The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates

The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates
Author: Russell Tuttle
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2017-09-25
Genre:
ISBN: 9781138535763

"Cover" -- "Half Title" -- "Title Page" -- "Copyright Page" -- "Dedication" -- "Introduction" -- "Table of Contents" -- "I. Paleoprimatology" -- "1. Paleobiology of the Earliest Primates" -- "2. Hominoid Paleoprimatology" -- "3. Progress and Problems in the Study of Early Man in Sub-Saharan Africa" -- "II. Cranial Morphology" -- "4. Arboreal Adaptations and the Origin of the Order Primates" -- "5. Analysis of Patterns of Variation in Crania of Recent Man" -- "III. Comparative Neurobiology and Endocasts" -- "6. Evolution of Primate Brains: A Comparative Anatomical Investigation" -- "7. Endocasts and Studies of Primate Brain Evolution" -- "8. Australopithecine Endocasts, Brain Evolution in the Hominoidea, and a Model of Hominid Evolution" -- "IV. Post Cranial Morphology" -- "9. Evolution of the Hominoid Wrist" -- "10. Vertebral Morphology of Fossil and Extant Primates" -- "11. Tail Reduction in Macaca" -- "12. Relative Mass of Cheiridial Muscles in Catarrhine Primates" -- "13. Biomechanics of Human Posture and Locomotion: Perspectives from Electromyography" -- "14. Functional Morphology of Primates: Some Mathematical and Physical Methods" -- "15. The Use of Optical Data Analysis in Functional Morphology: Investigation of Vertebral Trabecular Patterns" -- "V. Aspects of Behavior and Ecology" -- "16. The Behavior of Gray Langurs at a Ceylonese Waterhole" -- "17. A Longitudinal Study of Social Behavior of Rhesus Monkeys" -- "18. The Organization of Primate Societies: Longitudinal Studies of Captive Groups" -- "19. Aping Monkeys with Mathematics" -- "References

Primate Hearing and Communication

Primate Hearing and Communication
Author: Rolf M. Quam
Publisher: Humana Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2017-09-04
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3319594788

Presents a comprehensive review of nonhuman primate audition and vocal communication. These are obviously intimately related topics, but are often addressed separately. The hearing abilities of primates have been tested experimentally in a large number of species across the primate order, and these studies have revealed both consistent patterns as well as interesting variation within and between taxonomic groups. Recent studies have shed light on how variation in anatomical structures along the auditory pathway relates to variation in auditory sensitivity. At the same time, ongoing studies of vocal communication in wild primate populations continue to reveal new insights into the social and environmental contexts of many primate calls, and the range of known primate vocalizations has increased dramatically with the development of more sophisticated and accessible auditory equipment and software that enables the recording and analysis of higher-fidelity and broader-band recordings, including documenting very high frequency (i.e. ultrasound) vocalizations. Historically the relative importance of primate calls has been evaluated qualitatively by the perception of the researcher, but new methods and approaches now enable a greater appreciation for how signals are used and perceived by the primates in question. The integration of anatomical and behavioral data on acoustic communication and the environmental correlates thereof has significant potential for reconstructing behavior in the fossil record. This confluence of factors and accumulating evidence for the sophistication and complexity in both the signal and its interpretation indicate that a book synthesizing this information across primates is warranted and represents an important contribution to the literature.

The Evolution of the Primate Foot

The Evolution of the Primate Foot
Author: Angel Zeininger
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-12-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783031064388

The human foot is a unique and defining characteristic of our anatomy. Most primates have grasping, prehensile feet, whereas the human foot stands out as a powerful non-grasping propulsive lever that is central to our evolution as adept bipedal walkers and runners and defines our lineage. Very few books have compiled and evaluated key research on the primate foot and provided a perspective on what we know and what we still need to know. This book serves as an essential companion to “The Evolution of the Primate Hand” volume, also in the Developments in Primatology series. This book includes chapters written by experts in the field of morphology and mechanics of the primate foot, the role of the foot in different aspects of primate locomotion (including but not limited to human bipedalism), the “hard evidence” of primate foot evolution including fossil foot bones and fossil footprints, and the relevance of our foot’s evolutionary history to modern human foot pathology. This volume addresses three fundamental questions: (1) What makes the human foot so different from that of other primates? (2) How does the anatomy, biomechanics, and ecological context of the foot and foot use differ among primates and why? (3) how did foot anatomy and function change throughout primate and human evolution, and why is this evolutionary history relevant in clinical contexts today? This co-edited volume, which relies on the insights of leading scholars in primate foot anatomy and evolution provides for the first time a comprehensive review and scholarly discussion of the primate foot from multiple perspectives. It is accessible to readers at different levels of inquiry (e.g., undergraduate/graduate students, postdoctoral research, other scholars outside of biological anthropology). This volume provides an all-in‐one resource for research on the comparative and functional morphology and evolution of the primate foot.

