Overview
- PART 1 - Referring to your Primate Profiles assignment, write a tweet about one primate species. The point is to make the tweet educational and creative. Include at least 3 facts about your chosen primate, but don't say what the primate is so that your classmates can guess. Your tweet needs to include:
- at least 3 facts that distinguish your primate from other species
- at least one should be about anatomy, and at least one should be about behavior. The third can be anything you like.
- be no more than 280 characters, including spaces, so chose your facts wisely
- be creative! you can use memes, emojis, poems, rhyming, common tweet formats, jokes, humor, sarcasm, hashtags etc.
- Remember - don't include the name or a picture of your primate
- at least 3 facts that distinguish your primate from other species
- PART 2 – PRIMATE PROFILE ASSIGNMENT
Using the Los Angeles Zoo website, find one species in each of the following taxonomic groups and complete the table profiling that species. This link lists a variety of mammals living at the zoo – you will need to select an appropriate primate representative for each of the taxonomic groups.
Strepsirrhine | New World Monkey | Old World Monkey | |
Common name | |||
Scientific name (Genus species) | |||
Approximate size | |||
Degree of sexual dimorphism (little, moderate, etc) | |||
Color or colors | |||
Presence of tail | |||
Is tail prehensile? | |||
Strepsirhine/ haplorhine (pick one) | |||
If haplorhine, platyrrhine/catarrhine (pick one) | |||
Mode of locomotion | |||
Typical type of social group |
Profiles Continued
Ape | Human | Favorite Primate Species at the Zoo | |
Common name | |||
Scientific name (Genus species) | |||
Approximate size | |||
Degree of sexual dimorphism (little, moderate, etc) | |||
Color (describe the range if appropriate) | |||
Presence of tail | |||
Is tail prehensile? | |||
Strepsirhine/ haplorhine (pick one) | |||
If haplorhine, platyrrhine/catarrhine (pick one) | |||
Mode of locomotion | |||
Typical type of social group |
PART 3 -Collect your observations of a group of primates via one of the zoo webcams linked below. If you aren't able to access the webcams, you may observe a group of humans. If you observe humans, use the same procedures and pretend you don't understand why they might be doing things, only describe what they are doing with out any interpretation. Create an ethogram of the behaviors you observed.
PIN Common Marmosets
Links to an external site.
- Ad lib data: On any piece of paper you have handy (8 1/2 x 11 notebook paper or printer paper is best), write the common and scientific names of the species you have selected, as well as the number and types of individuals. You may need to browse on the zoo website to find the needed information. Write everything you see happening in the enclosure for a period of 30 minutes. Do not rewrite or type up your notes. Use additional sheets of paper if needed. Write down what happens, who does it, and when. Submit a photo or several photos, or a scanned version, of the actual notes you wrote at the zoo. You can take the photo with your phone or any other tech you have available.
- Ethogram: After you collect your ad lib notes, complete the table on the TABLE BELOW listing and describing the behaviors you observed for your species. Please open this in Word or Google docs and type your work into the table. Save it and upload it back into the assignment along with the photos of your ad lib notes.
AD LIB DATA – ETHOGRAM
Common Name: | Scientific Name: |
Number of Males | Number of Females | |
Infants | ||
Juveniles | ||
Adults | ||
Total Count |
1b. Ethogram
Complete this part of the lab after you finish collecting the ad lib notes.
Name of Behavior | Code | Definition/description of Behavior |