Overview & Purpose
One of the ways that Physical Anthropologists approach the understanding of ancient and modern human social and cultural behavior is through the study of our closest living relatives: the Primates. In this assignment, meant to accompany your Primate Project associated with your ANTH 1 Intro to Physical Anthropology lecture course,
you will become a Primatologist, systematically observing
at least two different primate species at a zoo and comparing their behaviors to each other.
If you are not currently taking ANTH 1
AND you have already completed a primate observation project at the zoo and you do not wish to take another field trip to the zoo (or if going to the zoo creates a hardship for you) you may choose to complete the alternate primate project, which involves observing
human primates. You must receive instructor approval (by March 1st) to complete the alternate project. Please send Kathryn a Canvas message prior to this date, if you anticipate not being able to go to the zoo.
Process
You may perform your observations at any zoo you would like. (The closest zoos to Foothill are the San Francisco Zoo and the Oakland Zoo.) YOU choose the date you would like to go to the zoo – anytime up to March 14th (projects are due on March 15th).
When you visit the zoo, you will need access to the instructions in this assignment (so you may want to print it out) as well as
Lab 11 Exercise 2 (pgs. 326-327) from your lab workbooks, and a notebook and pens. Also be sure to save or take a photo of your zoo ticket stub as I will ask for a copy of that.
I want you to systematically observe two different primate species for at least 30 minutes each (see below under tips for how to choose the best one-hour window). Observe each primate species for at least thirty minutes, broken into “intervals,” and describe what the animals do along with the exact time each behavior occurs.
You should keep detailed field notes for each species following the structure outline in Lab 11 Exercise 2.
I encourage you to be creative with your observations. The wonderful part about science is that it is done by scientists, and each individual scientist gets to shape how data is collected (even deciding what constitutes “data”). If you want to provide more narrative, take pictures or draw maps, diagrams, etc., these may also be handed in with your completed lab exercise.
After completing the observations and
two copies of Lab 11 Exercise 2, then please also answer the following questions in narrative form in a 1-2 page (double spaced) reflection:
1. Where and when did you complete the observation?
2. Which two species did you observe (give the common name and the Genus+species name)?
3. What physical traits were common to the two species? What traits were unique to each one?
4. What behaviors were common to the two species? What traits were unique to each one?
5. Did you see anything unusual or surprising?
6. How might your experience be different if observing non-human primates in the field (not in captivity)?
7. What did you learn by doing this assignment?
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