ANTH 221.01

Primate Behavior and Taxonomy - Fall 2004

T: 10:00a-11:50a & TH: 10:00a-10:50a¨

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

Office Hrs: M-Th, 1:00p-3:00p

¨ 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. 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: Thur, 16SEP – 20%: An in-class exam on primate evolution, anatomy, and phylogeny.

2) EXAM 2: Thur, 28OCT – 20%: An in-class exam on primate behavior.

3) QUIZ 1: Tues, 16NOV – 10%: An in-class exam on methodology and chimpanzee behavior.

4) VIRTUAL FIELDWORK FINAL PAPER: 35% (Due: Tuesday, 14DEC, 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 end of November. 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 7-9 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 will require 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.

5) CLASS PARTICIPATION: 15%: 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 NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR ANY REASON.

SYLLABUS:

DATE TH26AUG	TOPIC Introduction; Preliminaries	ASSIGNMENT Check-out materials/info available at www.primate.wisc.edu
T31AUG	Evolutionary Theory	Falk – pp. 18-19, 43-44, 48-61 C&N – CH 6, 20
PART 1: PRIMATE EVOLUTION, MORPHOLOGY, AND PHYLOGENY
TH02SEP	What is a Primate; Primate Evolution	Falk – Introduction & CH 1
T07SEP	Primate Skeleton & Functional Morphology (In-Class Lab)	Falk – pp. 10-11; Handouts RR: Fleagle, CH 2
PART 2: PRIMATE BEHAVIOR
TH09SEP	Galagos, Lorises, & Tarsiers	Falk – CH 3 C&N – CH 29, 33
T14SEP	Lemurs VIDEO: Spirits of the Forest	Falk – CH 4 C&N – CH 31
TH16SEP	EXAM 1	N/A
T21SEP	Cebidae and Atelidae VIDEO: Gremlins: Faces in the Forest	Falk – CH 6 C&N – CH 22, 23, 25, 26
TH23SEP	Callitrichines	Falk – CH 5 C&N – CH 24
T28SEP	Colobines VIDEO: Monkeys w/o Thumbs	Falk – CH 7 C&N – CH 1, 17
TH30SEP	Guenons, Etc.	Falk – CH 8 C&N – CH 8, 13, 19
T05OCT	Macaques & Baboons VIDEO: Snow Monkeys	Falk – CH 9 C&N – CH 3, 7, 11, 30
TH07OCT	Gibbons	Falk – CH 10
T12OCT	Orangutans VIDEO: Orangutans of the Rain Forest	Falk – CH 11
TH14OCT	Gorillas	Falk – CH 12 C&N – CH 2
T19OCT & TH 21OCT	FALL BREAK	Good opportunity to study!
T26OCT	REVIEW VIDEO: Mountain Gorilla	N/A
TH28OCT	EXAM 2	N/A; CD’s DISTRIBUTED
PART 3: CHIMPANZEE CASE STUDY AND METHODOLOGY
T02NOV	Methodology; In-class lab VIDEO: Selected clips	Falk – pp. 43-47 Stanford – Forward-CH 2
TH03NOV	Chimpanzees	Falk – CH 13 C&N – CH 9,10,15,16
T09NOV	Chimpanzee Case Study VIDEO: The New Chimpanzees	Stanford – CH 3-6
TH11NOV	Chimpanzee Case Study	Stanford – CH 7-11
T16NOV	QUIZ 1	N/A
PART 4: DOING PRIMATOLOGY
TH18NOV	Virtual Fieldwork Assignment - NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING	N/A – Individual Meetings to discuss progress, problems, potential paper topics
T23NOV	Virtual Fieldwork Assignment - NO REGULAR CLASS MEETING	N/A – Individual Meetings to discuss progress, problems, potential paper topics
TH25NOV	THANKSGIVING BREAK	Draft of final paper due in my office – MON, 29NOV – 10am
T30NOV	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings – 10a and 11a as assigned	SEE BELOW
TH02DEC	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings as assigned	SEE BELOW
T07DEC	Draft Reviews – Small Group Meetings 10a and 11a as assigned	SEE BELOW
TH09DEC	Wrap-up – Regular Class Meeting	Think about what you’ve learned
T14DEC – 5PM	FINAL PAPER (along with data, draft, & reviewer’s comments) DUE

30NOV – 07DEC – 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 14DEC. Note that I will not be reading these drafts. All comments will come from the reviewers.