ANT 312 Section 001: Non-Human Primates
Fall 2011
3 Credit Hours
Primary Instructor: Dr. Christopher Lynn
Syllabus subject to change.
This course is an introductory survey of the world’s living non-human primates. We will focus on the taxonomy, anatomy, behavior, ecology, and cognition of our closest living relatives. It is intended both as a starting point for further coursework in primate behavior and as a survey course for non-science students. We will watch many films in this class—footage of primates in action is often more exiting and memorable than any written description. You will be tested on material that you see in the films, so watch them carefully and take notes. I will primarily use a lecture format but welcome and encourage you to ask questions during lectures. So do the readings and come to class prepared to be an active participant.
By the end of the semester, you should:
· have an appreciation of the diversity of living primates
· have an understanding of the relevance of primate studies to understanding our own evolution
· know the difference between apes and monkeys and between Old World and New World primates
· understand the importance of primate conservation efforts active today
· be familiar with some of the issues surrounding zoo-based primate research
· be familiar with the primates at the Birmingham (or other nearby) Zoo
· be able to write an organized, coherent ethological report
Exams: There are two midterms and a final exam. Exams will consist of multiple-choice questions. The exams are NOT cumulative – i.e. each test will cover only the material since the previous exam. The exams will cover material presented in lecture, in the assigned readings, and in the films. You must take the exam on the scheduled date. Make-ups will not be possible after the exam has been given unless you have an extraordinarily good excuse for missing the exam. If you know in advance that you will miss an exam, a makeup can be arranged for a time prior to the scheduled in-class exam – but you must give me plenty of notice (i.e. several days, at least).
Quizzes: There will be a quiz every time the class meets. Each quiz will be administered immediately at the beginning of class. Quizzes cannot be made up, whether due to tardiness or absence (unexcused or excused), SO DON'T BE LATE TO CLASS. The quiz will be 1-2 questions and will be based on the assigned readings in the Sapolsky book. DO ASSIGNED READINGS FOR EACH DATE BEFORE THE CLASS MEETS. It's also helpful for testing purposes and long-term memory to reread them again after lectures, but that won't help you on quizzes. This book is a light, fun read about baboons and the logistics of being a primatologist and should be easy to keep up with.
Zoo Report (Due Dec. 1): You will write a detailed scientific report of the primates at the Birmingham Zoo. The primary criteria for grading zoo reports are the completeness, quality, and detail of your descriptions and observations (can I visualize the animals and activities you are talking about?) and how well you followed the instructions; clarity of writing, use of formal English grammar, and correct spelling are expected. Neatness and appearance count, so that typing the report and organizing the material both help your grade, but photos and other inclusions (whether taken by you or a website) are optional and add very few points. Full, detailed instructions are available on eLearning.
Following is the rubric that will be used to evaluate your report:
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1=unacceptable |
2=poor |
3=fair |
4=good |
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Part I (described all species) |
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Part II (feeding & locomotion) |
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Part III (focal studies) |
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Part IV (scan studies) |
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Coherence (internal logic, organization, grammar, punctuation, spelling, prose style) |
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This course uses the A-F grade system. Your final grade is determined by the points you earned out 100.
Test 1: 25 points
Test 2: 25 points
Final Exam: 25points
Zoo Report: 20 points
Quizzes: 5 points
TOTAL 100 points
You can earn up to 5 course points in extra credit as outlined below.
The following is the tentative grade scale for this course (I reserve the right to use a more lenient scale if appropriate): A+ (100%), A (93-99%), A- (90-92.9%), B+ (87-89.9%), B (83-86.9%), B- (80-82.9%), C+ (77-79.9%), C (73-76.9%), C- (70-72.9%), D+ (67-69.9%), D (63-66.9%), D- (60-62.9%), F (<60%)
ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION POLICY: Attendance is required and will be monitored. Quizzes are used to determine who is in attendance. IF YOU ARE LATE TO CLASS AND MISS THE QUIZ, YOU MUST PROVIDE ME A SHEET OF PAPER WITH YOUR NAME AND DATE ON IT OR YOU WILL BE MARKED AS ABSENT. More than two unexcused absences will result in your course grade being lowered by FIVE course points. It will be lowered by 5 additional courses points for every additional absence thereafter. That means 4 absences will cost you a whole letter grade; 10 absences will result in a failing grade for the course. However, you will receive 3 bonus course points if you have no absences. Classroom participation will not be directly graded but is likely to enhance your performance in the course.
