To end the week of primate-focused episodes, we have Dr. Arijit Pal (National Institute of Advanced Studies) on the show to talk about tool use and social dynamics in Nicobar long-tailed macaques.

Macaques like the crab-eating macaque, Rhesus macaque and bonnet macaque are distributed across southern India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago. Arijit talks about the repertoire of tool-aided behaviors among Nicobar-long-tailed macaques specifically, which includes manipulative behaviors for processing food and dental flossing.

We also speak about natural disasters and human-caused habitat loss, and the threats they pose to wildlife conservation on these islands and in the south of India. Throughout the episode, Arijit shares his experiences of doing primatological fieldwork and what his upcoming plans are with the Leakey Foundation grant he received recently as well.

Listen to the episode below. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed, or find us on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes or anywhere else you typically find podcasts!

Show notes

If you have feedback or questions for Arijit, you can find him on Twitter.

You can find Michael on Twitter and Instagram.

The Arch and Anth Podcast is on Twitter and Instagram, and it has a Facebook page.

If you liked this episode and you want to help contribute to the show, please visit the Patreon page for details on how to do that.