Dr. Jill Pruetz is away in Africa doing research however you may contact her assistant, Michelle Bezanson for more information: bezanson@U.Arizona.EDU

Grading: You will receive 2 grades for this course. The first grade is for FIELD TECHNIQUES IN BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY. This part of the course involves supervised participation in data collecting techniques, methods, and procedures discussed and practiced under actual field conditions. The course provides instruction and experience in the following field techniques:

1. methods of collecting data on the behavior and ecology of free-ranging nonhuman primates,
2. methods of censusing and demography, including mapping techniques,
3. methods of collecting data on phenology and food availability in a tropical forest, and
4. methods of sampling forest structure in a tropical forest.

Your grade will be based on:
Field techniques - 4 written assignments 10 points each (40%)
10-minute oral presentation on scientific article 20 points (20%)
Written exam - Primate behavior & ecology 40 points (40%)

The second grade is for RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA ANALYSIS: Interpretation, evaluation, and organization of field data in Biologial Anthropology; preparation of written reports on research. The course requirements include

1. writing a research proposal,
2. collecting data for a research project,
3. analyzing results of research project and writing final report, and
4. oral presentation of research results.

Your grade will be based on:
Research proposal 25%
Data Collection 20%
Analyses & report 30%
Oral presentation 25%

ATTENDANCE AT ALL LECTURES, PRESENTATIONS, AND DISCUSSIONS IS REQUIRED!!!

ASSIGNMENTS:

Article presentations - 10 minute oral presentation of SCIENTIFIC research article on any aspect of primate behavior or ecology. Please get an O.K. on your article from Dr. Pruetz before you prepare your presentation. One or two presentations per night following lectures. Please provide visuals - see staff for overhead acetates and pens. Please sign out articles or books from the library. Emphasize, in your presentation, a critique of methods, interpretation of results, and conclusion.

Examination - 2-hour (max) essay exam on lecture material.

Research proposal - 5-page written proposal indicating OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE, BACKGROUND, HYPOTHESES (research questions - please number these), METHODS, and SUMMARY. Sample data sheet and ethogram should be included as appendices. RESEARCH PROJECTS MUST BE APPROVED BY DR. PRUETZ BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN YOUR PROJECT.

Data collection - you will receive detailed instruction and assistance from your teaching staff regarding data collection for your independent project, but

1. 6-8 hours of field work per day once you begin data collection (4-5 days of data collection are scheduled); this includes both search time (note in your data book when you enter and leave the forest), contact time with your study group, and actual time spent collecting data.
2. A good effort! The best way to collect reliable data is to be able to follow your subjects to and from their sleeping sites. You are not expected to stay out 12 hours a day (although you are welcome to!), but plan on heading out to the forest EARLY.
3. You must always be with a partner in the forest.

Data anlyses and final report - An approximately 10-page, single spaced handwritten (unless you have computer with you) paper (including charts, graphs and figures). Written in scientific format: ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, METHODS (include search time, contact hours and number of hours of data collected, along with sample sizes), RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, REFERENCES CITED, TABLES, GRAPHS and FIGURES.

Final presentation of independent project - oral presentation. 15 minutes with 10-15 minutes for questions and discussion. Use visual aids.

Reading assignments:
2 texts are required - Introduction to the Primates, D. R. Swindler (1999). University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Measuring Behavior:An Introductory Guide. P.R. Martin & P. Bateson (1993). 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
7 additional scientific articles should be read -

Chapman, C. 1988. Patterns of foraging and range use by three species of neotropical primates. Primates 29: 177-194.

Chapman, C. & Onderdonk, D.A. 1998. Forests without primates: Primate/plant codependency. American Journal of Primatology 45: 127-141.

Garber, P.A., Pruetz, J.D., Lavallee, A., and Lavallee, S. 1999. A preliminary study of mantled howling monkey (Alouatta palliata) ecology and conservation on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua. Neotropical Primate Newsletter 7 (4).

Gould, L., Fedigan, L.M., and Rose, L.M. 1997. Why be vigilant? The case of the Alpha animal. International Journal of Primatology 18: 401-414.

Isbell, L.A. 1994. Predation on primates: Ecological patterns and evolutionary consequences. Evolutionary Anthropology 61-71.

Isbell, L.A. & Pruetz, J.D. 1998. Differences between patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) in agonistic interactions between adult females. International Journal of Primatology 19: 837-855.

