Nonhuman Primate Research Project
Purpose: To become familiar with three nonhuman primate species live and first-hand; to personally see some of the physical characteristics and behaviors discussed in class and the readings; to exercise evolutionary thinking about your own observations of real primates. The assignment consists of two parts.
PART 1.
Go to a zoo (L.A., San Diego, Santa Ana, etc.). You can go to ANY zoo that is near you as long as they have primates. Go early enough to have plenty of time to observe the primates. They are often most active in the morning. If the weather is poor, you may want to call the zoo first (phone numbers are listed below). The primates may hide if it is too cold and wet. You may go with friends or classmates if you like, but each must make his/her own observations. Bring:
- Loose leaf paper
- a pen or pencil, and a clipboard or something else to write on
- optional: binoculars if you have or can borrow a pair; they are great for watching facial expressions, use of hands, and so on
- optional: a camera. Some people have enjoyed taking photos or videos.
- KEEP YOUR ADMISSION TICKET.
Pick three species that are visible and reasonably active (they must be from two different groups of primates, e.g. one ape and one monkey). Observe members of each species for at least 45 minutes, longer would be better. You will be observing them ad libitum style, meaning you will write down every behavior you observe and the time at which it occurred. You have fair amount of writing to do as well as observing, so allow time for both. The longer you watch, the more likely you are to see something particularly interesting. Although you will turn these notes in, they are meant to be a tool to direct your attention as you observe the primates, not a polished final product. Try to verify (or contradict) the claims about behavior, sexual dimorphism, and other features that you read about. Zoo staff are often happy to talk about the animals, answer questions (is that one a juvenile or an adult female? etc.), and point out interesting things you might not have noticed.
PART 2.
After your visit:
Create a word processed document that includes the following formation for each primate you observed:
- their formal and common names, and their taxonomic categories (infraorder, superfamily, etc.)
- the environment they live in in the wild
- their typical group composition in the wild (how many, ratio of the sexes, etc.)
- features that distinguish males from females
- any features or behaviors that the species is notable for or that would be interesting to observe, including physical characteristics, forms of locomotion, sexual dimorphism, social behavior, and so on.
Then, write at least one page about each species (typed, double-spaced). Specifically, for each species, pick one physical feature or one behavior that you observed and discuss why natural selection might have favored it for that species in its native physical and social environment. That is, how might this feature have contributed to reproductive success or inclusive fitness? How might the selected feature might have affected the primate's ecological adaptation, food gathering, social strategies, mating strategies, etc. in ways that improved its reproductive success or inclusive fitness. In some cases, you might have to consider the differences between males and females. Be creative, but try to be realistic and logical, too. You may find suggested explanations for some physical or behavioral features in the course material or online, but you don't need to search for an authoritative answer. I understand that you may not know an accepted, "correct" explanation for the particular feature of the particular primate you are describing. Instead, your task here is just to suggest a hypothesis that should make sense and not obviously conflict with anything a student in this class should know. This is where you go beyond just watching, and really try to understand and explain what you see. You may get useful suggestions from Zoo staff, signs, or research that you do before or after your visit. Feel free to discuss multiple features if you have something to say about more than one physical and one behavioral trait. Your discussion for each species (including the basic species info listed above) should be one to three double-spaced, computer printed pages. Also include citations for your sources.
What you turn in:
- Your original primate notes for each species
- Three discussions of evolutionary explanations and basic species info, one for each species, 1-3 pages each (this can be all in one document) and citations.
- YOUR ZOO ADMISSION TICKET. If you have a studypass you can turn in photos of yourself at the zoo.