Burned landscapes undoubtedly posed challenges for human ancestors in ways that we do not understand. In contemporary landscapes, fires destroy and create food sources, and alter habitats to expose predators and improve foraging efficiency. In Tanzania, chimpanzees and baboons live with annual fires and annually confront burned landscapes, yet almost nothing is known about their behavioural responses before, during, and following fires. I will present the framework for investigation of primate responses to fire and ways to investigate the evolution of a pyrophilic primate, using preliminary data. The potential results have implications for human evolution and especially primate-fire interactions.

Dr Alex Piel is an associate professor of evolutionary anthropology at University College London, and the coordinator of research on nonhuman primate behaviour, ecology, and conservation in western Tanzania. His current research centres on the effects of fire and burning on primate movement and dietary ecology.