American Society of Mammalogists

Oxford University Press

Review
Author(s): J. W. Froehlich
Review by: J. W. Froehlich
Source: Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Feb., 1987), pp. 200-201
Published by: American Society of Mammalogists
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1381077
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200 JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY Vol. 68, No. 1

The printing and binding of this book meet high standardsof quality. However, there are a few unor-
thodox and inconsistent author citations in the text (for example, Simmons et al., 1979) and a few minor
lapses in editorial rigor (for example, the reference to R. B. Davis (1969) on page 141 actually refers to
R(ussel) Davis, the reference to Krishna and Dominic (1982) on page 147 is incomplete, the references to
Novick (1971) and Novick and Dale (1971) are run together on page 151, and Rybar (sic Rybaur) is
misspelled on page 153). A minor annoyance is the mixed use of mass and weight throughout the text.
Despite these minor criticisms, this book makes an important contribution toward understanding com-
munication in the Chiroptera and it should stimulate further study of this important group of mammals.
This book is the third in a series on "communication" that should be of interest to zoologists, comparative
ethologists, ecologists, and psychologists, especially those interested in communication.-THOMASH. KUNZ,
Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02212.

J. Mamm.,68(1):200-201,1987

Napier, J. R., and P. H. Napier. THE NATURALHISTORYOF THEPRIMATES.The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge,
200 pp., 5 tables, 171 figs., and 22 color plates, 1985. Price, $19.95 (hardbound).
In answer to the foremost question about this book on the minds of all students of primatology, The
Natural History of the Primates is not a revised version of the essential desk reference, but totally unavail-
able Handbook of Living Primates (Napier and Napier, Academic Press, New York, 456 pp., 1967). While
some of the excellent figures from "The Handbook" are reproduced in this new book, it falls short of
reference quality because of less comparative data and far fewer, albeit sometimes more current, biblio-
graphic citations. On the other hand, this new volume is better illustrated than the former, including color
plates, which help with distinguishing species within the complexly diverse genus Cercopithecus and add a
"coffee table" attractivenessto the text.
As such, this is an outstanding book for introducing the beginning student and the layperson to the
fascinating order of human relatives. With a surprisinglymodest price, given the quality of the illustrations
and the fairly comprehensive coverage of primate systematics, ecology, and behavior, this well-produced
hardbackvolume can be used as a supplementary textbook in courses on primate behavior and comparative
biology.
The contents are unevenly divided into six chapters, starting with a geographical distributionof the order.
A good discussion of arboreal and terrestrialcontrasts is well illustrated with the examples of the recently
adapted vervet and the more derived patas monkey. Several of the geography and ecology figures in this
chapter come directly from the Handbook of Living Primates, but the new text sometimes deviates from
them in terminology, such as not using the term "steppe." The classificationpresented is a traditional one
for the most part, without even mention of the increasingly more acceptable haplorhine distinction. Instead,
the placement of tarsiers in a monotypic third suborder is a solution to the debate that will please few.
Another curious statement regarding the surprising congruence between the contemporary classifications
and that of Linnaeus as a reflection of the sparsenessof the fossil record is also likely to raise strongdissension.
Certainly, shared derived features reflect phylogeny just as anatomical similaritiesreflected a common divine
design for Linnaeus.
Indeed, the second chapter's all too sketchy coverage of the fossil record, in contrast to the detail of the
final chapter on human evolution, is probably the weakest portion of the book. There is no reference, for
example, to the text of Szalay and Delson (Evolutionary History of Primates, Academic Press, New York,
580 pp., 1979). There is only passing note of the debates regarding the definition and origin of the primate
order, with the rather flippant remark (p. 23) of plesiadapids "being excluded as having not quite 'made
the grade,"' despite the fact that they are the most prominently displayed in a somewhat sparselyillustrated
chapter.
The third chapter on structure and function is a fine summary of primate comparative anatomy, written
mostly at a comprehensive textbook level and more than adequately illustrated. Occasionally, however,
explanations of structure are either overly simplified or stated emphatically when there is, in fact, consid-
erable debate. Not many would agree that the digestive system of colobine monkeys is "so specialized that
they are limited in their choice of food" (p. 39; italics mine). Common terms, such as the "sectorial"
premolar, are not used when the structures are described in detail. Many also would disagree with the
explanation of the "simian shelf" as a response to this complex canine-premolar occlusion, rather than to
molar mastication;in fact, the small canined subfossil Hadropithecus is used here as an example of conver-

