The Life of Primates

by Nystrom, Pia; Ashmore, Pamela

• ISBN13: 9780130488282
• ISBN10: 0130488283
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-01-28
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

The field of primatology has grown to become very complex and now incorporates information from molecular genetics, physiology, and brain studies. Many of the texts imparting this information are much too advanced for undergraduate students. Pia Nystrom & Pamela Ashmore present to you a comprehensive text written about nonhuman primates built from the ground up written for the undergraduate student. The Life of Primates, 1/ehelps students tackle the complex ideas and issues of primatology by first establishing the context and groundwork from which these studies were conducted.

Author Biography

Both Pia Nystrom & Pamela Ashmore are university teachers and researchers. They have known each other since graduate school and over the years have remained friends and colleagues. Both authors have worked with primates in both captive and field situations and have endeavored to bring their passion for this field of study to students of every age. They each have their own story about how and why they selected primatology as their chosen field of study. 

            Nystrom came to the field almost by chance, as she initially had her heart set on discovering the Miocene ape which was the progenitor to our own lineage. However, all those plans changed in 1984 when she was given the opportunity to visit the Awash National Park in Ethiopia, to participate in a long-term baboon research project directed by Jane Phillips-Conroy and Cliff Jolly. In her first encounter with a real, live baboon, one look into its eyes changed everything: those eyes reflected such curiosity and intelligence. It was those eyes that spurred Nystrom on to study primate social behavior and to develop an interest in primate cognitive ability.

            Early in life Ashmore journeyed to exotic places with anthropologists featured in the pages of National Geographic magazine. She was also an observer of virtually any form of animal life that she stumbled across in the woods of New England where she spent most of her childhood. To the chagrin of her parents many a creature came home for short visits so that she could observe them. As she was sitting in an undergraduate anthropology course taught by Michael Park, she realized that primatology was how she could, in fact, combine her interest in anthropology with her passion for animals.

 

