Primate Socioecology: Shifting Perspectives

This game-changing book questions long-accepted rules of primate socioecology and redefines the field from the ground up.

In Primate Socioecology, renowned researcher Lynne A. Isbell offers a fresh perspective on primate social organizations that redefines the field from the ground up.

Through her innovative Variable Home Range Sharing model, Isbell unravels the mystery of why some primates live alone while others live in pairs or groups--a question that has perplexed scientists for decades. This new approach diverges from the traditional focus on predation pressure as the main determinant of primate social organization to reveal deeper ecological causes of primate behavior. The implications of this shift are profound, underscoring the critical importance of a behavioral-ecological mechanism in which varying movement strategies affect which females share their home ranges and ultimately pointing to a new functional classification system for primate social organizations.

Isbell also discusses:
- a supportive test of predicted movement strategies using activity budgets
- why thermal constraints explain the dichotomy between small nocturnal primates and large diurnal primates
- the role of sensory differences in nocturnal solitary foragers versus diurnal group-living primates

Useful as both an introduction to primate socioecology and for those seeking a robust examination of the topic, Primate Socioecology addresses scientific debates about primate social organizations and invites researchers to question long-held assumptions.

Lynne A. Isbell is a professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis. She is the author of The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent: Why We See So Well and a coauthor of Black, Brown, and White: Stories Straight Outta Compton.