Overview
Communication is the basis for all primate social behavior. Primates communicate using a variety of modalities including olfaction, vision, and audition. While primate communication is an extensively researched topic, not all modalities have received the same amount of research. Acoustic communication has been the most often studied, followed by visual and then olfactory (Semple & Higham, 2013). Typically primates are considered visual animals and several species have the ability to recognize color variants, a wide range of facial expressions, and colorful markings. It has been argued as to whether primates are “microsmatic” (not heavily reliant on smell) compared to other mammals, such as rodents, that are considered “macrosmatic” …show more content…
Increased activity in brighter environments may be the basis for higher visual acuity in haplorhines. The shift in activity pattern could have altered the types of signals important to predator avoidance and selection of food and mates. Catarrhines are thought to have started inhabiting more open habitats, where visual signals could be detected at greater distances. An increase in cones and maintenance of varying forms of trichromacy is likely a result of the incorporation of more visual signals in haplorhine sensory repertoires (Garrett, …show more content…
Both laboratories and zoos must make decisions on how to house animals. Zoos specifically aim to create an ecologically valid setting. Knowing how primate senses the world around them can affect which objects a zoo gives an animal for enrichment (items that are intended to increase the occurrence natural behaviors, while decreasing stereotypies). In regards to conducting research, researchers must know how their subjects sense the world in order to prevent extraneous variables from impacting the study and to ensure that they are testing the subject
Communication is the basis for all primate social behavior. Primates communicate using a variety of modalities including olfaction, vision, and audition. While primate communication is an extensively researched topic, not all modalities have received the same amount of research. Acoustic communication has been the most often studied, followed by visual and then olfactory (Semple & Higham, 2013). Typically primates are considered visual animals and several species have the ability to recognize color variants, a wide range of facial expressions, and colorful markings. It has been argued as to whether primates are “microsmatic” (not heavily reliant on smell) compared to other mammals, such as rodents, that are considered “macrosmatic” …show more content…
Increased activity in brighter environments may be the basis for higher visual acuity in haplorhines. The shift in activity pattern could have altered the types of signals important to predator avoidance and selection of food and mates. Catarrhines are thought to have started inhabiting more open habitats, where visual signals could be detected at greater distances. An increase in cones and maintenance of varying forms of trichromacy is likely a result of the incorporation of more visual signals in haplorhine sensory repertoires (Garrett, …show more content…
Both laboratories and zoos must make decisions on how to house animals. Zoos specifically aim to create an ecologically valid setting. Knowing how primate senses the world around them can affect which objects a zoo gives an animal for enrichment (items that are intended to increase the occurrence natural behaviors, while decreasing stereotypies). In regards to conducting research, researchers must know how their subjects sense the world in order to prevent extraneous variables from impacting the study and to ensure that they are testing the subject