Assignment 1

This assignment is due in Week 10, when you have completed Unit 5. It is worth 15 per cent of your final grade for the course.

In this assignment, you will familiarize yourself with a particular primate species, as most primatologists do before beginning a new research project. The assignment is also designed to help you get an overview of the relationships between behaviour and ecology. The preparation of this paper can serve as an opportunity to review some of the major concepts you will need to know for the midterm examination.

Select a species, and present, in paper of six to eight pages length, the following information: common name; scientific name; physical characteristics or attributes; geographic range; habitat; diet; social structure; average group size (if appropriate); life span and chronological development; and interesting or typical behaviours. You may use sources from the course (CD-ROM, videos, readings, etc.), as well as other resources you may obtain from the Library or find on the Internet.

The paper should be typed or word processed, and double spaced. Provide a 4 cm (1.5 in) margin on the left-hand side, and a 2.5 cm (1 in) margin on the top, bottom and right-hand side. If you choose to include tables, pictures or graphs, they must be in addition to your six to eight pages of text.

Assignment 2

This assignment is due in Week 18, when you have completed Unit 10. It is worth 15 per cent of your final grade for the course.

The second assignment is designed to allow you to do a more in-depth study of a particular topic related to the study of primates. You have a choice of three possible topics, listed below. You may use any of your course materials, items you find on the Internet, and materials you request from the Library. Students are expected to go beyond the information provided in the course package. The preparation of this paper can serve as an opportunity to review some of the major concepts you will need to know for the final examination.

Select one of the following topics, and discuss it in a paper of six to eight pages length.

1. Primate conservation. Your paper can focus on a particular species, or a region of the globe. You should include whatever statistics are available (the Internet is a good source for this data); and you should discuss the major threats to the primate populations; and possible solutions to these threats, the role of captive colonies in the conservation efforts, or both.
2. Cognitive skills of primates. Your paper can focus either on natural behaviours or on captive studies. You can include language studies as part of this topic. You can focus on a particular species, or on cognitive skills in general. Units 6 through 9 will give you some insight on the range of cognitive skills found among primates, and on the major hypotheses to explain their origin.
3. Methods and problems facing researchers in the field. All the papers you read on primates are made possible by the efforts of researchers who often work in difficult conditions. You can discuss the basic methods used in the field and the various problems encountered during most research, particularly by those who study in the tropical rain forests. The video What Do Primatologists Do? provides a good starting point.

The paper should be typed or word processed, and double spaced. Provide a 4 cm (1.5 in) margin on the left-hand side, and a 2.5 cm (1 in) margin on the top, bottom and right-hand side. If you choose to include tables, pictures or graphs, they must be in addition to your six to eight pages of text.