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Biological Anthropology

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Biological Anthropology is the study of human biology within the framework of evolution. There are four subfields of Biological Anthropology; genetics, human variation, paleoanthropology, and primatology. Primatology is the study of non-human primates and I find it the most interesting of the four subfields. The study of Primatology focuses on the biological and psychological aspects of non-human primates. Also it looks at the similarities shared between humans and primates. Primatologists focus on studying and conducting research on primates in three main ways; field study, laboratory study, and through captivity. In captivity, they try to replicate natural primate habitat in a controlled captive setting. This is one of the most…show more content…
Some Intentional responses include direct eye contact, specific sounds and calls, and mounting. Reproductive strategies are different for both males and females. Male strategies focus on mating as often as possible while female strategies focus on maximizing resources for herself and her offspring. Primates are K-selected reproductive animals just like us. K-selected animals tend to have few offspring at a time but invest a lot into parental care. The mother-infant bond is a strong thing in K-selected animals. Lastly cultural and cognitive behavior in primates are behaviors that require planning and the idea of an end result. These are typically learned behaviors such as stone tool use. Some primates in captivity have been able to show some types of artistic expression too such as painting. A remarkable behavior that Apes have is their knowledge of their self-image. When a mirror is placed in front of them they can tell that they are looking at themselves.
Primatology is very important for many reasons but I think most importantly because we can learn a lot about ourselves from studying primates and their
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