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Cover image of Primate Comparative Anatomy
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Primate Comparative Anatomy

Daniel L. Gebo

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A comprehensive, illustrated textbook that reveals the structural and functional anatomy of primates.

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL

Why do orangutan arms closely resemble human arms? What is the advantage to primates of having long limbs? Why do primates have forward-facing eyes? Answers to questions such as these are usually revealed by comparative studies of primate anatomy.

In this heavily illustrated, up-to-date textbook, primate anatomist Daniel L. Gebo provides straightforward explanations of primate anatomy that move logically through the body plan and...

A comprehensive, illustrated textbook that reveals the structural and functional anatomy of primates.

Winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of the Choice ACRL

Why do orangutan arms closely resemble human arms? What is the advantage to primates of having long limbs? Why do primates have forward-facing eyes? Answers to questions such as these are usually revealed by comparative studies of primate anatomy.

In this heavily illustrated, up-to-date textbook, primate anatomist Daniel L. Gebo provides straightforward explanations of primate anatomy that move logically through the body plan and across species. Including only what is essential in relation to soft tissues, the book relies primarily on bony structures to explain the functions and diversity of anatomy among living primates. Ideal for college and graduate courses, Gebo's book will also appeal to researchers in the fields of mammalogy, primatology, anthropology, and paleontology.

Included in this book are discussions of:

• Phylogeny
• Adaptation
• Body size
• The wet- and dry-nosed primates
• Bone biology
• Musculoskeletal mechanics
• Strepsirhine and haplorhine heads
• Primate teeth and diets
• Necks, backs, and tails
• The pelvis and reproduction
• Locomotion
• Forelimbs and hindlimbs
• Hands and feet
• Grasping toes

Reviews

Reviews

Gebo's consistent focus throughout the book [is] on how anatomical differences relate mechanically to differences in function. Subsequent well-illustrated chapters discuss the hard anatomy of the primate body—heads, teeth, backs, forelimbs, and hind limbs from both phylogenetic and functional perspectives.

A nearly perfect introduction to a complex and fascinating subject.

Synthesizing the extensive and detailed anatomical literature related to primate bony morphology is no small task, and Gebo does a fantastic job of summarizing important anatomies and oddities, and how these relate to functional demands... The next generation of scholars learning from this textbook will almost certainly come to the same realization as Darwin, Cuvier, and Linnaeus—that comparative anatomy is essential for understanding our place within primates.

This book serves as a good, basic introduction to primate anatomy, and there are many attractive, large illustrations throughout the book to accompany anatomical descriptions.

Daniel Gebo has produced a text that can only be described as invaluable to the researcher, academic, conservationist, primatologist or student of evolutionary studies. A dream of a book.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
8.5
x
11
Pages
208
ISBN
9781421414898
Illustration Description
15 halftones, 153 line drawings
Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1. Primate Phylogeny and Adaptation
Chapter 2. The Wet-Nosed Primates
Chapter 3. The Dry-Nosed Primates
Chapter 4. Musculoskeletal System
Chapter 5. Heads
Chapter 6. Teeth
Chapter 7. Backs
Cha

Preface
Chapter 1. Primate Phylogeny and Adaptation
Chapter 2. The Wet-Nosed Primates
Chapter 3. The Dry-Nosed Primates
Chapter 4. Musculoskeletal System
Chapter 5. Heads
Chapter 6. Teeth
Chapter 7. Backs
Chapter 8. Primate Locomotion and the Forelimb
Chapter 9. Hindlimb
Chapter 10. Great Ape and Human Anatomy
Conclusion
Selected References
Index

Author Bio
Featured Contributor

Daniel L. Gebo

Daniel L. Gebo is a Board of Trustees Professor of anthropology and biological sciences at Northern Illinois University and a research associate at both the Field Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He is the editor of Postcranial Adaptation in Nonhuman Primates and the coauthor of Human Origins: The Fossil Record.