Duke Lemur Center records, 1967-1970, 2008, undated
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Summary
- Creator:
- Duke Lemur Center and Duke University. University Archives
- Abstract:
- The Duke Lemur Center was founded in 1966 by John Buettner-Janusch and Peter Klopfer. Located in Duke Forest, the DLC houses and conducts non-invasive research on the study, care, and protection of lemurs. This collection contains 16mm film and videocassettes with recordings of lemurs.
- Extent:
- 2355 Gigabytes
0.25 Linear Feet - Language:
- Materials in English.
- Collection ID:
- UA.26.01.0005
- University Archives Record Group:
- 26 -- Interdisciplinary Institutes, Research Centers, and Departments
26 -- Interdisciplinary Institutes, Research Centers, and Departments > 01 -- Independent Programs
Background
- Scope and content:
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Collection consists of 16mm film and videocassettes with recordings of lemurs.
- Biographical / historical:
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"Founded in 1966, the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) is an internationally acclaimed non-invasive research center housing over 200 lemurs and bush babies across 13 species—the most diverse population of lemurs on Earth, outside their native Madagascar.
Because all of its research is non-invasive, the DLC is open to the public and educates more than 35,000 visitors annually. [The Duke Lemur Center's] conservation breeding program seeks to preserve vanishing species such as the aye-aye, Coquerel's sifaka, and blue-eyed black lemur, while its Madagascar Conservation Programs study and protect lemurs—the most endangered group of mammals on Earth—in their native habitat. The Division of Fossil Primates examines primate extinction and evolution over time and houses over 35,000 fossils, including extinct giant lemurs and one of the world's largest and most important collections of early anthropoid primates.
The DLC was established... as an opportunistic collaboration between two researchers: John Buettner-Janusch of Yale University, who was studying biochemical genetics in lemurs; and Peter Klopfer, a Duke University biologist studying maternal behavior in mammals. Together, the two biologists conceived the idea of establishing a primate facility in Duke Forest that would combine their research perspectives in order to explore the genetic foundations of primate behavior.
Bill Anlyan, then dean of the Duke University School of Medicine, granted a large swath of Duke Forest to the project, and the National Science Foundation provided the funds to build a 'living laboratory' where lemurs and their close relatives could be studied intensively and non-invasively. In 1966, the nascent DLC—then called the Duke University Primate Center—was founded on 80 wooded acres (later expanded to 100 acres), two miles from the main Duke campus. Buettner-Janusch's colony of lemurs was relocated from Connecticut to North Carolina, and the DLC began assembling the largest living collection of endangered primates in the world, both in numbers of species and in number of individuals."
Historical note adapted from Duke Lemur Center's website: https://lemur.duke.edu/about/history-mission/ (accessed September 03, 2024)
- Acquisition information:
- The Duke Lemur Center records were received by the University Archives as a transfer in 2019 and 2024.
- Processing information:
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Processed by April Blevins and Craig Breaden, September 2024
Accessions described in this collection guide: UA2024-0017
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Contents
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Access note. Some materials in this collection are electronic records that may need to be reformatted. Access copies of electronic records require special equipment. Contact Research Services for access.
- Terms of access:
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Copyright for official university records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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- Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Duke Lemur Center records, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
- Permalink:
- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1wj17