Changing Assumptions in Primate Ecology

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Abstract
Ecological research on nonhuman primates developed separately from the discipline of ecology as a whole, and has in the past been characterized by a distinctive set of goals and assumptions. This paper examines some of the problems surrounding these assumptions. Recently, primate ecologists have begun to adopt the conceptual framework of other ecologists; it is argued here that this trend does not in fact solve all the old problems. Finally, the future of primate ecology is considered briefly. [Primates, ecology, adaptation, strategies, optimization]