ANTH 221.01

Primate Behavior and Taxonomy - Fall 2002

T: 10:00a-11:50a & TH: 10:00a-10:50a¨

V. K. Bentley-Condit (bentleyc@grinnell.edu) Goodnow 307/ext. 4305

Office Hrs: T & Th, 1:00p-4:15p

¨ Note: The hour between 10:50a and 11:50a on Thursday is also “yours”. This hour can be used to meet with me individually, spend more time with the specimens, re-watch a video, or (in rare cases) as an extension of class should we need a few more minutes.

DESCRIPTION: This course provides a comparative survey of the morphology, taxonomy, and behavior of nonhuman primates (NHPs). Topics to be considered include demography and life-history patterns, feeding behavior and competition, social organization, sexual behavior, infant development, and communication. Classes will consist of both lecture and discussion.

TEXTS AND OTHER COURSE MATERIALS:

1) Falk, D. 2000. Primate Diversity. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.

2) Ciochon, R., Nisbett, R. (editors). 1998. The Primate Anthology: Essays on Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation from Natural History. Prentice Hall, New Jersey. (C&N)

3) Sanford, C. 1998. Chimpanzee and Red Colobus. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts.

4) Reserved Reading: Fleagle, J.D. 1999. Primate Adaptation & Evolution, 2^nd ed. Academic Press, California. (CH 2 – The Primate Body)

5) Bentley-Condit, V., Wirth-Cauchon, A. 2002. Animal Behavior: Olive Baboon Virtual Fieldwork Case Study. CD. (Copy to be loaned to each student.)

6) We will watch several videos in class over the course of the semester. I view these videos as “guest lectures” and expect you to closely observe the primates and take notes. Their content is subject to inclusion on the exam.

EXAMS AND GRADING:

1) EXAM 1: 31OCT02 - 45%: An in-class exam on primate phylogeny, morphology, and behavior.

2) VIRTUAL FIELDWORK FINAL PAPER: 45% (Due: Wednesday, 18DEC, 5pm): The end of the course will be devoted to “doing primatology” via a virtual fieldwork experience. This will be a time-consuming exercise and will require that you begin working on it in mid-November and produce a draft of your paper by the first of December. It will entail working through the virtual fieldwork exercises, collecting data from the CD, and then utilizing the data collected as a springboard for a short (5-7 page) paper that relates the data back to a topic covered during the semester. I expect you to not just tell me what you observed but what the data mean in terms of the species’ social behaviors, or physiology, or the environment, or their phylogeny (for example). This paper is likely to require some outside research. I expect it to be the culmination of your semester’s work and to demonstrate what you have learned. Note that you are also to submit copies of your data, your draft, and your reviewer’s comments with the final paper.

3) CLASS PARTICIPATION: 10%: It is your responsibility to complete the readings/assignments before the class for which they are assigned and to participate in class discussions. Lack of participation is recorded and will negatively affect your course grade. ABSENCES ARE ACCEPTABLE ONLY IF YOU ARE DEAD.

SYLLABUS:

DATE TH29AUG	TOPIC Introduction; Preliminaries	ASSIGNMENT Web-site
T03SEP	Evolutionary Theory	Falk – pp. 18-19, 43-44, 48-61 C&N – CH 6, 20
PART 1: PRIMATE MORPHOLOGY AND PHYLOGENY (AND SOME BEHAVIOR)
TH05SEP	What is a Primate; Primate Evolution	Falk – Introduction & CH 1
T10SEP	Primate Skeleton & Functional Morphology (In-Class Lab – dress comfortably)	Falk – pp. 10-11 RR: Fleagle, CH 2 (Bring copy to class)
TH12SEP	Galagos, Lorises, & Tarsiers	Falk – CH 3 C&N – CH 29, 33
T17SEP	Lemurs VIDEO: Spirits of the Forest	Falk – CH 4 C&N – CH 31
TH19SEP	Cebidae and Atelidae	Falk – CH 6 C&N – CH 22, 23, 25, 26
T24SEP	Callitrichines VIDEO: Gremlins: Faces in the Forest	Falk – CH 5 C&N – CH 24
TH26SEP	Guenons, Etc.	Falk – CH 8 C&N – CH 8, 13, 19
T01OCT	Colobines VIDEO: Monkeys without Thumbs	Falk – CH 7 C&N – CH 1, 17
TH03OCT	Gibbons	Falk – CH 10
T08OCT	Macaques & Baboons VIDEO: Snow Monkeys	Falk – CH 9 C&N – CH 3, 7, 11, 30
TH10OCT	Orangutans	Falk – CH 11
T15OCT	Gorillas VIDEO: Mountain Gorilla	Falk – CH 12 C&N – CH 2
TH17OCT	Chimpanzees	Falk – CH 13 C&N – CH 9,10,15,16
T22OCT & TH 24OCT	FALL BREAK	Good opportunity to study!
T29OCT	Review VIDEO: Orangutans of the Rain Forest	N/A
TH31OCT	EXAM 1	N/A
PART 2: DOING PRIMATOLOGY
T05NOV	Methodology VIDEO: Selected clips In-class lab	Falk – pp. 43-47 Stanford – CH 2
TH07NOV	Chimpanzee Case Study	Stanford – Forward, CH 1,3,4
T12NOV	Chimpanzee Case Study VIDEO: The New Chimpanzees	Stanford – CH 5 - CH 7
TH14NOV	Chimpanzee Case Study	Stanford – CH 8 - CH 11 CD’S DISTRIBUTED
T19NOV	Virtual Fieldwork Assignment - NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING	N/A – Individual Meetings to discuss progress, problems, potential paper topics
TH21NOV	Virtual Fieldwork Assignment - NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING	N/A – Individual Meetings to discuss progress, problems, potential paper topics
T26NOV	Virtual Fieldwork Assignment - NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING	N/A – Individual Meetings to discuss progress, problems, potential paper topics
TH28NOV	THANKSGIVING BREAK	Draft of final paper due in my office - 02DEC – 10am
T03DEC	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings – 10a and 11a as assigned	SEE BELOW
TH05DEC	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings as assigned	SEE BELOW
T10DEC	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings 10a and 11a as assigned	SEE BELOW
TH12DEC	Wrap-up – Regular Class Meeting	Think about what you’ve learned
W18DEC – 5PM	FINAL PAPER (along with data, draft, & reviewer’s comments) DUE

03DEC – 11DEC – Here’s the way this is going to work. Each of you will be sent 1 of your classmates’ papers to read along with instructions, a comment sheet, and a group/time assignment. We will then meet in small groups of 3-5 to talk about the papers and your comments. At the end of each of these sessions, the authors will be given back their papers with the reviewer’s marks and comments to utilize in the paper’s revision. All of these materials will be due with the final papers on 18DEC. Note that I will not be reading these drafts. All comments will come from the reviewers.