The news of her death comes from the institute that bears her name. She was in California during a lecture tour in the USA, when she passed away.
"Dr. Goodall's ethological discoveries revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the preservation and restoration of the world's nature", the institute writes.
Jane Goodall was born in London in 1934. She became famous in the 1960s for her studies in Tanzania, which showed striking similarities between chimpanzees and humans.
Among her most famous works is the book "In the Shadow of Man", which she wrote with her then-husband Hugo van Lawick.
In recent years, Goodall was a prominent environmental and animal rights activist. In 2002, she was appointed one of the UN's messengers of peace. The year after, she was awarded the British Empire Order and the title of dame.