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February 1987 REVIEWS 201

gence. These minor flaws in this chapter, and elsewhere, might be attributed, I think, to the compromise
of making this book serve the dual objectives of both a tradebook and a textbook.
Good tabularization and diagrams make the next chapter on social behavior fairly comprehensive for a
book concerned primarily with physical structure. Again, there are omissions and simplified explanations,
such as the statement that humans show considerable sexual dimorphism (p. 66) in a discussion that does
not try to explain this phenomenon, but the chapter provides a fair overview of most principles. Line
drawings augment the numerous excellent photographs in illustrating many of the described behaviors.
Fully half of the entire text is allocated to a systematic description of primate genera in the fifth chapter.
On the negative side, there is an occasional imprecision or oversimplificationflawing these "profiles."Lemur
groups numbering "as many as 24" cannot typically be comprised of 23 individuals of various ages and sex
(p. 87). The kangaroo-like hopping behavior of Propithecus is not best described as "bipedal running" (p.
91). The description of mimicry in female geladas certainly must be reversed. On the positive side, and by
far more characteristic of the thoroughness of this chapter, illustrationsand discussions help the reader to
puzzle-out complex species diversity distinctions,such as the illustrationsof Colobus pelage or the description
of natal coat differences between the species groups of Presbytis. In some cases, distribution maps would
have further amplified these discussions.
The text, especially in the systematics chapter, is written in a rather terse, truncated style, which can be
disruptive to some readers. Many of the sentences are incomplete, as with dictionary-like definitions. There
is a puzzling selectivity in the use of references, which makes the book less useful for the student and
sometimes frustratingfor the informed reader. I was unaware of tool-using being reported for Cebus apella,
and there is no reference. From personal experience, I question multi-male grouping in Nasalis and, again,
there is no reference for this attribution. Overall, the bibliography is much too short. The glossary could
also have been usefully expanded.
The terseness of the text and the selectivity of scholarly references are probably both sacrifices to the
trade market and to the commendably low price of the book. Even with these minor distractions,however,
the general quality of the volume (I could find only a few typographical errors, such as busy rather than
bushy tails in galagos or recumbent rather than procumbent incisors in sakis), the thoroughness of the
coverage, and the excellence of the illustrations make this book a superb supplementary textbook and a
useful summary of a rather complex order for both the layperson and the professional mammalogist.-J.
W. FROEHLICH, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.

J. Mamm., 68(1):201-202,1987

Goodall, J. THECHIMPANZEES OFGOMBE, PATTERNS OFBEHAVIOR. Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts,xiv + 673 pp., 1986. Price $30.00 (hardbound).
The book includes a table of contents, abbreviations of chimpanzee names, introduction, 19 chapters,
conclusion, five appendixes, list of references, acknowledgments, index of names, and index of subjects.The
information presented in the book is well supported by tables, figures, and photographs. Some of the tables
and figures are set in partial color. Most of the photographs are black-and-white, but there are eight pages
of color photographs in the center of the book. The tables and figures are generally excellent, as are most
of the photographs.
This work is a rather detailed and comprehensive summary of the results of a quarter of a century of
almost continuous observations and studies of the chimpanzees of the Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In
addition, much of our general knowledge of the behavior and the biology of Pan troglodytes is summarized
in the book. Information from numerous other studies of chimpanzees throughout the geographic range of
the species is provided by the author in the context of efforts to assemble a synthesis of these observations
and data for the reader.
The brief introduction contains an explanation of how the author became involved in the adventures at
Gombe that began in 1960. Although not complete, there is a useful summary of the history of the discovery
of the chimpanzee and previous efforts to describe, study, and understand the species; this material is
included in the next two chapters. Chapter three is a description of the setting and the approach for the
research at Gombe; the section dealing with the relationshipsbetween wild chimpanzees and the observers
is an interesting one. The next section is a vivid discussion of the concept of individuality in wild mammals,
using the chimpanzees of the Gombe as examples. There is a detailed discussion of the structure of the
chimpanzee community at Gombe, with information about the demographic changes that were observed

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