What Is a Primate?

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

This volume in Crabtree Publishing’s Science of Living Things series
follows the same format found in many of Bobbie Kalman’s other works.
Stock photographs fill approximately two-thirds of each page and small
text blocks are fitted around the pictures.

The focus of the book, which Kalman coauthored with Heather Levigne, is
nonhuman primates. In the first part of the book, the authors cover
general physiology and communication patterns. In the following
sections, the nine different groups of primates are examined. The
emphasis is on those characteristics or behaviors that distinguish each
of the groups. For example, the solitary nature and peculiar call of
orangutans are highlighted, while marmosets’ and tamarins’
distinguishing characteristics include variety of color and care of
offspring. This solid treatment of primates is recommended for school
and public libraries.