Ant 262: Monkey business: primate behavior & ecology
Spring 2015
Syllabus*
*subject to change at instructor’s discretion
Professor: Zachary Cofran
Lecture: Room 7.527, MWF 11:00-11:50 am
Email: zachary.cofran@nu.edu.kz
Office: 8.507b
Office hours: M&F 2-3 pm, W 2-5 pm, and by appointment
This class will review the social systems and behavior of our closest living relatives, the
primates. The course will begin by outlining questions about primate behavior. In this
section the Order Primates will be introduced by examining the biology and behavior of
strepsirhines (“prosimians”), monkeys and apes. Next, several aspects of primate social
systems including spacing, mating and grouping patterns will be discussed. The course
will conclude by reviewing selected topics of primate behavior, such as vocal
communication and cognition.
Course objectives
By the end of the semester, hard-working students will:
 understand what evolution is (and isn’t) and how it works (and how it doesn’t)
 learn how to identify, comprehend and communicate quality scientific articles
 learn about our closest living relatives and why we risk losing them
 appreciate the place of humans as another animal in nature
Textbooks & Readings
Strier, Karen. 2011. Primate Behavioral Ecology. 4rd edition, Pearson.
Additional readings will be posted to Moodle. All readings should be read for the week in
which they are posted.
Grading
Participation = 20%
Pop quizzes over the current week’s current readings can happen at any time.
Quizzes must be taken in class and cannot be made up. Your lowest score will be
dropped from the final grade.
Article summary writing assignments, 5x5% = 25%
You will write five (5) article summaries over the course of the semester. Each
summary will be a review of a high-quality, scientific article on a specific topic,
relating to your species (see “Term paper,” below). Each summary should be
about 1-2 double-spaced pages.
Term paper (due in parts) = 25%
Selected species and potential bibliography of references (13 February) = 2%
Paper outline (03 April) = 3%
Final paper (11 May) = 20%
Ant 262 – Winter 2015
Syllabus
Midterm Exam = 15%
In class 27 February
Final Exam = 15%
In class 29 April
Except for a few points on the midterm, there will be no opportunities for extra credit.
Grading scale:
≥93% = A
90-92% = A87-89% = B+
83-86% = B
80-82% = B77-79% = C+
73-76% = C
70-72% = C-
67-69% = D+
60-66% = D
<60% = F
Late policy
Work turned in late will not be accepted. I do not grant extensions. You must be in
attendance for quizzes and the final exam.
Academic Integrity
All work you submit must be your own. You may discuss assignments with colleagues,
but you may not turn in the same work. When you use references, other people’s ideas,
and especially other people’s direct words, you absolutely must cite them. Failure to cite
is plagiarism, which will result in your failure of the assignment. Plagiarism and other
academic misconduct will be reported to the SHSS Disciplinary Committee for possibly
further disciplinary action.
Attendance
Whether you attend each class is ultimately up to you, but you will do better if you come
to class. Note that there will be quizzes every week and cannot be made up if missed.
Keeping up with course material and due dates is ultimately your responsibility. Please
do not waste either your or my time by sleeping in class (you will be asked to leave).
Technology
You will do better in the class if you pay attention during lecture; cell phones and other
devices will distract you (and me) more than they will help you. Use of cell phones is
prohibited: if you are found to be on your phone in class you will have to leave the
classroom and you will receive negative participation points (points previously earned
will be lost). I may opt to apply this policy to other devices if I see fit.
Schedule of topics, readings & assignments
*Dates and content subject to change
Due dates in red
Week 1: Introduction to Primatology
Readings
Strier Chapter 1
Ant 262: Monkey business
Syllabus
Carey 2010. Forget what you know about good study habits. The New York Times
(http://nyti.ms/1F7Xh8U).
Rodman, 1980. Why monkeys live together. International Wildlife 10: 18.
Morgan, 2012. Notes from the field: A primatologist’s point of view. Nature Education
Knowledge 3: 8. (http://bit.ly/primatenotes)
Film: Life in the Trees (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007c1nk)
Week 2: Evolution
Readings
Strier pages 80-98.
Weiss and Buchanan, 2010. Evolution: What it means and how we know. In A
Companion to Biological Anthropology. Larsen, ed.
Week 3: Primate Origins
Readings
Strier Chapter 2
Martin, 2012. Primates. Current Biology, R785.
Week 4: Primate variation & evolution
Readings
Strier Chapter 3
Clee and Gonder, 2012. Macroevolution: Examples from the primate World. Nature
Education Knowledge 3: 2. (http://bit.ly/1F7Xuc9)
Week 5: Food
Selected primate species and bibliography of potential references (13 February)
Readings
Strier Chapter 6
Cahn and Cahn, 2013. Polishing your prose. The Chronicle of Higher Education
(http://bit.ly/1F7XIA7)
Week 6: Sex
Summary 1: Taxonomy & conservation (20 February)
Readings
Strier Chapter 5
Week 7: Mating Systems & Strategies
Midterm exam in class 27 February
Readings
Strier Chapter 7
Week 8: Kinship
Summary 2: Your species’ feeding and spacing (06 March)
Readings
Strier pages 98-109
Ant 262: Monkey business
Syllabus
Week 9: Infants
Readings
Taylor, 2012. Why infanticide can benefit animals. BBC Nature (http://bbc.in/1PJYRsM).
Gettler, 2014. Applying Socioendocrinology to Evolutionary models: Fatherhood and
physiology. Evolutionary Anthropology 23: 146.
Week 10: ZACH IN MADISON (16-20 March)
Summary 3: Your species’ mating system (20 March)
Film: Clever Monkeys (2008) http://bit.ly/1PJZu5x
Film: Ape Genius (2009) http://bit.ly/1PJZzX5
Film questions must be posted to Moodle by Friday 20 March at midnight!
SPRING BREAK (no class 23-27 March)
Week 11: Intelligence and Cognition
Paper outline due Friday 03 April
Readings
Strier Chapter 10
Hopper and Brosnan, 2012. Primate cognition. Nature Education (http://bit.ly/1PJZJxr)
Week 12: Life History
Summary 4: Your species’ grouping patterns & kinship (10 April)
Readings
Strier Chapter 9
Week 13: Behavioral Endocrinology
Summary 5: Special topic or debate (24 April)
Readings
Berkovitch and Ziegler, 2002. Current topics in primate socioendocrinology. Annual
Review of Anthropology 31: 45.
Gesquiere et al., 2011. Life at the top: Rank and stress in wild male baboons. Science
333: 357.
Week 14: Conservation
Readings
Strier Chapter 12
Chapman and Gogarten, 2012. Primate conservation: Is the cup half empty or half full?
Nature Education Knowledge 4: 7 (http://bit.ly/1PK0h6x).
Week 15: The human primate, Final exam
Final exam in class 29 April
Reading
Laland and Hoppit, 2003. Do animals have culture? Evolutionary Anthropology 12: 150.
Final paper due Monday 11 May