ANTC27 – Term Paper Instructions
This paper assignment asks you to focus on a taxonomic group of primates and answer the question:
“Over evolutionary time, have ecological or social constraints been more important in determining the social systems of ___________?”
You must choose either strepsirrhines (i.e., lemurs and lorises), tarsiers, New World monkeys (i.e., monkeys of the Americas), colobine monkeys, cercopithecine monkeys, or the apes (i.e., lesser and great apes). You will use some information that we have learned in class but most of your research will have to be done within the literature. You will need to understand the general social groupings seen in your chosen group and how ecological and social constraints shape social systems. The library webpage or Google Scholar are good places to find articles on your taxonomic group. If you are using Google Scholar on campus, a link on the right will usually take you right to the article.
List of Ecological and Social Constraints for your paper (may not be exhaustive)
Ecological:
Predation Risk
Food – quality, availability (seasonality) and distribution (patch size), which affects competition types and female social relationships and dispersal patterns
+ could be other ecological constraints (i.e., water, other species (competitors), etc.)
Social:
Infanticide risk
Any type of aggression
Male sexual coercion/mating tactics
Alloparental care
+ could be others
Format: Papers should contain follow a typical essay format (see attached rubric) and should be 10 pages (including your references section), double-spaced, 12-point font, and one-inch margins. Please use the APA referencing format.
Submission: Paper should be uploaded by 5pm on March 26th in the Assignments tab on Quercus. Late penalties (-5% per day) will be accrued after this time.