Introduction to the Primates - Softcover

Swindler, Daris R.; Curtis, Linda E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0295977043 ISBN 13: 9780295977041

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 1998

Synopsis

Introduction to the Primates is a comprehensive but compact guide to the long evolutionary history of the world’s prosimians, monkeys, and apes, and to the much shorter history of humankind’s interactions with them, from our earliest recorded observations to the severe threats we now pose to their survival.

Daris Swindler provides a detailed description of the major primate groups and their environments, from the smallest lemurs of Madagascar to the gorillas of central Africa. He compares and contrasts the primate species, looking at each with a specific anatomical focus. The range of diversity emerges as the particular characteristics of the species becomes increasingly distinct. Swindler also considers primate behavior and its close connections with environment and evolutionary differences. His account of 65 million years of successful adaptation and evolution demonstrates the drama of paleontology as evidence accrues and gaps in the history of primate evolution gradually close.

About this title

From Library Journal

Although intended as a compact introduction to primate biology, this richly comprehensive volume goes considerably beyond that. It's no surprise that seven of the 11 chapters cover primate anatomy, growth, and development. Swindler (anthropology, Univ. of Washington) is the author-editor of several scientific texts on primate anatomy, including An Atlas of Primate Gross Anatomy (1973). While covering the basics of "what is a primate?" Swindler also provides information useful for those well versed in primates, such as tables of blood groups and vital life statistics for a range of species as well as a detailed analysis of the primate brain. He ends with chapters on social behavior, evolution, and conservation. Recommended for academic and larger public library science collections.?Raymond Hamel, Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Ctr. Lib., Madison
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A succinct and highly readable exposition of the past and present members of the zoological Order Primates. The book invites the reader to appreciate the diversity of primates and the similarities between human and nonhuman primates that are a result of our shared evolutionary heritage."―Nina Jablonski, California Academy of Sciences

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0295977043
• ISBN 13: 9780295977041
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336