How do these cultures and traditions develop and spread?

 

Writing Assignment/ Lab #2 (500 word minimum, quoted or plagiarized material not counted).

Non-human primate culture and learned traditions.

You will find that much of the literature reporting evidence of non-human primate culture or learned traditions comes from five genera: Cebus (capuchin monkeys), Macaca (macaque mokeys), Gorilla (gorilla), Pongo (orangutan), and Pan (chimpanzees). Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) and common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), along with various species of capushin monkey show innovation, dissemination, standardization, durability, diffusion, and maintained tradition in both subsistence and nonsubsistence activities.

Your assignment is to research and summarize non-human primate culture and learned traditions, address some questions below, and provide your opinion about the rigor of the concepts and strength of the evidence. You will need to find and report specific examples from primary sources, and be clear about the theories suggesting functional explanations of those examples.

You should read, cite and reference at least one or more articles on this topic in peer-reviewed journals like American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Nature, American Journal of Primatology, Science, American Journal of Human Biology, Anthropological Science, Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, and Current Anthropology. Citations of websites and encyclopedias do not count towards the requirement of 1 cited peer-reviewed journal publication on topic.

The first part of your paper should define the term culture or traditions as they are used by primatologists. With these definitions, explain existing data and theories addressing these questions:

· What evidence has been provided for non-human primate culture or traditions?

· How do these cultures and traditions develop and spread?

· How are cultures and traditions maintained?

DO NOT provide your opinion in the first part of the paper – just summarize the concepts and evidence impartially.

The second part of your paper should address whether you are convinced by claims that culture exists in non-human primates, whether you think we have reliable information from our observations of non-human primate culture, and whether you find the theories of how culture and traditions develop to be logically sound and supported by evidence. This is the place where you can provide your opinion. Provide an extended discussion that addresses the question of whether culture and learned tradition require some special abilities or social structures that only few primates have (or should we expect to find evidence of culture among most primates?). Remember, regardless of your position, you need to show that you have a good understanding of the concepts and the phenomena considered to be evidence before you express your opinion concerning them.