Alison Jolly (May 9, 1937 – February 6, 2014) was a
primatologist, known for her studies of
lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...
biology. She wrote several books for both popular and scientific audiences and conducted extensive fieldwork on Lemurs in
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, primarily at the
Berenty Reserve
Berenty Reserve is a small private reserve of gallery forest along the Mandrare River, set in the semi-arid spiny forest ecoregion of the far south of Madagascar. For more than three decades the late primatologist Alison Jolly (who started the res ...
, a small private reserve of gallery forest set in the semi-arid spiny desert area in the far south of
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
Biography
Born Alison Bishop in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...
, she held a BA from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
, and a PhD from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
; she had been a researcher at the
New York Zoological Society
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
,
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
,
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
,
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...
, and
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. In 1998 she was made Officer of the National Order of Madagascar (''Officier de l'Ordre National, Madagascar''). At the time of her death she was a visiting scientist at the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
.
Under her maiden name, she first published "Control of the Hand in Lower Primates" in 1962. Jolly began studying lemur behavior at
Berenty
Berenty is a town and commune ( mg, kaominina) in Madagascar. It belongs to the district of Ankazoabo, which is a part of Atsimo-Andrefana Region. The population of the commune was estimated to be approximately 1,000 in 2001 commune census.
Pri ...
in 1963
and was first to propose female dominance in a primate society. She encouraged field studies that contributed to knowledge about Malagasy wildlife and advised many researchers; she briefed
Jane Wilson-Howarth
Jane Wilson-Howarth CF, BSc (hons), MSc (Oxon), BM, DCH, DCCH, DFSRH, FRSTM&H, FFTM RCPS (Glasg) (born 1954) is a British physician, lecturer and author. She has written three travel health guides, two travel narratives, a novel and a series o ...
and colleagues before their first expedition to Madagascar in 1981. Since 1990 Jolly had returned for every birthing season to carry out research assisted by student volunteers. She focused on
ring-tailed lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...
demography, ranging, and especially inter-troop and territorial behavior, in the context of the fivefold difference in population density from front to back of the reserve.
Her scientific books include ''Lemur Behavior: A Madagascar Field Study'', ''The Evolution of Primate Behavior'' and ''Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution''. Her non-technical works include ''Madagascar: A World Out of Time'' and ''Lords & Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings With Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar''. She also wrote numerous articles for consumer magazines and scientific journals.
Jolly was the author of two series of children's books—The Ako Books and The Fiddle Stories.
Eponym
![Jolly's_Mouse_Lemur_area](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Jolly%27s_Mouse_Lemur_area.png)
In June 2006, a new species of
mouse lemur
The mouse lemurs are nocturnal lemurs of the genus ''Microcebus''. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar.
Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than , making them the smallest primates (the smallest spe ...
, ''
Microcebus jollyae
Jolly's mouse lemur (''Microcebus jollyae'') is a species of mouse lemur from Mananjary and Kianjavato in Madagascar. The species is named in honor of primatologist Alison Jolly.
Jolly's mouse lemur is uniformly reddish-brown with a small white ...
'', was named in Jolly's honor.
Personal life
The daughter of the artist
Alison Mason Kingsbury
Alison Mason Kingsbury Bishop (born Alison Mason Kingsbury; 1898–1988) was an American artist who lived and worked in Ithaca, New York. Known professionally by her maiden name, her work features the landscapes of the Finger Lakes region and res ...
and the scholar and poet
Morris Bishop
Morris Gilbert Bishop (15 April 1893 – 20 November 1973) was an American scholar, historian, biographer, essayist, translator, anthologist, and poet.
Early life and career
Bishop was born while his father, Edwin Rubergall Bishop, a Canadian p ...
, in 1963 Alison Jolly married
Richard Jolly, the development economist.
["Alison Bishop, Zoologist, Wed to Arthur Jolly", ''New York Times'', 20 October 1963. Available via ProQuest.] She died at home in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
, in February 2014 at the age of 76. She is survived by her husband and their four children.
Publications
*''Lemur Behavior: A Madagascar Field Study'', University of Chicago Press, 1966
*''The Evolution of Primate Behavior'', 1972
*''Play: Its Role in Development and Evolution'', 1976
*''A World Like Our Own; Man and Nature in Madagascar'', Yale University Press, 1980
*''Madagascar: A World Out of Time'', 1984 with Frans Lanting & Gerald Durrell
*''Madagascar, Key Environments Series'', 1984
*''Lucy's Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Human Evolution'', 1999
*''Lords and Lemurs: Mad Scientists, Kings with Spears, and the Survival of Diversity in Madagascar'', 2004
*''Thank You, Madagascar: The Conservation Diaries of Alison Jolly'', 2015
Children's books
*''Ny aiay Ako (Ako the Aye-Aye)'', 2005
*''Bitika the Mouselemur'', (2012)
*''Tik-Tik the Ringtailed Lemur'', (2012)
*''Bounce the White Sifaka'', (2012)
*''Furry and Fuzzy the Red Ruffed Lemur Twin'', (2012)
*''No-Song the Indri'', (2012)
*''Fiddle and the See-Throughs'', (2013)
*''Fiddle and the Flint-Boy'', (2013)
*''Fiddle and the Headless Horseman'', (2013)
*''Fiddle and the Falling Tower'', (2013)
*''Fiddle and the Smugglers'', (2013)
*''Fiddle and the Fires'', (2013)
References
Literature cited
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Alison
American mammalogists
Women primatologists
Primatologists
*
Human evolution theorists
American children's writers
Academics of the University of Sussex
American expatriate academics
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
Cornell University alumni
1937 births
2014 deaths
20th-century American women scientists
20th-century American scientists
American women academics
21st-century American women