Primate Anatomy: An Introduction

Primates include a wide variety of mammals from the relatively ancient lineages of lemurs on Madagascar and tiny tarsiers of Southeast Asia to the gorillas of montane Africa. Of course, humankind are also primates - one twig on the primate evolutionary tree. Primate Anatomy: An Introduction, Second Edition is a succinct and readable survey of primatology focusing particularly on the anatomy of primates. Following an introduction, the chapters are organized by organ system. Also included are chapters dealing with reproduction, chromosomes, blood groups, and molecular studies of primate evolution. This book would be ideal for an introductory course in primatology and should appeal to both faculty and students who need a brief treatment of the essentials of primatology.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Taxonomic List of Extant Primates Taxonomy History and Objectives Definition of Order Primates A Survey of Living Primates Skull Brain Teeth Postcranial Skeleton Muscles Locomotion Sense Organs and Viscera Placentation and Early Development Reproductive Organs, Reproduction, and Growth Chromosomes and Bloodgroups Molecular Primatology Conclusions with a Glance at the Future Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Dr. Ankel-Simons did her graduate studies in marine biology, marine ecology, and marine geology at the University of Copenhagen, the Marine Biological Laboratory at Elsinore, Denmark, and the University of Giessen, Germany. She was a member of the first research team to keep the folivore primate Alouatta palliata alive in captivity for a long term of several years at the Max Planck Institut for Brain Research, Giessen, Germany. Since 1996, she has been a Research Associate in the Division of Paleontology at the Duke University Primate Center. She has published three books and numerous journal papers.

Review :
"...thanks to the concise and very informative style and numerous excellent illustrations, (this book) will not only be of great benefit to all naturalists, but equally so to the interested layperson." -NEUE ZURICHER ZEITMUG (Zurich, Switzerland) "The most outstanding features of the book are the sensible as well as critical documentation in combination with numerous excellent original figures. This small book, which is of high quality from the anatomical point of view deserves to be complimented by the paleontological viewpoint in a new editon." -EINFUHRUNG IN DIE PRIMATENKUNDE, L ANTHROPOLOGIE "...highly recommended to students of primatology and advanced physical anthropology as a tool for learning primate biology, since the writing is clear and simple and utilizes many key words over and over." -AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST