What it means when primatologists say that primate societies are diverse.?

Purpose:

A behavior profile is a study technique used by primatologists (biological/physical anthropologists who focus on the study of non-human primates), as well as other biological researchers, that allows two or more species of animals to be compared and contrasted. The purpose of this assignment is threefold:

To observe the physical characteristics, types of behaviors and frequency of behaviors for THREE different kinds of primates – one ape, one monkey and one prosimian;*
To apply what you have been learning in Chapters 6 and 7 about non-human primates to a real life scenario where your observational skills are paramount (primatology in action!);
To translate your observations into a written report accessible to your peers.
You cannot do three of the same type of primate; so NOT all apes; nor can you do the same primate but from two different locations (so not snow monkeys from a zoo as well as the Japanese preserve). You can do two different types apes or two types of monkeys, IF you are visiting a physical zoo and they lack prosimians (like the Santa Barbara Zoo, which lacks prosimians). If you are using live camera feeds, you MUST observe one lemur, one monkey and one ape.
In case visiting a zoo in-person is not an option (it really is best, but obviously we do what we can), here are some possible live camera links. Links sometimes go off-line – so you may need to check back and/or try another camera feed. It is also possible to do a Google search for “lemur live camera feed” and come up with zoos NOT listed here. If you find one not listed below please be sure to include you link in your assignment submission.

I DO NOT want you to use recorded footage; too often prerecorded footage includes commentary on what you are viewing. The point of the assignment is to come to your own conclusions.

VERY IMPORTANT:

If you use live cam footage (instead of physically visiting a zoo), in your assignment submission YOU MUST SAY which camera you used, and on what day (month, day and year) and time you observed – put this information in your INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH. Keep in mind time zones vary AND you need primates within your camera view otherwise you have nothing to report on. You may have to check on a camera several times to get 20 minutes in total of observable activity. This is not an assignment to leave until the last minute.

Skills:

The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in this course, in school and in professional life beyond school:

General comprehension of a subject and the ability to translate written directions into actionable tasks;
More specifically the role other organisms play in our life experiences and how you and they are the product of adaptation and evolution;
How our ability to communicate our findings with others furthers our educational and career goals.
Knowledge:

This assignment will also help you to become familiar with the following important content knowledge in this discipline:

What it means when primatologists say that primate societies are diverse.
How primate social behaviors, such as competition and cooperative behavior, relate to fitness and natural selection.
The differences between males and females in terms of reproductive strategy, social behavior, and sexual dimorphism.
Key factors that affect primates’ success at obtaining food
The situations in which primates make audible calls and gestures and describe how primatologists have studied and “translated” them.
Task:

Visit a zoo with at least one kind of prosimian, one kind of monkey and one kind of ape – if completing the assignment using “Live Cam footage” (which is A-OK), one, two or three different zoos can be visited. You will be observing one of each primate type for a minimum of 20 minutes each (total observation time for all three is at least 60 minutes – if using Live Camera footage, you may need to watch a bit longer and/or combine observations from more than one attempt – while a couple of minutes of a primate being out of sight is acceptable, half or more of the observation period with no primates to observe is not; start early).
Next…observe each type of primate for at least 20 minutes, record the behaviors you observe and tally the percentages of time spent in each behavior. For example, for locomotor habits, “Movement is quadrapedal using both hands and feet to walk and move extremely fast while on the tops of the branches; they appear to be using their fingers for walking instead of their hands. Time: 25%”
In addition to locomotion, observed behaviors could/should include:

resting (where, upon what, body posture)
sleeping (where, upon what, body posture)
feeding (what, body usage, body posture)
foraging (where, what, how)
grooming (where, with whom, kind of movement)
other use of hands and feet
vocalizations
facial expressions
interactions with others
Translate your observations for EACH primate variety into at least one well-structured paragraph for each paragraph (just one type of primate per paragraph). If your primate(s) is/are relatively lethargic, SAY SO and then be sure to describe the physical aspects of the primate (size, shape, color – do a bit of research from our textbook or on the internet!), its environments and perhaps reasons for why not much is going on (hot and middle of the day so keeping cool; just eating so letting food digest; large primate with not many predators so why budge); KEEP IN MIND – some primates are just more active than others and being in a Zoo may not be the culprit for their sloth-like activity. For instance, gorillas are the “king” of the jungle. Do they need to be speedy and smart? Why? Why not?
Please include a breakdown for ALL of the time you observe each variety, being sure to use the terms/vocabulary from our readings in your write-up.

The focus of this paragraph should be WHAT you observe!

