First Chimp&See Paper (and new PanAf paper): Chimpanzee Identification and Social Network Construction through an Online Citizen Science Platform

Our first ChimpandSee.org paper! 

We find that citizen scientists can reliably identify chimpanzees from camera trap videos. 

McCarthy MS, Stephens C, Dieguez P, Samuni L, Després-Einspenner ML, Harder B, Landsmann A, Lynn LK, Maldonado N, Ročkaiová Z, Widness J, Wittig RM, Boesch C, Kühl HS, Arandjelovic M (2020) Chimpanzee Identification and Social Network Construction through an Online Citizen Science Platform. Ecology and Evolution doi : 10.1002/ece3.7128

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.7128

Video abstract:

Abstract:

Citizen science has grown rapidly in popularity in recent years due to its potential to educate and engage the public while providing a means to address a myriad of scientific questions. However, the rise in popularity of citizen science has also been accompanied by concerns about the quality of data emerging from citizen science research projects. We assessed data quality in the online citizen scientist platform Chimp&See, which hosts camera trap videos of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and other species across Equatorial Africa. In particular, we compared detection and identification of individual chimpanzees by citizen scientists with that of experts with years of experience studying those chimpanzees. We found that citizen scientists typically detected the same number of individual chimpanzees as experts, but assigned far fewer identifications (IDs) to those individuals. Those IDs assigned, however, were nearly always in agreement with the IDs provided by experts. We applied the data sets of citizen scientists and experts by constructing social networks from each. We found that both social networks were relatively robust and shared a similar structure, as well as having positively correlated individual network positions. Our findings demonstrate that, although citizen scientists produced a smaller data set based on fewer confirmed IDs, the data strongly reflect expert classifications and can be used for meaningful assessments of group structure and dynamics. This approach expands opportunities for social research and conservation monitoring in great apes and many other individually identifiable species.

Visit us at ChimpandSee.org and participate in citizen science!

 

#Matchmaking: this gal needs your help!

A few days ago our volunteer @daleh made their first post at chimpandsee talk. Even if they were not able to determine which chimp it was we loved this post because it showed that you, dear volunteers are trying!

The mystery of the lady was soon solved but alas! there is another female chimp in the same video sequence who gives us a hard time.

There are already some suggestions but we'd like to hear other opinions. Maybe you, yes YOU could jump in and help to identify her? We'd be thrilled to see other volunteers following @daleh's example and posting for the first time. Of course we're also excited about posts of our more routined citizen scientists! The more, the better! We're talking about the female further down not the first in the thread.

Now hop over to the discussion and tell us Who is this female?

You'll find all the female chimps to compare her with  in the prospective / known chimps list from Aged-Violet.

Thank you for being part of our chimpandsee-family!

#MatchMaking: Talib edition

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match!

Welcome to another edition of chimp matching 🐵

One of the goals at Chimp&See is to take videos that have been found containing chimpanzees and identify individual animals.  To do this, we compare videos and attempt to “match” animals that have identical physical features.  Anyone is allowed to propose a match, but multiple people must be in agreement before a potential match is confirmed by a site scientist.

This week’s featured potential match is from Restless Star.  Here we have an identified chimp named Talib:

And then we have two other individuals.  These two appear to be a match to each other (hence the temporary IDs of RSMale09 and RSMale09b), although it has not been confirmed:

Side-by-side courtesy of @NuriaM

Compare the above images. Consider things like overall body size and shape, head shape and facial features, as well as balding patterns, scars and deformities (if any exist).  So, what do you think? Is GSMale09 a match to Talib?  What about GSMale09b? Is it the same individual in each image?  Why do you think so?  What characteristics make you think they do or do not match?

Bring your comments over to the discussion at Chimp&See Talk.  There are more images and videos available on Talk for those wanting a better look.  You can also comment below.  The more feedback received, the more confident we can be in our determination, match or no match, so come tell us what you think!