BIO A 370 A: The Nonhuman Primates

Course Overview & Learning Goals

This course will introduce you to our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates. We will review their origins, morphology, characteristics and behavior, major evolutionary trends, and modern taxonomic relationships. We’ll also focus on distribution and habitat in relation to behavioral and morphological adaptations, conservation, ethnoprimatology, disease transmission, field research, and the cultural roles that nonhuman primates play in human communities across the globe.  You should leave this course with the following:

• Knowledge of primate taxonomy and the ability to recognize and identify primates according physical and behavioral traits
• Understanding of core concepts in the distribution, social organization, behavior, and reproduction of primates
• Exposure to the major themes in current primatology as they relate to the species/genera reviewed in this course
• Understanding of the interaction and importance of conservation, ethics, and human-nonhuman primate relationships in regard to primatological study and primate distribution

Coursework

Students are expected to attend all lectures.  Coursework is organized by week in the Canvas MODULES and consists of weekly readings, quizzes, exams, and final projects.

All reading material will be provided via Canvas files or UW Libraries; there are no required purchases; however, you may wish to buy your own copy of A Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert M. Sapolsky (New York: Touchstone, 2002) which is available online and in local bookshops both new and used editions.