Instruction
Assignments #6 discussion- 150-word minimum
In January of 2017, a team of over 30 primatologists published the conclusions of their conservation status survey of all known species of non-human primates, entitled Impending extinction crisis of the world's primates: Why primates matter*.
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/1/e1600946
The news for our closest living mammal cousins is grim: "~60% of primate species are now threatened with extinction and ~75% have declining populations" (p.1). Non-human primates are an integral part of the biodiversity of planet Earth. They contribute to the health of ecosystems, provide data in our quest to understand human biology and behavior, and have a central role in the cultural practices of people around the world. The loss of multiple primate species would be devastating to the planet and to us as members of the Order Primates.
The goals of this assignment are to introduce you to the amazing diversity of the world's primates - they are both strange and beautiful - and to introduce you to primate behavior. Many behaviors once thought to be unique 'human behaviors' we now understand to be shared with many, if not all, primate species. This suggests that shared behaviors were inherited rather than novel human inventions.
IMPORTANT:
Each student has been assigned a specific primate species to research and on which to create a zoo-placard type discussion board post. Your assigned primate species can be found in the Primate Species Assignments document available in Module Two.
Zanzibar Red Colobus (common name)
Piliocolobus kirkii (Genus species)
Be aware that your Part 2 post will be manually uploaded into Turnitin.com by your professor. If you plagiarize a source, you will receive a zero grade and consideration will be given to reporting the offense to the Office of Student Conduct & Grievance.
Assignment #7 200 Word Minimum - Primate Behavior, Emotion, and Intelligence
Part 2 of Primate Profile Discussion Board - Species Behavior
Now that your classmates have posted their Assignment #6 post, you can begin to review the discussion board in order to find a species that piques your interest. Feel free to ‘like’ any post that stands out. Select a species described by another student to be the subject of further research. (IMPORTANT: Select a species post that does not already have an Assignment #7 reply. So, when everyone has completed the two-part posts, we will have all species with a profile and behavior component.) You should notify the class of your species selection by replying to the original post with “Behavior Research in Progress”. If a species already has a “Behavior Research in Progress” tag, choose another species. Once all students have completed Assignment #7, there should be one behavior post per profiled species.
Once a species is selected and reserved, research the species’ behavior patterns – social organization, communication systems, reproduction, parental care, tool use, etc. Chapter 7 of your textbook covers the topic of Primate Behavior. If you don’t know what to look for in your research, read through the chapter first. In your research, identify something about the species’ behavior that you find intriguing, then write a 200-word description of what you learned as a reply to the original Part 1 post on the species. Your paragraph(s) should be linked directly to the original species post. To do this, locate the post within the discussion board, click the reply button at the bottom of that post. This will open the text box for your Assignment #7 reply. Feel free to include a photograph, video or other aid to illustrate the described behavior. Each reply post should include at least one source. As should be expected, the paragraph should be in your own words. Avoid plagiarism and the copy/paste/modify approach to writing. All behavior posts will be manually uploaded to Turnitin.com. Any evidence of academic dishonesty will results in a zero grade on the assignment. As always, proofread your text before posting.
Assignment #8 Essay 375 word minimum
To better understand how closely all primates, including humans, are related to one another consider the following questions: How intelligent are non-human primates relative to humans? Do they have emotions similar to those of humans? (Emotions to consider: fear, anger, joy, surprise, sadness, disgust, etc.) Or are their behaviors driven by instinct? Jot down some notes about your immediate responses to these questions. Then, explore the current primatological research that addresses these questions by watching the following two videos:
Frans de Waal’s TED talk: Moral behavior in animals (Links to an external site.) (17 mins.)
https://www.ted.com/talks/frans_de_waal_moral_behavior_in_animals
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkjUjcZid0&t=2s
MIND FIELD S3, E1: The Cognitive Tradeoff Hypothesis (Links to an external site.)
(25 mins.)
Prompt: Write an essay that summarizes your thoughts on the topics of primate intelligence and emotion, making sure to reference evidence presented in the videos to support your opinion. In the first paragraph, summarize your pre-video viewing thoughts on the above questions. In the second, describe in depth your response to the video content. Was it consistent with your pre-existing impressions of primate intelligence and emotion? Did anything in the videos shock or surprise you? Did the video content change your understanding of these topics? Finally, comment on the implications of this current research on how humans perceive and treat other primate species, particularly in captivity - laboratory settings, zoos, and entertainment facilities. In light of primate intelligence and capacity for emotion, in these captive settings, do we provided them with what they need to be cognitively healthy. Obviously, this essay is not just a fact-based review of the topic. It should include your thoughts and your opinions. You should rely most heavily on the material covered in the videos. If you do use outside sources, something that is not require nor necessary, you should use quotation marks where appropriate and cite your sources.
Academic Writing Tip: When you reference video content by using a scholar or narrator's name there is a proper format in which this should be done. The first time you reference an individual use their full name and title, if applicable: Dr. Frans de Waal, Michael Stevens, or Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa. In subsequent references to these individuals, you should use 'title last name' or simply their last name.
Assignment #10
Australopithecine Life Experience
The earliest hominins, while bipedal like modern humans, had a life experience that was much closer to modern chimpanzees or bonobos than to ourselves. Students often assume a great similarity between modern humans and Australopithecines in terms of how they organized their social groups, how they found food, where they slept, and how they scheduled daily routines. It is important to understand how our earliest ancestors lived in order to fully appreciate the impact of cultural innovations like stone tool production and controlled use of fire. To help you create an image in your mind of Australopithecine life experience, you will research the behavior of chimpanzees and/or bonobos in order to answer the following questions. Choose either the common chimpanzee or bonobos to focus your research on. You should already be familiar with the online primate behavior resources following completion of Assignment #7. Type your answers in a one page document (word minimum does not apply to this assignment). Sources should be included at the bottom of your document.
Questions:
1. Briefly describe the social organization of chimpanzees/bonobos.
2. Where do chimpanzees/bonobos sleep and how often does the location change?
3. What do chimpanzees/bonobos eat?
4. Describe how chimpanzees/bonobos forage for food (group composition and size; time investment).
5. Do chimpanzees/bonobos eat where they find food or do they carry food back to a base camp?
6. What types of tools, made of which materials, do chimpanzees/bonobos make and use?
7. Describe chimpanzee/bonobo mating practices (e.g., monogamous, polygynous, etc.).