Introduction to Biological Anthropology Merritt, Fall 2018 

 Introduction to Biological Anthropology Merritt, Fall 2018

Extra Credit Assignment 1: Primate behavioral observations In general, primates are notoriously social animals, but along with their tremendous taxonomic abundance, different species exhibit diverse social behaviors. Often primate social behavior relates to ecological or biological variables like groups size and male/female composition, diet, habitat, predator avoidance, or reproductive strategies. The purpose of this extra credit assignment is to get you to observe primates in a semi-natural setting, document their behavior, specifically when it involves interaction between individuals, and speculate on its purpose. You can focus on a detailed discussion of one primate species or compare what you see among a few taxa. You can earn up to two percentage points on your final course grade by completing the extra credit assignment. To earn full credit you should turn in an assignment that meets the following requirements: -provides a detailed account of your observations of primate social behavior -attempts to explain the purpose or cause of the behavior you observed -includes the original receipt of your visit to the Birmingham zoo (or other facility approved before your visit) -free of grammatical, spelling and formatting errors -3-4 double-spaced pages in TNR 12-point font -Due before 11:59pm on December 13 (or earlier). -You must submit this assignment via the Extra Credit assignment link on our Canvas course page. The originality report for your essay must be higher than 90% to earn credit for this assignment.