Enter text here.
Note: Schedule subject to change without notice. Check eLearning regularly for updates.
DATE WEEK/DAY TOPIC/READINGS ACTIVITY
Week 1 Why Study Primates/Primate Characteristics
Aug 25 R Primates in Perspective (PiP) 1-2, Sapolsky (Sap) 1
Week 2 Evolution & Ecology
Aug 30 T PiP 3, Sap 2-3
Sept 1 R PiP 32, Sap 4
Week 3 Reproductive Strategies
Sept 6 T PiP 29, Sap 5
Sept 8 R PiP 30, Sap 6
Week 4 Prosimians: Lemurs, Tarsiers, & Lorises
Sept 13 T -- EXAM 1
Sept 15 R PiP 5, Sap 7
Week 5 Prosimians
Sept 20 T PiP 6, Sap 8
Sept 22 R PiP 7, Sap 9 Film: A Lemur’s Tale
Week 6 NW Monkeys: Callitrichines
Sept 27 T PiP 7, Sap 10
Sept 29 R Sap 11 Film: Face in the Forest
Week 7 NW Monkeys: Cebidae & Atelidae
Oct 4 T PiP 8, Sap 12
Oct 6 R PiP 11, Sap 13 Film: Social Climbers
Week 8 OW Monkeys: Colobines
Oct 11 T PiP 12, Sap 14
Oct 13 R PiP 13, Sap 15 Film: Baboon Tales
Week 9 OW Monkeys: Cercopithecines
Oct 18 T PiP 14, Sap 16
Oct 20 R PiP 15, Sap 17 Film: Snow Monkey
Week 10
Oct 25 T -- EXAM 2
Oct 27 R NO CLASS MID-SEMESTER BREAK
Week 11 Apes: Gibbons & Orangutans
Nov 1 T PiP 17, Sap 18
Nov 3 R PiP 18, Sap 19 Film: Orangutans with Julia Roberts
Week 12 Apes: Gorillas & Chimps
Nov 8 T PiP 19, Sap 20
Nov 10 R PiP 20, Sap 21 Film: Mountain Gorilla
Week 13 Methods in Primatology
Nov 15 T PiP 21, Sap 22
Nov 17 R Sap 23-24 Film: Ape Genius
Week 14 Cultural Behavior
Nov 22 T PiP 42, Sap 25-26
Nov 24 R NO CLASS HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Week 15 Cognition & Conservation
Nov 29 T PiP 43, Sap 27 Video: Sapolsky talk
Dec 1 R PiP 45, Sap 28 ZOO OBSERVATION ACTIVITY DUE
Week 16 Ethnoprimatology
Dec 8 T PiP 46, Sap 29
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 8-10:30 FINAL EXAM
Attendance: If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to contact a classmate to get notes from a particular lecture. Lectures will be recorded and available in a Tegrity folder on eLearning, but I can neither guarantee the quality of these recordings nor meet with you to clarify a whole lecture because of an absence. It behooves you to use your primate social faculties to clarify material that you may not have understood during class or to help you clarify material you missed in conjunction with classmates’ shared notes. Remember, you will be penalized if you miss more than 2 lectures, so do not rely on this method.
Exams: If you miss an exam due to legitimate circumstances beyond your control, you may make it up if arrangements are made with me in a timely fashion (i.e., you should be able to get notice to me by the next day or within 3 under extreme circumstances). Legitimate circumstances may include illness sufficient to merit a visit to the Student Health Center (in which case, be prepared to provide proof of visit) or death or illness in the family. Under the latter circumstances, I expect you will be notifying other instructors of your absence in their classes too, which I may elect to verify.
Quizzes: Quizzes cannot be made up, whether you missed it because you were late to class or because you were absent (excused or unexcused).
