Primate Anatomy An Introduction 3rd Edition
by Friderun Ankel-Simons
The book opens with a taxonomic list of extant primates. The list presented here does not and cannot represent
absolute truth as carved in stone. Taxonomic concepts are constantly in flux, partly because new species, even new primates, are being discovered and newly described. Often new insights into relationships between genera and species can change taxonomic assignments (e.g., the placement of the enigmatic South American monkey genus Callimico with either callithrichids or cebids). Nevertheless, it is important that discussions of extant primate groups be placed into a clear framework of relationships and names to prevent confusion.
Taxonomic changes should be introduced only when they have become properly established and are obviously reasonable: Scientific dialogues are useful only when they use the same terminology. In 2001 the excellent volume on primate taxonomy by Colin Groves was published and has become the fundamental source for any discussion about primate relationships. But since then many changes of assignments have been suggested. Taxonomy continues to be a lively topic. There has been much rearranging of systematic assignments and naming of new taxa since January 2000, when the second edition of Primate Anatomy: An Introduction was published.
Chapter 2 introduces the reader to perpetual complications of taxonomic procedures, explaining the puzzling, but widely used, cladistic terminology (as it originated from the work of Willi Hennig (1966).
Download: Elsevier’s Veterinary Assisting Textbook
In Chapter 3 the reader will find an outline of the history and objectives of primatology. A definition of the order Primates is undertaken. Chapter 4 surveys the living primates, briefly describing and characterizing the biology and distinguishing characters of each primate genus. In Chapter 5 the anatomical details of the skull are reviewed, and Chapter 6 takes up the morphological and developmental characteristics of the brain. Chapter 7 presents the developmental and functional morphology of teeth. The postcranial skeleton together with the role of musculature and the variation of primate locomotion are detailed in Chapter 8.
I shall now tell the story of Primate Anatomy: An Introduction and how it came about. It is a tale with some intriguing and totally unpredictable convolutions and detours.
-
- Book Name: Primate Anatomy An Introduction 3rd Edition
- File Type: PDF
- Download: Link
- Size: 15 MB
- Password: PDFLibrary.Net
