Anthropology 348 Primate Behavioral Ecology Course Description

(© Ryne A. Palombit) "He who understands [the] baboon, would do more toward metaphysics than Locke." --Charles Darwin

001 Biological Sciences Bldg (Douglass Campus)
Phone: (732) 932-5214
Email: rpalombit@anthropology.rutgers.edu

Textbook:

Strier, K.B. 2007. Primate Behavioral Ecology, 3rd ed.  Allyn & Bacon, Boston.

Requirements:
1.  Midterm (25%)
2.  Final Exam (30%)
3.  Term Paper (35%)
4.  Class Discussions (5%) & Term Paper Topic Assignment (5%)

Midterm & Final Exams:
The questions for each exam will be handed out in lecture one week before the exam date.  You have the week the prepare your answers.  You’ll write them in blue book.  You can bring to the exam one sheet of paper with notes on one side to assist you in writing the essays.

The Term Paper:
The Term Paper will be on a subject of your choice, but must have both a topical and an organismal focus (e.g., “Why are marmosets polyandrous?”).  The paper employs evolutionary theory to interpret some social or ecological phenomenon (e.g., sexual dimorphism, polyandry, monogamy, folivory, polyspecific associations, etc.), and it must cover the literature on some taxonomic subset of primates (a species [e.g., orangutans], or genus [e.g., Pan], or subfamily [e.g., Callitrichinae], etc.).  You are expected to use the library’s reference tools to ensure use of the recent literature & also to learn to do scholarly work.  A handout dealing with the term paper will be distributed. The paper should be about 10 pages, double-spaced.  Email a “why” question about a specific phenomenon in a particular taxon to me on or before the date provided (5% of your course grade for this) & I will provide feedback.  Some topics (e.g., locomotion, cognition) don’t work well.  Students cannot duplicate topics & taxa: topics are allocated on “first come, first serve” basis (so email as soon as you have your topic, but be prepared to switch if someone else is already doing it).

Schedule of Meetings & Readings