Toshisada Nishida
Professor Toshisada Nishida | |
|---|---|
Toshisada Nishida (Photo: Frans de Waal, 2007) | |
| Born | 3 March 1941 |
| Died | 7 June 2011 (aged 70) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Zoology, Zoopharmacognosy, Primatology |
| Institutions | |
Toshisada Nishida (3 March 1941 – 7 June 2011) was a Japanese primatologist who established one of the first long term chimpanzee field research sites. He was the first to discover that chimpanzees, instead of forming nuclear family-like arrangements, live a communal life with territorial boundaries. His discoveries of the medicinal use of plants by wild chimpanzees helped form the basis of the field of zoopharmacognosy.
Nishida was a full professor of Zoology at Kyoto University, the President of the Primate Society of Japan, the President of the International Primatological Society, and the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Primates. In 2008, he was a recipient of the Leakey Prize for his accomplishments in human evolutionary science.