Read your Primate Observation Project instructions carefully, and always check with your instructor if you have questions!
Here are a few things Jamie would recommend as you work on this project:
Use the database "All the World's Primates" to get an overview of the species you select, and additional scholarly references you can look up individually for more details.
Before you finalize your primate, check for a livestream option to view them and/or make sure they have that species at the Hogle Zoo or other Zoo if you are planning to visit and observe in person. A simple internet search for "species name webcam" or "species name livestream" should guide you to live views of the species you choose. For example, I searched for "livestream zoo primates" and saw that there's a video stream from the Detroit zoo for their Snow Monkeys. I searched All the World's Primates for "snow monkeys" and nothing came up, but I saw in the Detroit Zoo link that they are also called Japanese macaque, so I searched that in All the World's Primates and found the species information. I verified that the zoo link worked, and now I could move forward with researching the species and conducting my observations.
Look for additional information from scholarly articles as needed. If something didn't match your hypothesis related to social interaction, as an example, you may want to find additional research on social interaction for your selected species. You may even find research about social interaction variations when the observed primates are in captivity or not.
This database identifies each species and subspecies of primate with contributions from over 300 experts. Including photos and videos with information about habitat, social behavior, diet, physical characteristics, extinction risk, and more. It is continually updated with new information from scientists all over the world.
Background information from the Wisconsin Primate Research Center. (The original PIN content is no longer updated, but there is some additional content in 2024.)
ProQuest Central brings together most ProQuest databases to create an extensive multidisciplinary research database. It provides periodicals and scholarly journals for all major subjects including business, health and medical, language and literature, social sciences, education, science and technology, history, and philosophy.
Includes a few primates journals! Worth a look when researching primatology and related fields.Formerly Natural Science Collection. Use ProQuest's Science & Technology collection to search 15 STEM databases for a variety of source types.
Search and read FULL-TEXT from high-impact bioscience research journals. Includes the journals "Primate Conservation," "Neotropical Primates," and a few others related to primates.
Access discoveries in science, medicine, and technology through academic articles for a range of topics including physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, health sciences, and social sciences. This is SLCC's most comprehensive science-focused database.
(Pronouned "bio archive") A free, online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. Most articles have not yet gone through peer-review or been published in academic journals, and some may still be draft manuscripts.
The publisher has a 12 month embargo that prevents us from accessing the most recent articles. If you need an article from the last year and it's not available through the Open Access link, please ask and we can try to get it for you.
Search or browse through the Open Access (free) articles from the International Journal of Primatology. Use the other link for library access to all articles from 1997- 1 year ago.
Access articles from 2011-present from the American Journal of Primatology through SLCC Libraries.
General tips for finding sources
Search with most important terms
For a topic like "maternal instinct in alouatta palliata in Costa Rica", start your search with "maternal alouatta" or "mother howler"
Try different combinations of search terms
Search for articles by the same author you've already found useful
Be flexible with search terms
Try common names (mantled howler) and scientific names (Alouatta palliata)
Use synonyms/related terms (mother, maternal, infant, juvenile, etc.)
Look at terms used by researchers- try those too!
"Zoom out" for bigger picture
The perfect article may not exist
Consider looking for articles that are more broad (i.e. "howler" instead of "mantled howler", "primate maternal instinct" instead of "alouatta palliata maternal instinct")
Sometimes an article with a similar methodology to your approach can be useful to include in a literature review
Use your sources' sources!
Look at your current research sources for more sources!
Read literature reviews or skim reference lists
Also consider looking at "Cited by" lists (some databases, like Natural Science Collection and Google Scholar, have this option to follow the research forward in time)
