Assignment 5

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University of Florida *

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3154C

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Anthropology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Assignment 5: Primate Behavior An important component of biological anthropology is studying the behavior of non-human primates. However, this is impossible to accomplish in the lab. This exercise is designed to allow all students the opportunity to briefly study the behavior of a non-human primate. Your task is to collect a sampling of behavioral data. For this, you may either visit the primate exhibit of a zoo or primate sanctuary, or watch one of the many primate live feeds available on the Internet. You can easily find different primate live cameras using a search engine. If using a primate live camera from the Internet, please remember to do this activity during the day! Pick at least two individuals and follow each one of them for 15 minutes. Set a timer, and at each minute make a record of the primate’s behavior in the table on the right below. The table is set up as an ethogram , which includes many pre-defined behavior codes (table on the left) that you can use to rapidly describe behavior while observing. Add additional ethogram codes to capture behaviors not already listed. If you are using a live feed and the camera changes angles, do your best to continue following the same individual. If the live stream you picked only allows you to observe a single individual, you may switch cameras for your second observation. Primate live cameras include, but are not limited to:  http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/ape-cam  http://reidparkzoo.org/cameras/lemur-cam/  http://www.houstonzoo.org/gorilla-habitat-cam/  https://www.houstonzoo.org/explore/webcams/chimpanzee-cam/  http://www.mangolinkcam.com/webcams/zoos/tamarins-chattanooga-zoo.html 1 CODE DEFINITION SOCIAL Ag Aggression given Ar Aggression received Ab Bidirectional aggression Vg Vocalization given Vr Vocalization received Sx Sexual behavior Gg Grooming given Gr Grooming received Gs Simultaneous grooming Ls Lost NONSOCIAL Lm Locomotion Dr Drinking Fo Foraging/eating So Sitting, eyes open Sc Sitting, eyes closed Lo Lying down, eyes open Lc Lying, eyes closed Sg Self groom Ss Self scratch Ls Lost

Date: 02-15-2024 Time: 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM 2 Time (min) Subject 1 Subject 2 1 SS LM 2 SO LM 3 FO LM 4 FO LM 5 LM SO 6 SS LM 7 SO SO 8 SG LM 9 SO LM 10 SO LM 11 SO SO 12 SO LM 13 SO LM 14 SO LM 15 SO LM

Summarize your data in the following table focusing on the 3 most prevalent behaviors: Behavior: Total % Observations % Subject 1 % Subject 2 1 Locomotion 43.3% 6.7% 80% 2 Sitting Down, Eyes Open 40% 60% 20% 3 Foraging/Eating 6.7% 13.3% 0% Total % of Observations = How oftenabehavior wasrecorded for bothindividuals 30 × 100 % ∈ eachSubject = How oftenabehavior wasrecorded for oneindividual 15 × 100 1. Which primate did you observe and where did you observe this primate? Genus and species of primate: Pongo abelli and Saguinus ursulus. Common name of primate: Orangutan and Tamarin Live camera URL: Orangutan: zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/ape-cam Tamarin: lsc.org/news-and-social/webcams_ Sanctuary or zoo Name: Orangutan: Sandiego Zoo Tamarin: Liberty Science Center 2. How would observing primates in the wild be different from observing them in captivity? List one advantage and one disadvantage of studying primates in the wild. Observing primates in the wild is different from observing them in captivity for a variety of reasons. Observing them in the wild allows researchers to understand how primates interact with their natural environment, meaning where they naturally reside in the wild, and with each other. Additionally, when in the wild, primate behavior can be different, as they are not somewhat co-dependent on humans as they are in captivity. The downside to observation in the wild, however, is that primates might often move around or get killed off, limiting and making it harder for researchers to find them and/or study them. Additionally, human-primate interactions in the wild could potentially transmit diseases or disrupt social hierarchies. Whereas in captivity this is less likely to happen. 3. What was the most prevalent behavior you observed? Is this something that surprised you? Explain why or why not. The most prevalent behavior I observed was non-social behavior, specifically locomotion. This is something that surprised me because I was under the impression that primate groups are incredibly social. However, the non-social behavior observed could be due to the fact the primates are in captivity and not in the wild, where things might be different. 3

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4. Describe any social behavior you observed. Did the behavior hurt or foster group living? If you did not see any social behavior, why do you think this may have been the case? I did not observe any social behavior at all within the two primate groups I observed. There was no grooming or vocalization of any kind characteristic of social behavior. The tamarin group did seem to exhibit locomotion, a non-social behavior, as a form of play, however, chasing each other around in a non-aggressive way. Most likely due to excitement of being let into their play/enrichment area. The orangutan I observed seemed to exhibit a lot of non-social behaviors because it was watching over an adolescent orangutan. I believe the orangutan wasn’t exhibiting social behaviors, such as vocalization and grooming because it was watching over this adolescent orangutan, occupied with making sure the adolescent was playing safely and not getting hurt. This orangutan was also observed moving closer to the adolescent orangutan, and when another orangutan came over, it did not appear aggressive or put off by them being there. Both seemed interested and concerned with the adolescent orangutan. 4

Assignment 5

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