Primate species
1. Select five primate species, one from each of the following groups: strepsirhine, New World monkey, Old World monkey, small-bodied ape, large-bodied ape. (If you submitted something along these lines for an assignment already, be careful to change the species you chose for that or the sources or add a lot more detail.)
• Create a table comparing the species you are working with.
• Your table organization must follow the Linnaean/Traditional taxonomy characteristics in order as explained in the course modules.
• Under your behavior category you must include a minimum of five behavior. (Our study guide on primates discusses several. You can use those but also others. You can break down what the guide includes into smaller categories.
• Explain why each species, on the basis of your evidence, is placed within its particular taxon category.
• Don’t forget to include all the information in the Format guidelines above (Intro, summation, recommendations). Feel free to start and end the project with some lead in observations, relationship of the exercise to course goals, something that caught your interest while doing the project.
2. Compare and contrast five species of primates within one taxon such as five lemuroids or five lorisoids or five tarsiers or five tamarins.
• Create a table comparing the species you are working with.
• Your table organization must follow the Linnaean/Traditional taxonomy characteristics in order as explained in the course modules.
• Under your behavior category you must include a minimum of five behavior. (Our study guide on primates discusses several. You can use those but also others. You can break down what the guide includes into smaller categories.
• Explain why each species, on the basis of your evidence, is placed within its particular taxon category.
• Don’t forget to include all the information in the Format guidelines above (Intro, summation, recommendations). Feel free to start and end the project with some lead in observations, relationship of the exercise to course goals, something that caught your interest while doing the project.
3. Do a book review following my project and review guidelines, indicating how the work adds specifics to what has been covered in the course. Choose a book or author mentioned or
3. at the end of one of the textbook chapters.
4. you may choose one you find on your own selection that relates to a topic in the course (see syllabus and/or subheadings in the textbook chapters. If given the go ahead by the instructor. (The last is crucial. If agreed upon with the instructor, email me back with details of what I have indicated you must do for the specific work you have chosen, and in doing the review, include every item I have mentioned, including any in a response from me.)
5. (I’m still partial to students getting to know classic, popular science sets of works on catchy topics related to slightly non-mainstream suggestions about possible key features in primate, and especially human, evolution by the following respected anthropologists or primatologists:
6. Marshall Thomas memoir of living with foraging/hunting – gathering community. (“The old way” ….)
7. Sussman and Hart on hominin evolution adaptation to being prey rather than predator
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o Wrangham on cooking and hominin evolution.)
4. Write up a visit to the zoo. Discuss with me (Canvas Inbox or email note to me about your plans on which zoo, when you are visiting, how the ticket purchase went, under what conditions are you going, what you are planning to focus on, what preliminary information do you have about primates at the specific zoo, your interests that tie to the zoo visit — that kind of thing) — before you go if at all possible. The Sacramento Zoo has been open on and off, following Covid and other guidelines for visitors, including buying attendance visits in advance, masks, distancing. Just which of the non-human primates in captivity at the zoo are to be seen or are around at any time is unpredictable. If you do visit you have two basic choices for our class on what to consider in your project write up.
4. You may decide on a general introductory one that covers what you observed about whichever captive primates you did see. Cover all the Linnaean/traditional taxonomy traits in detail in the standard order explained in our module web pages and primate study guide. Point out how what you notice corresponded to what you know from the course, added more information, provided alternative information. Do include the formal binomials and informal names of each species you saw, but do not spend too much time on the information in the captions or plaques or other sources – I’m more interested in what you noticed and how you tie that to textbook, Canvas and assigned course information. If you get a chance to chat with any of the zookeepers feeding or cleaning primate cages, make the most of that. Some of the most knowledgeable face to face folks on animal behavior you are likely to meet, in many ways. Pay attention also to the human primate visitors. Zoos until covid have been one of the most popular public activities in the country – especially for families. Zoos are controversial. You may wish to include information and your own thoughts about that in your report. Don’t forget the report does need to follow all the guidelines for project write ups: format; start; end etc.
5. An alternative is an attempt at a standard animal behavior observation data collection activity. The zoo you visit may or may not be supportive of this. Please, review Non human primate observation practice — sharing (Links to an external site.) (web address to copy and paste if link not satisfactory https://docs.google.com/document/d/10QE1XIqSX3JVt7zNdFq01R0ZCsfP8Hj7FqvnBT7NIxo/edit (Links to an external site.)) kindly provided by ARC colleague, Dr. K. Caspar-Denman, one of whose specialties is primatology, and who is active at the Sacramento zoo, and offers a field course at the zoo. Take a look at the project format used by upper division students in a research course teaching data analysis of field work. You are not expected to do everything on that course’s project, but to try out the on and off observation of behavior activity chart collection and write up what you noted in a much shorter period with fewer variables designed to meet your needs.
5. Observe, collect data and analyze animal behavior connecting the goals, observations and results to our course information and methods. Consider scientific method techniques. Evolutionary hypotheses. Follow the data collection issues and format adapted to the sources of information you are using. There are three general choices of what you might get a chance to observe for our project.
5. Videos on monkeys and apes assigned in our section on primates
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o If choosing this source, be sure to turn off the sound and captioning. Focus on what you are noticing but is not highlighted in the narrative.
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1. or what you can observe straightforwardly via live cams at the following sources:
1. https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/live-cams (Links to an external site.)
2. https://www.houstonzoo.org/explore/webcams/chimpanzee-cam/ (Links to an external site.)
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o https://www.kansascityzoo.org/ouranimals/list-of-animals/bornean-orangutan/ (Links to an external site.)
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1. Or what you adapt from the project 4b link information above to observing animals that you have straightforward access to under covid conditions, a pet of your, dogs being walked, dog park, birds, squirrels, spiders in your life. Yup. This is a way of adapting a standard primate zoo project to current conditions.
6. Research and write up a topic in genetics (such as a medical one like Down syndrome, mosaic Turner, celiac disease, thalassemia, or a theoretical one, or a recent discovery. You may use a scientific method or a history of the research on the subject approach.
7. Watch and review in bulleted format, along the guidelines of my book reviews, three programs on non-human primates or the human fossil record, describing specifics from them that flesh out, or challenge or support or add to class coverage of the topic. Be sure to indicate how the date of the work reflects the content.
8. Develop ethics guidelines for genetic research or marketing of genetic research products. Explain who should be involved in monitoring this and how to enforce or challenge. Consider privacy issues and previous attempts to address these concerns globally.
9. Develop a program for teaching the scientific method and evolutionary theory to young elementary school children.
10. Some more genetics out of class research topic suggestions. Remember outline format for your write up!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not an essay. Not a download of search engine results. (See separate posting and guidelines above on formats.).
For topic research you MUST emphasize AT LEAST TWO ACADEMIC ARTICLES and explain at least two alternative theories or hypotheses that address the topic as well as summarizing the MOST CURRENT data, followed by an explanation of how it supports or affects the theories
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Functions and origins of mtDNA
LUCA (hypothetical Last Universal Common Ancestor)
Origins of RNA and/or ribosomes
Origins of nuclear DNA (versus mitochondrial)
11. OTHER PROJECT OF YOUR CHOOSING TIED TO THE COURSE GOALS IF AGREED ON WITH THE INSTRUCTOR. FOLLOW MY GUIDELINES ON YOUR SUGGESTION VERY CLOSELY.
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