The course begins with surveying general principles of evolution, biodiversity and systematics, species theory, phylogeny reconstruction and biogeography, and quickly progresses to a consideration of how these apply in turn to lemurs, lorises and galagos, tarsiers, New and Old World monkeys, and apes, because the meaning and relevance of theory are best appreciated in context. Students will be expected to be able to recognise and characterise all the main groups of primates to a limited extent, and a few groups in depth, and to use this as the basis for an understanding of the current conservation crisis.

3,000 word Essay (50%), two tests (10% each) and 30 minute tutorial presentation (30%).

2 hours lectures, one hour of film and one hour of tutorial each week

Any ARCH, ANTH, BIAN or BIOL course valued 6 units or more.

The course is INCOMPATIBLE with BIAN2012, The Primates.

Groves, C. Primate Taxonomy, Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.