Seasonality in Primates: Studies of Living and Extinct Human and Non-Human Primates

by Diane K. Brockman, Carel P. van Schaik

Overview

The emergence of the genus Homo is widely linked to the colonization of "new" highly seasonal savannah habitats. However, until now, our understanding of the possible impact of seasonality on this shift has been limited because we have little general knowledge of how seasonality affects the lives of primates. This book documents the extent of seasonality in food abundance in tropical woody vegetation. It then presents a systematic analysis of seasonality's impact in food supply on the behavioral ecology of non-human primates and ultimately applies its conclusions to primate and human evolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521820691
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/17/2005
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology , #44
Pages:	606
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.26(d)

About the Author

DIANE K. BROCKMAN is Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, having moved recently from Duke University, NC. Her research concerns environmental mechanisms influencing reproduction, development and life history in human and non-human primates. Current studies involve the hormonal basis of seasonal reproduction, female mate competition, male life history patterns and aging, and the metabolic costs of reproduction in females.

CAREL P. VAN SCHAIK is now Professor of Biological Anthropology at the University of Zürich, Switzerland, having also moved recently from Duke University. He studies behavioral ecology and the social evolution of primates, and is also interested in the conservation of tropical forests. His previous books include the edited works Infanticide by Males and its Implications (with Charles Janson; 2000, ISBN 0 521 77295 8) and Sexual Selection in Primates (with Peter Kappeler; 2004, ISBN 0 521 53738 X).

Table of Contents

Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Seasonality in primate ecology, reproduction, and life history: an overview Carel P. van Schaik and Diane K. Brockman; Part II. Seasonal Habitats: 2. Tropical climates and phenology: a primate perspective Carel P. van Schaik and Kristina Pfannes; Part III. Seasonality and Behavioural Ecology: 3. The influence of seasonality on primate diet and ranging Claire Hemingway and Nora Bynum; 4. Seasonality in predation risk: varying activity periods in lemurs and other primates Michele Rasmussen; 5. Physiological adaptations to seasonality in nocturnal primates Jutta Schmid and Peter Kappeler; 6. Seasonality and long-term change in a savannah environment Susan C. Alberts, Jeanne Altmann, Julie A Hollister-Smith, Raphael S. Mututua, Serah N. Sayialel, Philip M. Muruthi and Kinyua Warutere; 7. Day length seasonality and the thermal environment Russell Hill; 8. Seasonality in hunting by nonhuman primates John C. Mitani and David P. Watts; 9. Human hunting seasonality Rebecca Bliege-Bird and Douglas W. Bird; Part IV. Seasonality, Reproduction, and Social Organisation: 10. Seasonality and reproductive function Diane K. Brockman and Carel P. van Schaik; 11. Seasonality of primate births in relation to climate Charles Janson and Jennifer Verdolin; 12. Energetic responses to food availability in the great apes: implications for hominin evolution Cheryl D. Knott; 13. Human birth seasonality Peter T. Ellison, Claudia R. Valeggia and Diana S. Sherry; 14. Seasonality, social organisation, and sexual dimorphism in primates J. Michael Plavcan, Carel P. van Schaik and W. Scott McGraw; Part V. Seasonality and Community Ecology: 15. Seasonality and primate communities Carel P. van Schaik, Richard Madden and Jörg U. Ganzhorn; 16. Primate diversity and environmental seasonality in historical perspective Nina G. Jablonski; Part VI. Seasonality and Human Evolution: 17. Tropical and temperate seasonal influences on human evolution Kaye Reed and Jennifer L. Fish; 18. Orbital controls on seasonality John D. Kingston; 19. What do studies of primate seasonality tell us about human evolution? Diane K. Brockman.

Editorial Reviews

"I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an existing interest in primatology or evolutionary anthropology..."
Hannah E. Parathian, University of Oxford

From the Publisher