While working a school fair and representing “Anthropology” as a whole and as a major, I met many students who did not know what anthropology was and what it meant. I feel it is important for people to understand exactly what it entails and the potential it has for better understanding the human condition and what makes us who we
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When I first walked into the sanctuary I was interning at in Central America, I had no idea what to expect. Throughout my first week I watched anxiously for my turn as other alum interns cared for and carried baby howlers. We provided all meals, carried them into the forest, and played with them throughout the day. It was everyone’s
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I cannot deny the fact the baby monkeys are irresistibly cute. They seem so much like a human infant, it’s difficult not to instantly fall for them and fight the urge to care for them. BUT there are real dangers to keeping monkeys as pets – not just for humans, but for the monkeys themselves too. Primates are highly intelligent, emotionally
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As an organism grows and develops, chemical reactions activate and deactivate parts of the genome at specific locations at critical times. Epigenetics is the study of these chemical reactions and the factors that influence them. Here is a great video that outlines the basic principles of Epigenetics: http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/intro/ Why is epigenetics important? It goes against the idea conventional thought that inheritance
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Why are owl monkeys good fathers? In the (non-human) primate world there are many different social organizations with many different degrees of paternal care. A male can contribute a range of minimal to almost all of the effort. Usually for primates the degree to which the male will help is determined by paternal certainty. This is when a male is
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Okay, well maybe love is too strong of a word. BUT I will say I was fond of this particular monkey. It all started when I began my internship at a sanctuary in Panama. We were rehabilitating juvenile howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) that had been rescued from the pet trade. The goal was for these juveniles to eventually disperse and
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When I tell people I am a primatologist, the number one question I get is “Why?” It’s not an easy question for me to answer. I typically enter into a fifteen minute (at least) conversation discussing the plethora of information out there, and how much still needs to be studied. Mostly because it’s not a simple answer, but also because
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Entering into primatology as young student with minimal experience and education can be confusing. You need field experience to get into graduate school. The lists of volunteer work and internships can be overwhelming. I am providing some information that I felt would have been helpful to me when looking for experience. Where exactly do you start? Through my personal experience
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Hey everyone! So now is the time I go a little more in depth on how exactly I became interested in non-human primates. It is very difficult for me to pinpoint exactly where my interest began. I first became fascinated by anthropology through the studies and findings of Margaret Mead and the Leakey family. I began my studies as an
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DANTAisms 