A Comparative Approach to Reconstructing the Socioecology of Extinct Primates

Abstract

Some aspects of behavior can be reconstructed in the fossil record because structure and function (i.e., behavior) are directly linked. For instance, one may be able to reconstruct the diet of an extinct taxon based on a variety of morphological features that are known to have certain functions among extant species. Many chapters in this book follow this approach, which, for all its limitations (Kay and Cartmill, 1977; Kay, 1984), may produce the most reliable reconstructions of the behavior and ecology of extinct species.