artifact and specimen
data compiled by AMNH scientists Herbert Lang (mammalogist)
and James Chapin (ornithologist) during their six years of field
work.
One of the main goals of the Lang-Chapin Expedition was to gather
specimens from the Congo for return to the Museum for study
and display. It is important to note that the photographic technology
of the day required the use of large glass plate negatives with
slow film speeds. Thus, it was extremely difficult for expedition
members to photograph Congo species, especially fast-moving
primates, without capturing them first. Photographs of this
type provided permanent records of the appearance and major
characteristics of individual specimens that would have been
difficult to acquire by any other means. They were essential
for taxonomic studies of their relationships to one another
and to other primates.
It is worth noting that, since 1915, many advances in technology
(such as harmless darting, tagging and remote tracking) have
made it possible to use much less invasive, less destructive
methods to observe and study primates. |
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#1 Red Colobus.
#2 Cercopithecus, grayish with black face.
#3 Chimpanzee, female.
#4 Colobus guereza, young female.
#5 Reddish brown Colobus, female.
#6 Colobus, male.
#7 Young Baboon, male.
#8 Common white nosed and red tailed Cercopithecus, male.
#9 Black Cercocebus, female, with brownish shoulders.
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