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A Pictorial Guide to Living Primates and Much More

Article in Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews · March 2012

DOI: 10.1002/evan.21301

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Evolutionary Anthropology 21:84–85 (2012)
A Pictorial Guide to
Living Primates and
Much More
All the World’s Primates http://allthe
worldsprimates.org/login.aspx Edited by
Noel Rowe and Marc Myer. 2011. Pri-
mate Conservation, Inc.
This website is an update of the
1996 The Pictorial Guide to the Living
Primates.1 Reviewing it turned out to
be a bigger challenge than antici-
pated, for it is both different from
and more than a text or reference
book, yet will serve as both for many
people. Over the years, I have often
turned to my copy of The Pictorial
Guide to the Living Primates when I
needed a high-quality picture of a
primate I was not particularly famil-
iar with. I also used this book for
some basic biology, ecology, and dis-
tribution information. But first and
foremost, it provided good color pho-
tographs of most primate taxa.
Before it was published, I often
relied on A Handbook of Living
Primates2, but all of its photographs
were black and white, and many
were of sad primates in less than
ideal captive situations.
While The Pictorial Guide to the
Living Primates was a significant
improvement over A Handbook of
Living Primates, All the World’s Pri-
mates takes a much more impressive
step forward in providing numerous
high-quality color photographs of
most extant primate species and sub-
species and an essential description
of each taxon. In addition, there are
audio and video clips for about 115
species and subspecies, which simply
cannot be included in a printed
book. All the World’s Primates is a
product of Primate Conservation,
Inc. (PCI), a nonprofit organization
that is well known to primatologists
V
C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
DOI 10.1002/evan.21301
Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com).
because of its support of research
focusing on some of the most endan-
gered primates in their natural
habitats. A noteworthy fact about
PCI is that it frequently provides
research support to habitat-country
scientists early in their careers.
These young scholars often have
quite limited access to much-needed
resources.
As I reflect on the variety of taxa
represented at this website, I cannot
help but think about how primate
classification has changed during the
past few decades. My favorite pri-
mate text, Primate Adaptation and
Evolution, recognized about 191
extant species in the first edition3 in
1988 and about 235 in the second
edition4 in 1999. In 2001, Colin
Groves recognized approximately
347 species in his authoritative Pri-
mate Taxonomy.5 As noted by Jane
Goodall in her introduction to All the
World’s Primates, the 1996 pictorial
guide provided information on 234
primate species, whereas this new
resource recognizes more than 615
species and subspecies, or all the pri-
mate taxa currently listed in the
International Union for Conservation
of Nature’s Red List. This dramatic
increase in the number of docu-
mented primate taxa is not, of
course, a reflection of rapid evolution
of primate taxa; rather it is recogni-
tion of a shift in how we conceptual-
ize species and subspecies, in addi-
tion to a healthy number of new field
discoveries. In addition, conservation
is an obvious focus of this website.
The dramatically expanded primate
taxonomy is certainly, in part, a
response to the realization that with-
out a formal taxonomic rank a popu-
lation is unlikely to receive sufficient
protection.
There is a wide range of resources
at this website, including thoughtful
introductions by Jane Goodall, Rich-
ard Leakey, and Russell Mittermeier,
in which each of these influential
scholars notes the serious conserva-
tion challenges that modern biodi-
versity faces. In addition, there are
articles that provide insightful intro-
ductions to primate taxonomy (Colin
BOOK REVIEW
Groves), molecular taxonomy (Todd
Disotell and Andrew Burrell), and
primate evolution (John Fleagle and
Chris Gilbert). These are among the
leading names in contemporary
primatology. The participation of
these people is a reflection of the
high quality of information available
throughout the website. There also is
a series of informative articles on
‘‘The Primate Order,’’ which provides
fairly detailed descriptions of infraor-
ders down to the family or subfamily
and include consideration of anat-
omy, taxonomic diversity, and behav-
ioral ecology. There is also an
impressive series of more than 60
links to additional websites, many of
which are excellent conservation
resources. Having links to all of
these sites in a single location
will save subscribers a great deal
of time searching for further infor-
mation.
What truly sets All the World’s
Primates apart from a reference
book, however, is that it is built on a
relational database. There are a
number of ways in which one can
search this database; examples
include searching by species and
subspecies name, conservation sta-
tus, country, or eco-region. A search
of the critically endangered status
yields 78 primate species, while a
search of Argentina reveals that
seven primates inhabit this country,
and a search of north Asian temper-
ate broadleaf and mixed forests turns
up nine primates. The flexibility of
such a database is both impressive
and quite easily accessible. At the
most specific level, one can gather a
range of facts about a primate spe-
cies or subspecies, including infor-
mation on diet, life history, and
behavior. Associated with each bit of
information is a citation. Two of my
favorite aspects of the description of
each of taxon are the number of
high-quality photos and a map that
provides quite specific range infor-
mation. The range map is also inter-
active; it is easy to add additional
species to the map.
This website is not only a wonderful
resource for professional primatolo-
 BOOK REVIEW
gists, but would also be an excellent
resource for upper-division prima-
tology courses. It is easy to con-
ceptualize a range of intellectually stim-
ulating assignments that students could
pursue with the relational database. It
will also be an easily accessible refer-
ence source for habitat country scien-
tists and their students, folks who often
do not have direct access to printed
media. The only caveat is that it
requires a good computer with a reli-
able internet connection.
This website is constantly being
updated, so that it promises to be
not only the most comprehensive
View publication stats
online resource for primates, but one
that is also up-to-date. This brings
me back to the unexpected challenge
of reviewing All the World’s Primates.
There is such a wealth of informa-
tion at this website that each visit
ends up lasting much longer than
expected as I continue to discover
additional ways to use this wide-
ranging source of material. Finally,
proceeds from subscriptions not only
support website maintenance, but
also contribute to PCI’s grants
program, thus furthering efforts to
conserve threatened primates around
the world.
85
REFERENCES
1 Rowe N. 1996. The pictorial guide to the living
primates. Charlestown, RI: Pogonias Press.
2 Napier JR, Napier PH. 1967. A handbook of
living primates. London: Academic Press.
3 Fleagle JG. 1988. Primate adaptation and evo-
lution, first edition. New York: Academic Press.
4 Fleagle JG. 1999. Primate adaptation and evo-
lution, second edition. San Diego: Academic
Press.
5 Groves CP. 2001. Primate taxonomy. Washing-
ton, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Herbert H. Covert
Department of Anthropology
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309-0233
Email: Covert@colorado.edu