For upper-level and/or graduate level Primatology or Biological Anthropology courses. Socioecology of Adult Female Patas Monkeys and Vervet in Kenya, East Africa provides students with a glimpse into a research project from start to finish. It discusses basic issues of studying primates and explores one of the major theories that has defined primatology for several decades. This text not only contributes detail on primate behavior, but also on the ecological variables that influence primate behavior. These are often difficult to measure, but the unique environment at the study site enabled the author to address questions that are much more difficult to answer elsewhere.
For upper-level and/or graduate level Primatology or Biological Anthropology courses.Socioecology of Adult Female Patas Monkeys and Vervet in Kenya, East Africa provides students with a glimpse into a research project from start to finish. It discusses basic issues of studying primates and explores one of the major theories that has defined primatology for several decades. This text not only contributes detail on primate behavior, but also on the ecological variables that influence primate behavior. These are often difficult to measure, but the unique environment at the study site enabled the author to address questions that are much more difficult to answer elsewhere.
The interest in primates, from lemurs to gorillas, has never been greater. Primatologists are continually finding evidence in the behavior and ecology of our closest genetic relatives that sheds light on human origins. So, just who are these 520+ species of complex and intelligent mammals inhabiting the Neotropics, Africa, Madagascar, and Asia? The Natural History of Primates provides the most current information on wild primates from experts who have studied them in their natural environments. This volume provides up-to-date facts and figures on how groups of social primates interact with each other and the plants and other animal species in their ecosystems: what they eat, which predators might eat them, how males and females seek mates, how infants are raised, and myriad other fascinating details about their visual and vocal communication, their ability to craft and use tools, and the varieties of locomotion they employ. As human populations continue to expand into the rainforests, savannas, and woodlands where nonhuman primates dwell, the preservation of these species becomes ever more important. The Natural History of Primates is unique in its emphasis on the conservation status of primate species and its ample discussions of how humans and nonhuman primates can coexist in the twenty-first century.
Key features: Offers chapters by renowned experts which are comprised of three subunits: a theoretical discussion of the content area, a description of the methods employed to address the content area, and finally, and most importantly, a discussion of the ways that relevant aspects of the content area can be easily employed/adapted to enhance the behavioral management of NHPs Provides case studies that highlight the areas of expertise of the authors and emphasize ‘success stories’ that can be used to develop behavioral management strategies and build behavioral management programs Presents ‘Genera-specific’ chapters which focus on behavioral management strategies that, typically, are successfully employed with particular taxa of NHPs Includes a novel, pioneering ‘Product/services’ section that provides the producers of important technologies, equipment, and services with an opportunity to highlight the ways in which their products enhance the ability of their clients to manage the behavior of NHPs Illustrated with full color images and drawings throughout. The Handbook of Primate Behavioral Management (HPBM) fills a void in the scientific literature, providing those who work with nonhuman primates (NHPs) with a centralized reference for many issues related to the care and behavioral management of captive nonhuman primates. While there are numerous publications scattered throughout the literature that deal with the behavioral management of NHPs, this comprehensive handbook is the first single-source reference to summarize and synthesize this information. The HPBM is organized into six complementary parts starting with an introductory section. The book then provides in-depth coverage of content issues, applications and implementation, genera-specific chapters, technology-related questions involved in the behavioral management of NHPs, and a concluding section. Primate behavioral management is a topic that has recently generated a considerable number of primary publications in the scientific literature, mostly with an applied focus. Similarly, there are many primary publications currently available that address more basic issues related to the understanding of primate behavior. One of the principal goals of the HPBM is to highlight and synthesize basic science advances that can be adapted and applied to enhance the behavioral management of captive NHPs.
This volume features a collection of essays by primatologists, anthropologists, biologists, and psychologists who offer some answers to the question of what makes us human, i. e. , what is the nature and width of the gap that separates us from other primates? The chapters of this volume summarize the latest research on core aspects of behavioral and cognitive traits that make humans such unusual animals. All contributors adopt an explicitly comparative approach, which is based on the premise that comparative studies of our closest biological relatives, the nonhuman primates, provide the logical foundation for identifying human univ- sals as well as evidence for evolutionary continuity in our social behavior. Each of the chapters in this volume provides comparative analyses of relevant data from primates and humans, or pairs of chapters examine the same topic from a human or primatological perspective, respectively. Together, they cover six broad topics that are relevant to identifying potential human behavioral universals. Family and social organization. Predation pressure is thought to be the main force favoring group-living in primates, but there is great diversity in the size and structure of social groups across the primate order. Research on the behavioral ecology of primates and other animals has revealed that the distribution of males and females in space and time can be explained by sex-speci?c adaptations that are sensitive to factors that limit their ?tness: access to resources for females and access to potential mates for males.
Fieldwork is a central method of research throughout anthropology, a much-valued, much-vaunted mode of generating information. But its nature and process have been seriously understudied in biological anthropology and primatology. This book is the first ever comparative investigation, across primatology, biological anthropology, and social anthropology, to look critically at this key research practice. It is also an innovative way to further the comparative project within a broadly conceived anthropology, because it does not focus on common theory but on a common method. The questions asked by contributors are: what in the pursuit of fieldwork is common to all three disciplines, what is unique to each, how much is contingent, how much necessary? Can we generate well-grounded cross-disciplinary generalizations about this mutual research method, and are there are any telling differences? Co-edited by a social anthropologist and a primatologist, the book includes a list of distinguished and well-established contributors from primatology and biological anthropology.
This volume details the different ways that nocturnal primates avoid predators. It is a first of its kind within primatology, and is therefore the only work giving a broad overview of predation – nocturnal primate predation theory in particular – in the field Additionally, the book incorporates several chapters on the theoretical advances that researchers studying nocturnal primates need to make.
A primatologist's guide to using geographic information systems (GIS); from mapping and field accuracy, to tracking travel routes and the impact of logging.
In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.
