Robert W. Sussman, PRIMATE ECOLOGY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE: NEW WORLD MONKEYS, Vol. 2, Pearson Custom Publishing, Needham Heights, MA, 2000 Reviewed by Clifford J. Jolly New York University Anthropology Washington Square New York, NY 10003 USA cjj1@is.nyu.edu Few primatologists have studied as many species, on as many continents, or have been as dedicated to synthesizing masses of socioecological field data, as has Bob Sussman. It is therefore entirely appropriate that he should author a compendium bringing together current knowledge of the field. The second volume of the work, reviewed here, covers the platyrrhine primates. Most of the field studies reported date from 1970 or later, and many of them were carried out by Sussman, his students and close colleagues. Sensibly, the author avoids most of the controversy surrounding the systematics of the taxon, and organizes his data principally according to five "natural" groups of platyrrhines, which are classified as subfamilies. Under each heading the author then presents a summary annotated with his own insights of relevant socioecological data diet, habitat use, ranging patterns, social behavior, and so on. This is the heart of the book. It is exhaustive and authoritative, and will be a truly invaluable mine of information for the student and the professional primatologist. The work is packed with references to the primary socioecological literature, with which Sussman is thoroughly familiar, and which, through his choice of emphases, he subtly evaluates on the reader's behalf. This body of information is organized as systematically as the material allows; not all aspects of natural history are equally well known in all groups. As is inevitable when a single author carries out such a major project, there are weaker areas, and some inconsistencies should be straightened out in future editions. For example, the reader might be uncertain as to whether the subfamily Atelinae includes just Ateles, Brachyteles and Lagothrix (p193), these plus Alouatta (most other references), or all of the above plus Pithecia and Chiropotes (p190). The situation is not helped by including a figure (1-2), reproduced from Hershkovitz, which expresses yet another systematic scheme, and also includes a number of mis-spelled names (including that of Hershkovitz himself). Nearly all the line art is borrowed from previous publications; this mostly works well, but a few diagrams have been reduced in size to the point of marginal utility, and some typos have been introduced. Many of the photographs, on the other hand, are original. They work well, within the limitations of a monochrome format presumably dictated by a desire to keep the book's price reasonable. The references and comprehensive review alone would guarantee this work a place on every primatologist's bookshelf. It is, however, the author's juxtapositions, comparisons and interpretations, which extend well beyond primates, that make it especially valuable, both as a work of original scholarship, and as an example of an approach to evolutionary biology. The latter is eclectic, but relies mainly upon traditional, adaptationist explanations for social and ecologically-related behavior, while cautiously adopting some concepts derived from selectionist, sociobiological models. In the excellent description and analysis of callitrichid collaborative infant care, for example, the author evidently agrees that the existence of this phenomenon is adequately explained by saying that "the adaptive strategy of this system is to increase the care, and thus the survival, of offspring"(rather than, for instance, invoking primarily the fitness-promoting tactics of individual parents and helpers). Some readers will find this approach too conservative; others will appreciate it as a respite from over-extended speculations about individual reproductive strategies. Any attempt at comprehensive coverage of a major taxon like Platyrrhini -- and the gaps that this exercise reveals in the primary literature -- provokes thought on the most fruitful strategies for primate socioecology as a discipline. In spite of the enormous growth in field studies over the past two decades, there is much still to learn, and, as is so often true, the more we know, the more we realize how much more could be done. This applies even, perhaps especially, to better-known taxa such as Saguinus or Alouatta. Sussman emphasizes and illustrates the great flexibility that exists in primate ecological and social behavior. As data accumulate, behaviors that at first appear to be species-specific are often found to vary among populations, and even seasonally and individually within groups. This suggests, for example, that the ecological preferences observed to separate species' niches in one habitat do not necessarily apply elsewhere; that the species-specificity of such strategies, both in particular cases and in general, cannot be assumed on the basis of evidence collected in a single comparative study. In the interests of describing and explaining this variation, and distinguishing true species adaptations from individual and populational idiosyncrasies, should we then focus on comparatively well known species, where more widespread populations and an exisiting database enable us to formulate sharper hypotheses about the limits and correlates of intraspecific variation? This strategy would inevitably draw funds away from primary documentation of relict populations and poorly-known species, and by doing so, it might well pass over novel and unsuspected adaptive patterns. In the arena of theoretical biology, however, only studies that address important questions of comparative interest are likely to be viable competitors for funding the argument that an unstudied primate species or population should be documented simply "because it's there" is unlikely to cut much ice with a reviewer who is a coleopterist, for example. Increasingly, primatologists will have to present problem-oriented proposals, choosing their subject populations and justifying these choices in terms of the interest and tractibility of the problem to be tackled. In making such decisions, and developing arguments in their support, they will find the data and the insights in Sussman's works to be a major resource. **************************************************************************** Primate-Science Book Reviews are supported in part by grant RR15311-01 from the National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health. P-S Book Reviews may be reposted or republished, but must cite the author and Primate-Science. This review should be cited as follows: Jolly, Clifford J. Review of Primate Ecology and Social Structure: Vol. 2, New World Monkeys, by Robert W. Sussman (2000), Primate-Science Book Reviews, Primate-Science List Serve [primate-science@primate.wisc.edu] (September 14, 2000). ****************************************************************************
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