Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation
- The role of primates within their ecosystem and connections with other species
- What primates eat, how they navigate their habitats, how they raise infants, and how they interact with each other
- The conservation status of primates and their importance as flagship species in habitats
- Primate abundance and distribution and how they can coexist with humans
- How we can study primates to improve conservation measures in the wild and in captivity
- Dates
June 30 – August 1, 2025 (5 weeks) | Mason’s academic calendar
- Available Formats
Undergraduate (CONS 480, 3 credits)
Graduate (CONS 580, 3 credits)- Cost
- Who's Eligible?
Undergraduate and graduate students, and non-degree-seeking students from any accredited college or university. Students should have taken an upper-level course in biology, ecology, conservation, or related discipline.
Meet the Faculty
Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation
Curriculum
Come meet our closest genetic relatives – our cousins on the evolutionary tree! Primates are a diverse group of long-lived, socially complex animals that are also one of the most charismatic yet highly endangered vertebrate groups on the planet – currently, more than half of all primate species are threatened with extinction in the wild. This course will explore the natural history and biology of living non-human primates, including prosimians, monkeys, and apes. Topics covered will include primate traits, origins, taxonomy, distribution, ecology, social organization, and behavior.
Online course instruction is mostly asynchronous. Students are expected to watch weekly pre-recorded videos and read assigned articles. This course co-meets with the graduate version of the course (CONS 580).
Teaching by a Top Primatologist in Her Field
Associate Professor Dr. Anneke DeLuycker (pictured here with Japanese filmmaker Akira Matsubayashi and crew assistant Walter Huaman) conducted the first long-term field study on the critically endangered Andean titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe) as a Fulbright Scholar. She recently contributed two chapters to The Natural History of Primates: A Systematic Survey of Ecology and Behavior, the first new primatology text available in over a decade.
Capturing an Endangered Species' Wild Birth
This incredible video, taken by SMSC professor Anneke Deluycker, is the first known footage of a titi monkey giving birth in the wild. This little-known species called Callicebus oenanthe is critically endangered and endemic to a small region of northern Peru.
