This book is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to primates. It provides both a survey and synthesis of primate history, biology, and behavior. As a survey, it offers a focused review of living and extinct primates in regional and community frameworks. As a synthesis, it applies the community perspective in a unique way to explore primates’ adaptive diversity in the context of how evolution works. The book encourages students to study primates as integrated members of regional communities, ecologically, historically, and evolutionarily.
The chapters are organized to emphasize the patterns of primate radiations in the four regions of the world where primates live, and to facilitate comparisons among the radiations. The overviews of communities illustrate how the ecological adaptations of different species and taxonomic or phylogenetic groups enable them to coexist. Illustrations and tools to aid students’ learning include case studies, photographs, figures, tables, charts, key concepts, and quizlets to self-test.
This book is an ideal introduction for students studying nonhuman primates, primatology, primate behavior, or primate ecology.
Preface
1. What is a primate?
2. Arboreal frugivory: the primate adaptive zone
3. Madagascar: lemurs
4. South America: New World monkeys
5. Africa: lorises, galagos, Old World monkeys, and great apes
6. Asia: lorises, tarsiers, Old World monkeys, and apes
7. Primate communities compared: ecology, morphology, and behavior
8. The primate fossil record: highlights
9. Primates in crisis
Biography
Alfred L. Rosenberger, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, New York, USA, where he taught in the anthropology departments for more than a decade. Dr. Rosenberger is a Fulbright Fellow and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has authored more than 100 articles and co-edited several volumes on living and fossil primates. Rosenberger’s definitive book New World Monkeys: The Evolutionary Odyssey was published by Princeton University Press in 2020.
"Rosenberger offers an exciting new take on a survey of nonhuman primates, focusing on continental radiations and the biology and evolutionary history that unites them. In so doing, he provides a rigorous discussion of the anatomical, behavioral, and ecological features that differentiate primate taxa but within the familiar framework of geography rather than taxonomy, which is likely more palatable for undergraduates. A unique and effective approach!" - Larissa Swedell, Professor and Chair, Queens College
"This book is a must read for undergraduate and graduate students seeking to understand how evolution, ecology, and adaptation have shaped the behavior and biology of our closest living relatives, the nonhuman primates. Information on all seven major primate radiations is presented in a concise and understandable format, scientific concepts are clearly defined and explained, and examples relating primate form and function serve to illustrate the diverse ways that individual species exploit their social and ecological environments. Each chapter also includes a set of questions for discussion. The volume ends with the sober realization that the majority of primate species are threatened with extinction, along with the optimistic message that if we choose to live sustainably and act now, we can save lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, galagos, monkeys, and apes from extinction." - Paul A. Garber, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois
"Rosenberger delivers a robust (and in my opinion, long overdue) text for the world of primatology. Primates: An Introduction concentrates on the key concepts in primatology, highlighting the diversity of species from an evolutionary perspective. Packing in complex topics in an easy-to-digest style, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in nonhuman primates. Whether one is a novice or an expert in the field, this comprehensive source is the perfect go-to reference for students and scholars ... In sum, not only do I highly recommend this book to anyone inclined to learn about our closest relatives, I suggest that this book or chapters of it be added to the “required readings” list of all primatology and introductory biological anthropology courses pertaining to human evolution." - Rose M. Hores in Evolutionary Anthropology
