Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Nutrition is critical to the health of humans and other primates, but we are still discovering how primate nutritional strategies affect the health of wild primates. Orangutans are a useful model for understanding human evolution because orangutans share several adaptations with us, including the propensity to store fat and utilize fat reserves when food is scarce. In this lecture, Leakey Foundation grantee Erin Vogel discusses how information from diet, behavior, and physiology can help us understand how orangutans are adapted for survival in Borneo’s forests and shed light on the current obesity epidemic in modern day humans.
“Nutrition and Wild Orangutans” was presented at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on 3/1/2017 as part of The Leakey Foundation’s Speaker Series program in partnership with the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Sponsored by:
Ann and Gordon Getty
Camilla and George Smith
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
For more information and to learn about upcoming events visit:
leakeyfoundation.org/events
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Follow The Leakey Foundation!
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Nutrition is critical to the health of humans and other primates, but we are still discovering how primate nutritional strategies affect the health of wild primates. Orangutans are a useful model for understanding human evolution because orangutans share several adaptations with us, including the propensity to store fat and utilize fat reserves when food is scarce. In this lecture, Leakey Foundation grantee Erin Vogel discusses how information from diet, behavior, and physiology can help us understand how orangutans are adapted for survival in Borneo’s forests and shed light on the current obesity epidemic in modern day humans.
“Nutrition and Wild Orangutans” was presented at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on 3/1/2017 as part of The Leakey Foundation’s Speaker Series program in partnership with the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Sponsored by:
Ann and Gordon Getty
Camilla and George Smith
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
For more information and to learn about upcoming events visit:
leakeyfoundation.org/events
Subscribe to our channel for notifications when we post a new video!
Follow The Leakey Foundation!
Facebook: facebook.com/theleakeyfoundation
Twitter: twitter.com/theleakeyfndtn
Instagram: instagram.com/theleakeyfoundation









