The Adams State University Faculty Lecture series will begin the 2018/2019 academic year with Distant Cousins: Spider Monkeys Provide a Lesson in Convergent Evolution, by Dr. Colleen Schaffner, chair of the Psychology Department, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, in McDaniel Hall room 101.
Spider monkeys live in a social system very similar to our own. Community members know everyone, but are rarely altogether. They split and merge into subgroups of different individuals throughout each day. Thus, it may not be surprising they do many things like we do: greet when they meet, raid neighboring communities, adopt each other’s infants, kill each other and engage in homosexual behavior. “Spider monkeys are a lot like us,” Schaffner said.
All ASU Faculty Lectures in the series are free and open to the public. Complimentary light refreshments will be offered. For further information on the series of lectures, contact Dr. Joel Givens, assistant professor of counselor education, at 719-587-7551 or joelgivens@adams.edu.