Compare and contrast your three varieties of primates in at least one well-structured paragraph. Suggestions include: Why are behaviors between your primates different? How are behaviors helping each type to be successful (eat, avoid being eaten, find a partner)? Why are they the same. Do body types have anything to do with the differences? Why or why not? I expect you to be looking at how behaviors help them survive – this is a necessary part of this compare/contrast paragraph! You must TRY to interpret their behavior – all reasonable efforts to try are acceptable. If there is NO attempt to interpret, you will be marked down. Be detailed in why you think the way you do. Support your views.
Criteria for Success:

Your submission MUST be a “paper” (and not a list of bullet points):

Include ONE well-crafted (full sentences, proper syntax) introductory paragraph with the name(s) of the zoo(s) you visit, the EXACT date (for example, May 31, 2023 at 11:15 am) and time you were there (or viewed the live camera feed), what were the primates you observed – their specific common name (just saying lemur is not enough; what type of lemur? ring-tailed? brown?) AND genus + species (eg, Homo sapiens), and what was the weather like that day (it may affect your subjects behavior).
I DO NOT want separate paragraphs introducing each zoo you use – just one intro paragraph please. Plus, you ONLY need to identify the zoo/date observed in your initial introduction. I do not want this information repeated in the results paragraphs.
Report on your observation results – one paragraph for each primate variety (3 total – one paragraph for your prosimian, one for your monkey and one for your ape) and, lastly, one compare/contrast paragraph!
Include at least 10 vocabulary words from Chapters 6 and 7: the terms MUST be capitalized (For example, QUADRAPEDAL). Bolded and italicized terms cut and pasted into Canvas tend to lose their formatting, so please use ALL CAPS as they are the best way to ensure you receive the points for the terms. You need 10 distinct terms, using the same term more than once does not count so ONLY put your term in ALL CAPS the first time you use the term – please no duplicates; your terms must be used properly. For example, saying a ring-tailed lemur has a PREHENSILE tail is not correct. Yes, they do have a tail (a very obvious and uniquely striped one) but it is not grasping; only a few New World monkeys have a grasping (PREHENSILE) tail.
Include a breakdown of what was occurring during the full 20 minute observations period. So, a summary: 10% eating, 90% sleeping; or “For 18 minutes, the gorilla did nothing but sleep… The last 2 minutes, he munched on vegetation.” ALL 20 MINUTES MUST BE EASILY ACCOUNTED FOR.
If using live camera footage, please just do the best you can to tally how much time was spent in which activity. As live camera feeds often jump around, you probably will not watch the same individual the whole time – no worries. As long as you make a reasonable effort to report what the primates you did see were up to, you will earn those points.

Do focus on what your animals were up to – activities observed is the focus of the assignment. I am not interested in A LOT of background research unless you directly link said research to what you have seen. A submission where the whole, or majority, of your content is research will be sent back to you for revisions.

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An “A” level submission is generally at least 1250 words (at a MINIMUM). Submissions less than 1250 words are generally lacking in detail and need further expansion. NOTE: just because you write the minimum number of words does not mean you will earn full points; you must still fulfill the requirements of the assignment.

An exemplary paragraph:

“The orangutan was reddish with long hair, it is the only type of ape found in Asia. The apes arms are longer than its legs which makes it so its arms drag along the ground when it walks. Orangutans live in a habitat with lots of trees, so they are able to swing from branch to branch. As I was watching the orangutans I noticed several things. They were very active as they are DIURNAL, which means that they normally are awake and active during daylight hours. When I first joined the livestream at around 7:10pm I observed one orangutan climbing with one hand, holding something with his foot, and throwing something on the ground. They use a POWER GRIP which is a fist-like grip in which the fingers and thumbs wrap around an object in opposite directions. When he climbs he has his hands curled around the branches. There was another ape that came into view and both apes climbed into their hammocks to rest, one jumped down and was swinging with his arms, and feet on the ropes and the other one was sitting on his hammock upright. They are known as BRACHIATORS which are organisms that move by brachiation, or arm swinging. The ape was climbing with his hands and using his feet to hold a blanket, sitting in a swing and grabbing the rope with one arm. He also pushed himself back and forth, on the swing, and rested. The other ape was sitting in an upright position in his hammock, and then got up and moved to a different hammock and covered himself with the blanket when a monkey bothers him. The apes were also climbing on the ropes. While eating, an orangutan uses a hand to pull a piece of food and holds it with his hand and chews on it. A PRECISION GRIP is used while earring, this is where the tips of the fingers and thumbs come together, enabling fine manipulation. Something I noted was how they were separate while they were eating. One of the apes was sleeping/resting in a hammock while the other two were eating. It was interesting to watch the interactions between two of the apes. Two were sitting close together, one was holding a rope, and they looked like they were interacting. Then as they both held the rope, one of them took the blanket away. I noticed one of them grabbing a piece of grass and eating it. I was not able to see the ape’s mouth closely to see the DIASTEMA or gap between its canine and incisor teeth. Something cool was to see an ape walking on the rope standing on his two legs, using his curled feet to grab a ring. The other ape climbed on him and around him, covering his eyes and scratching his hand with one hand. The apes were hanging and grabbing on each other. I would say that about 30% of the 20 minutes the orangutans were resting, 40% of the time they were climbing by themselves, 10% they were eating, and 20% of the time they were playing with others. They played by hanging, climbing from rope to rope and climbing on each other.”

This student included both detailed physical characteristics of orangutans, as well as observed behaviors. The paragraph ends with an easily parsed breakdown of how much time was spent in which behavior during the observational period. Such a breakdown makes writing the final compare/contrast paragraph particularly easy as you can quote how much time was spent in which activity. For instance, “While the orangutan and gorillas spent 30 to 50% of their time resting, the marmoset only spent 10%. As orangutans and gorillas are larger animals and it takes more calories to support more active pursuits, it makes sense they are less active. A marmoset on the other hand is small and potentially prey, so spending time being on the lookout for predators and not sleeping during the day makes good adaptive sense.”