Zoo Report: You must conduct the zoo report. You have all semester to find the time to do this project. Lack of transportation is not a suitable excuse. A good idea would be to carpool with classmates. If you cannot coordinate this, you can rent a Zipcar (http://www.zipcar.com/ualabama/). As a last resort, there is a Greyhound bus route between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham that leaves five times a day, but there is only bus service within Birmingham to the zoo during the week, so either plan your trip accordingly or use a taxi on the weekend.
Alternatively, if you find yourself on vacation in another city with a good primate exhibit, you may conduct your zoo report there with prior approval. There are good primate facilities at zoos in Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, and many other nearby cities (even Montgomery has a decent one) that may interest you.
Late assignments will penalized one point per day or portion thereof after midnight on the due date (Dec. 1). The assignment is worth 20 course points; therefore, an assignment that is more than 20 days overdue will receive a 0.
You can earn up to 5 course points in extra credit by bringing in "primate food" for the whole class and giving a short presentation (5-10 minutes) on what primate(s) eat it and the ecological circumstances. This is a very simple but potentially very fun activity; that is totally up to how much effort you put into it. My only warning is that you not bring in a bunch of bananas and say "monkeys eat these," unless you are prepared to give me a convincing ecological argument. You can modify the food for human consumption if necessary or desirable, but make sure your presentation addresses the core or unprocessed ingredient the primate eats and how they eat it. For instance, in the past I have brought in honey-roasted crickets, varieties of leaves (be sure they are not poisonous!), syrup, nuts (and rocks to open them with), and durian fruit.
Please let me know in advance when you would like to do this so I can budget time into or around scheduled lectures and activities.
This course fulfills an elective requirement in both the Anthropology major and minor and a new minor in Evolutionary Studies (EvoS). If you are not an Anthropology major or minor and have not already decided to declare as such, we hope this course leads you to consider doing so. EvoS is an interdisciplinary minor, housed in the Department of Anthropology and is designed to introduce students to the fundamental importance of evolutionary theory as an explanatory model for life and behavior. This course fulfills an elective requirement in the EvoS minor. Other requirements of the minor include two capstone courses (including ANT 150, offered every Spring), a 200-level course in the biological principles of evolution, and a foundational course in one of three disciplines. Minors are required to complete six elective hours in two separate disciplines.
This program is integrated with UA's Evolution and Origins Working Group (EVOWOG)and its Alabama Lectures on Life's Evolution (ALLELE) speaker series ("Like" us on Facebook [www.facebook.com/ALLELEseries] to stay informed!). You are strongly encouraged to attend the ALLELE lectures presented this semester. This minor is part of a larger EvoS Consortium, which includes approximately 42 other institutions worldwide, though we are only one of four full-fledged minors. We take pride in this fact, given that Alabama recently scored at the very bottom of the 50 states in teaching evolution at the k-12 levels (even worse than Mississippi!).
As part of the EvoS program, the students have started an EvoS club, that we hope will grow out of this class. You are welcome to become part of this club whether you declare yourself an EvoS minor or simply maintain an abiding interest in evolutionary theory and its myriad applications and implications. We hope the activities of the club will include regular evolution-oriented field trips and organizing activities around ALLELE speakers. The first trip that is being planned is one to visit the new human evolution exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
If you are interested in the EvoS minor (either to declare or for more information), contact either Dr. Lynn (cdlynn@ua.edu) or Dr. Rissler (rissler@as.ua.edu), who are co-directors of the program.
There is a closed Facebook group for this course at http://www.facebook.com/groups/179401388799455/. Please join us. It will be a forum for exchanging information about items in the news, pop culture, and other events (or your dirty little secrets, if you choose to expose them, I suppose). This is not required, but I have found it works better than eLearning forums designed for the same purpose.
Also, "like" the UA Department of Anthropology (www.facebook.com/UAAnthroDept) and the ALLELE series (www.facebook.com/ALLELEseries) on Facebook so that we can keep in touch with you and you can stay informed about our events and activities.
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The Academic Misconduct Disciplinary Policy will be followed in the event of academic misconduct.
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