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The Management of Prosimians in Captivity for Conservation and Research

  • Conference paper
Primates

Part of the book series: Proceedings in Life Sciences ((LIFE SCIENCES))

Abstract

At a recent international conference on primates, only four out of 156 papers presented concerned prosimians although more than one-fifth of the primate species and over one-third of the genera are prosimians. Why do ethologists, physiologists, and comparative zoologists persist in typifying prosimians—the “one point on the curve” approach—when 104 of the 507 extant primate taxa are members of this suborder? Ignorance about diversity within the group is one reason, but belief of uniformity accompanies some of our prejudices: Prosimians are not glamorous to look at; they are mostly small-bodied and nocturnal, cryptically colored, living in small groups or alone, and have limited intelligence or behavioral flexibility. In short, our approach is colored by characteristics of the order that we attribute to the monkeys and apes. By way of outlining some of the differences and similarities of the two suborders, this paper aims to redress the balance in a small way using the principles and problems of colony management by means of illustration.

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Authors
  1. Jonathan I. Pollock
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Zoological Society of San Diego, 92112, San Diego, California, USA

    Kurt Benirschke M.D. (Trustee, Professor of Pathology and Reproductive Medicine) (Trustee, Professor of Pathology and Reproductive Medicine)

  2. University of California, 92093, La Jolla, California, USA

    Kurt Benirschke M.D. (Trustee, Professor of Pathology and Reproductive Medicine) (Trustee, Professor of Pathology and Reproductive Medicine)

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Pollock, J.I. (1986). The Management of Prosimians in Captivity for Conservation and Research. In: Benirschke, K. (eds) Primates. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4918-4_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4918-4_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9360-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4918-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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