Field Studies in Anthropology
Behavioral Ecology of Free-ranging Lemurs in South Florida
APY 502 Section 83
3 credits
Undergraduate/Graduate
March 13-19 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.**
Linda L. Taylor, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of
Anthropology
University of Miami
Prerequisites:
Six credits in anthropology at 300 level of above and written
permission from instructor.
Notes:
Field study conducted during Spring Break. Requires prepayment of trip cost of $500.00
and a TB test. Permission of instructor for registration is required.
**On-site field work at the Foundation: returning to Miami,
Saturday, March 19.
Course Description:
You will learn how to design and conduct a research project,
write your own dictionary of lemur behavior, help gather samples
for parasite screening and physical exams, as well as collecting
data on foraging behavior and social behavior. Using GPS,
you’ll map the forest to create a trail system to document the
lemurs’ daily ranging patterns. Students will also work with
experts in the management of captive primates to understand how
they help these animals lead rich, healthy lives. We’ll also
take a day trip to a great ape sanctuary so you can see their
animals and gain an understanding of the differences between a
research and breeding site and the primate sanctuary facilities.
Students will be transported from campus to the Lemur
Conservation Foundation, the ape sanctuary, and then back to UM.
A nonrefundable $200 deposit and written proof a negative TB
test are required by Thursday, Feb 19. This amount, plus the
remaining $300 course fee, all transportation, food, housing,
learning center library use, some field equipment, and site
access. The remaining course fee is due no later than Tuesday,
March 10. At that time you will receive your custom course
notebook of readings and assignments. Enrollment is limited and
requires written permission. A culminating term paper in which
you answer questions from the data you collect is due four weeks
after the class concludes.
The required texts are:
1) HANDBOOK OF ETHOLOGICAL METHODS, 2nd edition, P. Lehner,
Cambridge Univ Press (hard copy or paperback), ISBN:
0521637503/ISBN13: 9780521637503
2) PRIMATE BEHAVIOR: AN EXERCISE WORKBOOK (with CD), 2nd
edition, J.D. Paterson and Donald Vandenbeld. Waveland Press,
ISBN: 1577661656/ ISBN13: 9781577661658
Street Address:
102 Merrick Building
5202 University Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146
PO Address:
P.O. Box 248106, Coral Gables, FL 33124-2005
Previous Field Training Experiences:
Because
of its mixture of lemur species inhabiting a common area, the Myakka
City Lemur Reserve (MCLR) offers a unique situation to young
researchers. Dr. Linda Taylor, a member of our
Scientific Advisory Committee, and an integral part of our annual Teachers
Institute for Conservation Biology, a program for high school
teachers, writes of the experience:
"Nowhere
else can researchers access so many free-ranging lemurs. There are
other colonies, but none have such complex mixed-species habitats. For
example, it has been recently proposed that Bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur
griseus) and Ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) may be much more closely
related than current taxonomy suggests... Only at the MCLR, is it
possible to observe the two species in a common habitat and to document
their behavior. There are research questions best suited to a captive
population with excellent control over experimental variables. There
are other questions best suited to natural habitats, where we can
observe the choices the lemurs make in regards to food, travel, and
social partners. The MCLR is exceptional in that it provides
researchers and their students both kinds of settings simultaneously."
"Further,
the MCLR offers an unparalleled opportunity to teach field methods
because of the lemurs who range in a complex forest habitat...Only the
MCLR offers a setting in which students can follow the animals as they
range in a forest, making daily choices of where to go and with whom,
and on what to feed. Using the forest enclosure as a microcosm of a
larger research site, students move through the forest, following and
observing the animals on an imaginary grid, or transect, the way they
would in the wild. Among their many assignments are weighing animals,
extracting DNA samples from hair, fingerprinting, making vocal
recordings, GPA mapping, establishing a trail system, photographing and
recording food plants, etc. Skills learned at the reserve are
applicable to all settings and other primate species as well."
"The
computer facilities provided also support students through on-site
analyses of the day’s data collection...Learning data analyses on
site is critical to forming excellent work habits early in a
scientist’s career."
"The
physical facilities at MCLR are also marvelous for researchers and
students... The covered platform in the enclosure can be used as both
an open-air classroom and a floor on which the students can pitch their
tents and have their first night in the "field" in a safe setting.
Learning continues over meals and free time, often in the company of
more advanced students or scientists who are also working in the
forest...The Myakka City Lemur Reserve then becomes a campus for
inspiring and building the conservation experts who will affect the
sustainability of global diversity in the future."
"The
library that is in development will be another invaluable research and
teaching tool on-site. Nowhere else can students have access to a
collection of materials devoted to lemur studies... As the library
resource grows, it will offer a very important means of teaching
students how to do the preparatory phase of field work, namely the
literature review."
"Nowhere
else can researchers access so many free-ranging lemurs. There are
other colonies, but none have such complex mixed-species habitats. For
example, it has been recently proposed that Bamboo lemurs (
"The
physical facilities at MCLR are also marvelous for researchers and
students... The covered platform in the enclosure can be used as both
an open-air classroom and a floor on which the students can pitch their
tents and have their first night in the "field" in a safe setting.
Learning continues over meals and free time, often in the company of
more advanced students or scientists who are also working in the
forest...The Myakka City Lemur Reserve then becomes a campus for
inspiring and building the conservation experts who will affect the
sustainability of global diversity in the future."