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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.

Library Databases

Open Internet Databases

International Journal of Primatology and American Journal of Primatology Access

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)