Lambert, J.E. & Garber, P.A. 1998. Evolutionary and ecological implications of primate seed dispersal. American Journal of Primatology 45: 9-28.

See below for a schedule of readings according to lecture topic. An updated syllabus distributed at the beginning of the course will include dates.

Different chapters in Measuring Behavior pertain to the various stages of your work in the class. Chapters 1-6 should be read before you begin your rotations of field techniques. The remainder of Martin and Bateson should be read before your proposals are due.

Certain pages of the Swindler book are listed along with the lectures they pertain to on your list of lecture topics. The pages and chapters in the Swindler book not listed alongside lecture topics should also be read before your written exam, as several questions on the exam will be taken from these particular readings.

PRIMATE COURSE: Schedule of days - Extra day will be scheduled for a trip up volcano, to nearby market, etc

Day 1 - arrive at Ometepe, orientation after dinner

Day 2 - first day in forests...become familiar with trail systems, learn to use compass

Days 3 - 8 - field techniques rotations (4)

Days 9 - 10 - prepare proposals for independent projects. Turn in final copy by 6 p.m. on Day 10

Days 11 - 20 - Collect and analyze data for independent research project. Data should be summarized in evenings.

**Day 12 - Written exam in evening

Days 21 - 22 - Data analyses and write-up. Prepare for presentation.

Day(s) 23 - 24 - Oral presentations of independent research projects.

Day 26 - leave Ometepe

PRIMATE COURSE: Lecture Topics

Day 2 - Course introduction and lecture by Dr. Pruetz on her work in Africa and Central America

Day 3 - Introduction to primates. Primate evolution, life history patterns, primate traits Swindler pp. 17-32, 130-139, 184-192

Days 4 - 5 - Taxonomy - prosimians, NW monkeys, OW monkeys, apes Swindler pp. 33-61, 157-163

Day 6 - Primate species at Ometepe and their habitat - capuchins and howling monkeys, dry tropical forests, competition and niche separation Chapman (1988) article (18 pp)

Day 7 - Feeding ecology - nutrition, dietary specializations, effects of body size, secondary compounds, status and food availability, foraging strategies Swindler pp. 100-121

Day 8 - Predation - anti-predator strategies, food or predators as an influence on primate sociality? Isbell (1994) and Gould et al. (1997) articles (25 pp)

Day 9 - Role of primates in tropical forests - coevolution? pollinators, seed dispersal Lambert & Garber (1998) article (20 pp)

Days 10 - 11 - Primate socioecology - factors affecting group size, ecology and social structure, female relations, why do females live with males? Swindler pp. 193-212 and Isbell & Pruetz (1998) article (19 pp)

Day 14 - Guest lecture by teaching assistant

Day 15 - Primate conservation - the role of primatologists, single species conservation? Swindler pp. 245-251 and Chapman and Onderdonk (1998) and Garber et al. (1999) articles

Primate Behavior and Ecology, Intermediate Level

The course will be run by Dr. Jill D. Pruetz, Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH. Dr. Pruetz has studied nonhuman primates in Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Kenya, and is currently initiating a study of savanna chimpanzees in Senegal, West Africa. A copy of Dr. Pruetz's vitae is available on the La Suerte web site (Dr. Pruetz's vitae) Pru. Dr. Pruetz will be in Senegal from January 31 to June 2. During this time, contact Michelle Bezanson (bezanson@u.arizona.edu) for questions regarding this class or leave an e-mail to be addressed upon her return by Dr. Pruetz at pruetzjd@muohio.edu.

Dr. Pruetz, along with one or more teaching assistants, will offer a course on the behavior and ecology of non-human primates, focusing on the capuchins and howling monkeys at Ometepe. The format and goals of this course will follow that of the Advanced Course in Primate Behavior and Ecology taught by Dr. Paul Garber. However, proposals for independent research projects in this course will be developed during the course at Ometepe. Students of this course will come away with a knowledge of what is current in the field of primate behavior and ecology and will explore areas developing in this field. Students will also be knowledgeable as to how to plan and implement a research project on the behavior of wild primates, and how to analyze, interpret, and present their findings. The quality of projects students at Ometepe are encouraged to conduct allows them to present their findings at national meetings, such as the National Meetings of the American Associationg of Physical Anthropologists and of the American Primatological Association.