Evolution of the Primate Brain

Evolution of the Primate Brain
Author: Michel A. Hofman
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 494
Release: 2012-03-02
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0444538607

This volume of Progress in Brain Research provides a synthetic source of information about state-of-the-art research that has important implications for the evolution of the brain and cognition in primates, including humans. This topic requires input from a variety of fields that are developing at an unprecedented pace: genetics, developmental neurobiology, comparative and functional neuroanatomy (at gross and microanatomical levels), quantitative neurobiology related to scaling factors that constrain brain organization and evolution, primate palaeontology (including paleoneurology), paleo-anthropology, comparative psychology, and behavioural evolutionary biology. Written by internationally-renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition. Written by internationally renowned scientists, this timely volume will be of wide interest to students, scholars, science journalists, and a variety of experts who are interested in keeping track of the discoveries that are rapidly emerging about the evolution of the brain and cognition

Leaping Ahead

Leaping Ahead
Author: Judith Masters
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2012-10-19
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461445108

Leaping Ahead: Advances in Prosimian Biology presents a summary of the state of prosimian biology as we move into the second decade of the 21st century. The book covers a wide range of topics, from assessments of diversity and evolutionary scenarios, through ecophysiology, cognition, behavioral and sensory ecology, to the conservation and survival prospects of this extraordinary and diverse group of mammals. The collection was inspired by an international conference in Ithala, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2007, where prosimian biologists gathered from Canada, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, South Africa, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. The meeting reverberated with the passion prosimian researchers feel for their study subjects and with their deep concern for the future of prosimians in the face of ongoing habitat destruction and the burgeoning threat of bushmeat hunting. Chapters for this volume were contributed by researchers from across the globe; they attest to the diversity, vibrancy and rapid growth of prosimian biology, and to the intellectual advances that have revolutionized this field in recent years. Since its earliest beginnings, prosimian research and its resultant literature have had a strong francophone component, and researchers in many prosimian habitat countries are more comfortable reading and writing in French rather than English. French summaries of all chapters have been included. The volume is targeted at researchers, both those entering the field and established scientists, who have an interest in the biology of primates and small mammals. It is also aimed at conservation biologists seeking a deeper understanding of the faunas and conservation developments in Africa, Madagascar and Southeast Asia, and anyone who has an interest in discovering the true diversity of our order, the Primates.

Phylogeny of the Primates

Phylogeny of the Primates
Author: W. Luckett
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1468421662

The past decade has witnessed a tremendous surge of interest in varied aspects of primate biology, encompassing virtually all disciplines of the biological sciences. Regardless of whether these studies have been approached from a paleontological, morphological, developmental, biochemical, neuroanatomical, or behavioral point of view, one under lying theme has been a common interest in the possible phylogenetic relationships suggested by the results of such studies. In some cases, sound taxonomic principles have not been followed in the interpretation of these data, and this has led to skepticism among many taxonomists with regard to the validity of some of the genealogical relationships and conclusions suggested by comparative studies of living primates. It is generally agreed that the fossil record alone provides the essential time dimension for directly observing changes in characteristics, but unfortunately this record is limited both in the number of genera represented and particularly in the incomplete nature of the available preserved material. On the other hand, extensive comparative analyses of numerous characteristics in living primates have provided additional insight into possible phylogenetic relationships, despite the lack of a time dimension. Such studies of both fossil and living primates are enhanced considerably by a cladistic analysis of the probable primitive (ancestral) or advanced (derived) condition of each character state discussed, based upon their distribution (and ontogeny, wherever possible) in a wide variety of primate and nonprimate taxa, including other eutherian mammals, marsupials, mono tremes, and reptiles.