Sequences of primate signs. Review of teaching sign language to chimpanzees,edited by R. Allen Gardner,Beatrix T. Gardner,and Thomas E. Van Cantfort. Albany,State University of New York Press, 1989, 324 pp, 20 fig, 45 tab, $59.59 (cloth), $19.95 (paper)

Female social dominance over males is thought to characterize most of the prosimian primates of Madagascar. It has been reported in Propithecus verreauxi coquereli in the wild but intersexual relations were not fully characterized. In this paper we examine female-male spatial and agonistic relations in semi-free-ranging P. v. coquereli in order to evaluate intersexual social dominance and related behavioral asymmetries. Two hundred hours of focal sampling were conducted on two pairs of P. v. coquereli at the Duke University Primate Center, Durham, NC. Behavioral categories including approach, departure, follow, pass, replace, and aggression were scored and recorded. Our results show strong asymmetry of aggressive encounters, suggesting female dominance over males. No submissive signals were observed. The analysis of spatial relations showed that males were more active than females in maintaining proximity and, on average, male spatial movements could be predicted by female location and activities more often than vice versa. These results indicate a spatially central role for the female of each pair. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Current perspectives in primate laterality. Review of Primate Laterality: Current Behavioral Evidence of Primate Asymmetries,edited by Jeannette P. Ward and William D. Hopkins. New York,Springer Verlag, 1993, xii + 356 pp, $49.00

Sleeping habits of brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were studied during 19 months in French Guiana. High forest, covering 89% of the 355 ha home range of the studied group, was the only vegetal formation used for sleeping. The sleeping-focused area of 94 ha, located in the center of the home range, was more frequently used for daily activities. Twenty-six percent of the individuals spent the night in patawa palms, which account for only 0.62% of the plants of diameter at breast height ≥ 16.1 in the 43 1 ha quadrats used for sleeping. Three major factors seem to affect the preference of patawas as sleeping trees: security, comfort, and social contact. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.