Primate Behavior And Sociobiology

The VIIIth International Congress of the International Prirnatological Society was held from 7 through 11 July 1980 in Florence, Italy, under the auspices of the host institution, the Istituto di Antropologia of the University of Flor~nce. More than 300 papers and abstracts were presented either at the main Congress or in 14 pre-Congress symposia the week earlier (so scheduled to avoid conflicting with either the main invited lectures or the contributed paper sessions). This volume consists of the contributed papers concerning primate behavior, with special emphasis on those social aspects that reflect on or affect primate biology. Clearly, this is one of the more important and popular subdisciplines in primatology today. We have thus restricted the subject, in agreement with the publishers, in order to ensure a successful and useful volume that is likely to be generally noticed and widely available, as these up-to-date contributions deserve. Furthermore, we have compiled this volume in a fairly new way for congress proceedings. In view of space limitations, and the need to guarantee a high-quality and sufficiently specialized book, we subjected all manuscripts to a four-level internal review process and selected only the best 23 of the 50 submissions. We favored natural-observation work over captive studies. This rejection rate of 54% exceeds that of almost all reviewed scholarly journals.

In 1987, the University of Chicago Press published Primate Societies, the standard reference in the field of primate behavior for an entire generation of students and scientists. But in the twenty-five years since its publication, new theories and research techniques for studying the Primate order have been developed, debated, and tested, forcing scientists to revise their understanding of our closest living relatives. Intended as a sequel to Primate Societies, The Evolution of Primate Societies compiles thirty-one chapters that review the current state of knowledge regarding the behavior of nonhuman primates. Chapters are written by the leading authorities in the field and organized around four major adaptive problems primates face as they strive to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce in the wild. The inclusion of chapters on the behavior of humans at the end of each major section represents one particularly novel aspect of the book, and it will remind readers what we can learn about ourselves through research on nonhuman primates. The final section highlights some of the innovative and cutting-edge research designed to reveal the similarities and differences between nonhuman and human primate cognition. The Evolution of Primate Societies will be every bit the landmark publication its predecessor has been.

Stressing direct connections between human and nonhuman society, this book about the social life of monkeys, apes and humans emphasizes the importance of social information and knowledge in the understanding of primate behavior and organization.

This comprehensive introductory text integrates evolutionary, ecological, and demographic perspectives with new results from field studies and contemporary noninvasive molecular and hormonal techniques to understand how different primates behave and the significance of these insights for primate conservation. Each chapter is organized around the major research themes in the field, with Strier emphasizing the interplay between theory, observations, and conservation issues. Examples are drawn from the "classic" primate field studies as well as more recent studies, including many previously neglected species, to illustrate the vast behavioral variation that exists across the primate order. Primate Behavioral Ecology 6th Edition integrates the impacts of anthropogenic activities on primate populations, including zoonotic disease and climate change, and considers the importance of behavioral flexibility for primate conservation. This fully updated new edition brings exciting new methods, theoretical perspectives, and discoveries together to provide an incomparable overview of the field of primate behavioral ecology and its applications to primate conservation. It is considered to be a "must read" for all students interested in primates.