Adriaan Kortlandt
Encyclopedia
Prof. Dr. Adriaan Kortlandt (25 January 1918, Rotterdam
- 18 October 2009, Amsterdam
) was a Dutch ethologist
.
He was famous for his work on displacement activities
(Dutch: overspronggedraging) and the hierarchy of instincts. Already in the thirties he realised the common characteristics between instincts in humans and other animals. In one of his experiments in Western Africa he exposed a stuffed panther with an electronic moving head to chimpanzees, who attacked it with sticks, thus illustrating to which extent early man could have kept wild animals at bay even before spears and other weapons were invented.
He also was the author of the "Rift Valley theory", better known under the name given by French
paleoanthropologist Yves Coppens
: "East Side Story".
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
- 18 October 2009, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
) was a Dutch ethologist
Ethology
Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior, and a sub-topic of zoology....
.
He was famous for his work on displacement activities
Displacement activity
A displacement activity is the result of two contradicting instincts in a particular situation. Birds, for example, may peck at grass when uncertain whether to attack or flee from an opponent; similarly, a human may scratch his or her head when they do not know which of two options to...
(Dutch: overspronggedraging) and the hierarchy of instincts. Already in the thirties he realised the common characteristics between instincts in humans and other animals. In one of his experiments in Western Africa he exposed a stuffed panther with an electronic moving head to chimpanzees, who attacked it with sticks, thus illustrating to which extent early man could have kept wild animals at bay even before spears and other weapons were invented.
He also was the author of the "Rift Valley theory", better known under the name given by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
paleoanthropologist Yves Coppens
Yves Coppens
Yves Coppens is a French anthropologist. He graduated from the University of Rennes. He has studied ancient hominids and has had multiple published works on this topic, and has also produced a film....
: "East Side Story".
Select publications
Kleindienst, M. R., Burton, F. D., & Kortlandt, A. (1975). On new perspectives on ape and human evolution. Current Anthropology, 16(4), 644-651. Link to articleExternal links
- Dutch Wikipedia has more information about Kortlandt.