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Introduction to the Nonhuman Primates	p. 1
How Much Like Us?	p. 3
What Is a Primate?	p. 4
The Extremities (Hands and Feet)	p. 6
Locomotion	p. 8
Sense Organs	p. 9
Dentition	p. 11
Reproduction and Socialization	p. 11
Behavior and Ecology	p. 12
What Is Primatology?	p. 13
Why Study Primates?	p. 17
Primates as Models	p. 17
Where Does One Go To Study Nonhuman Primates?	p. 19
Summary	p. 22
Key Words	p. 23
Study Questions	p. 23
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 23
Primate Classification	p. 24
Classification Systems	p. 25
What Is a Species?	p. 30
How New Species Appear	p. 36
Naming a Species	p. 37
Primate Taxonomy	p. 39
Higher Taxonomic Units	p. 39
The Two Primate Suborders: Strepsirhini and Haplorhini	p. 42
The Strepsirhine Primates	p. 43
Superfamily: Lemuroidea	p. 43
Superfamily: Lorisoidea	p. 46
The Haplorhine Primates	p. 48
Three Haplorhine Infraorders	p. 48
Summary	p. 61
Key Words	p. 61
Study Questions	p. 62
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 62
Primate Biogeography	p. 63
Where Do Primates Live Today?	p. 64
World Biomes	p. 64
Rain Forest	p. 67
Seasonal Forest	p. 72
Woodland Forest	p. 72
Savanna	p. 72
Semi-Desert Scrub	p. 73
Temperate Woodland Forest	p. 73
Distribution of Primates	p. 76
The Strepsirhines	p. 76
The Haplorhine Primates: The Tarsiers	p. 77
The Catarrhine Monkeys, Cercopithecinae	p. 77
The Catarrhine Monkeys, Colobinae	p. 79
The Asian Apes	p. 81
The African Apes	p. 84
The Platyrrhine Monkeys	p. 85
Biogeographical Patterns	p. 88
Summary	p. 89
Key Words	p. 89
Study Questions	p. 89
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 89
The Primate Body	p. 90
The General Primate Body Plan	p. 91
Skeleton	p. 94
Dentition	p. 96
Body Size and Energy Requirements	p. 101
Diet and Dietary Adaptations	p. 104
Nutritional Gain with Different Diets	p. 104
Locomotor Systems	p. 118
Sensory Systems	p. 113
The Brain	p. 113
The Olfactory System	p. 115
The Visual System	p. 116
The Tactile System	p. 120
The Auditory System	p. 120
The Taste System	p. 121
Reproductive Biology	p. 123
Growth and Development	p. 126
Life Expectancy	p. 127
Summary	p. 129
Key Words	p. 130
Study Questions	p. 130
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 131
Primate Evolution	p. 132
What Is Evolution and How Does It Work?	p. 133
How Do We Discern Ancestor-Descendant Relationships?	p. 134
Evolutionary Models for Primate Evolution	p. 138
The Nature of the Primate Fossil Record	p. 139
How Do We Date a Fossil?	p. 141
Earth Is Constantly Changing	p. 144
Plate Tectonics	p. 144
Climate	p. 145
How Life on Earth Has Evolved	p. 146
Fossil Primates	p. 149
The First Primates to Be Recognized: The Euprimates	p. 149
The First Haplorhines	p. 160
The Tarsier Lineage	p. 166
The Platyrrhines: The First Monkeys of the Americas	p. 168
The First Catarrhines	p. 175
The First True Apes	p. 178
Basal Monkey Catarrhines	p. 184
Summary	p. 195
Key Words	p. 196
Study Questions	p. 197
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 197
Primate Ecology	p. 198
How Primates Use their Environment	p. 199
Ecology Basics	p. 199
The Components of an Ecosystem	p. 201
Factors that Limit Populations	p. 203
Species Interactions: Primates as Prey	p. 204
Parasitic Predators	p. 205
Primate-Plant Interactions	p. 207
Primates as Pollinators	p. 207
Primates as Seed Dispersers	p. 209
Primates as Pruners	p. 212
Behavioral Ecology of Primates	p. 212
How to Study Behavioral Ecology	p. 213
How Food Is Distributed in the Various Biomes	p. 213
How Primates Find Food	p. 218
Intergroup Competition and Competitive Exclusion	p. 219
Polyspecific Associations	p. 221
Ranging Behavior	p. 222
Territoriality	p. 224
Activity Cycles	p. 225
Active Time	p. 226
How Do Primates Divide Up Their Day?	p. 226
Seasonal Influences on Time Budgets	p. 227
Extreme Form of Energy Conservation	p. 230
Summary	p. 231
Key Words	p. 233
Study Questions	p. 233
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 233
Primate Social Organization	p. 234
Why Do Some Primates Live in Social Groups While Some Do Not?	p. 235
Types of Social Groupings	p. 237
Solitary Foragers	p. 238
One Male-One Female or Pair Group	p. 241
One Male-Multifemale Group	p. 246
Multimale-Multifemale Group	p. 250
Complex, Multileveled Group	p. 253
Why Do Animals Migrate?	p. 253
Summary	p. 255
Key Words	p. 256
Study Questions	p. 256
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 256
Primate Social Relationships	p. 257
Primates as Social Organisms	p. 258
Primate Relationships	p. 259
The Adaptive Value of Social Behavior: Selfishness, Kin Selection, and Altruism	p. 261
Types of Primate Social Relationships	p. 262
Relationships Between Males	p. 265
Relationships Between Females	p. 272
Relationships Between Males and Females	p. 282
Relationships Between Adults and Young	p. 286
Summary	p. 294
Key Words	p. 295
Study Questions	p. 295
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 295
Primate Communication	p. 296
What is Language?	p. 297
Theories about the Origin of our Language Ability	p. 297
Origin of Language and Mirror Neurons	p. 299
Origin of Language and the FOX Gene Family	p. 299
How Different is Human Vocal Communication from that of Other Primates?	p. 300
Ways to Communicate	p. 301
Communication using Olfaction	p. 302
Communication using Vision	p. 305
Communication using Tactile Senses	p. 307
Communication using Vocalization	p. 308
Vocalization of Primates in their Natural Environments	p. 311
What Do Primates Tell Each Other?	p. 311
Talking with the Apes: Captive Studies	p. 314
Teaching Apes to Speak and Understand Our Speech	p. 315
Teaching Apes Sign Language	p. 315
Teaching Apes Symbols	p. 316
What Does Our Language Have in Common with the Vocal Communications of Primates?	p. 320
Language Perception	p. 320
Semantic Ability	p. 320
Syntactical Ability	p. 321
How is Language and Vocal Communication Acquired?	p. 322
Summary	p. 322
Key Words	p. 324
Study Questions	p. 324
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 324
The Primate Brain and Complex Behavior	p. 325
What We can Learn by Studying the Brain	p. 326
Why Study Nonhuman Primate Minds?	p. 326
Do You Need a Big Brain to Perform Complex Behaviors?	p. 328
Exploring Mental States in Primates	p. 329
Theory of Mind	p. 330
Awareness	p. 331
Why Should Primates Need to Think? Exploring Mental States in Primates	p. 335
Social Manipulation and Deception	p. 335
Cooperation and Planning-Hunting Primates	p. 336
Cooperation and Knowledge Transfer	p. 338
Primates Who Make and Use Tools	p. 341
What Does It Take to Use and Make a Tool?	p. 343
How are Tool-using and Tool-making Skills Learned?	p. 344
Can Primates Count and Do Arithmetic?	p. 346
Summary	p. 349
Key Words	p. 349
Study Questions	p. 350
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 350
Primate Conservation	p. 351
What Is the Future for the Primate Order?	p. 355
Shrinking Habitats	p. 356
What Is Bushmeat and How Does It Differ from Any Other Wild Game?	p. 358
Epidemics and Transmissible Diseases	p. 361
The Primate Pet Trade	p. 363
Canned and Trophy Hunting	p. 367
Conservation	p. 370
Conservation in the Wild	p. 371
Conservation in Captivity	p. 374
Primates in Medical Research	p. 379
Summary	p. 381
Key Words	p. 382
Study Questions	p. 383
Suggested Readings and Related Web Sites	p. 383
Metric-Imperial Conversions	p. 385
Comparative Primate Skeletons	p. 387
Glossary	p. 389
References	p. 401
Credits	p. 443
Index	p. 445
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