Transcript Primate notes - WordPress.com

Primates
Chapters 14-15
Primate Patterns
What is a Primate?
• Primate Characteristics
o 5-digit hands with a thumb
• Having an opposable thumb increases gripping power, precision, and
dexterity.
o Nonspecialization
• Many other animals have specialized limbs, such as fins for swimming,
wings for flying, hooves for running etc. Primates do not have
specialized limbs.
o Limb flexibility
• Living in trees caused primates to evolve the ability to rotate their
arms in their sockets and rotate the hand 180 degrees without moving
the arm or elbow.
What is a Primate?
o Nails instead of claws
• Nails free up the hand to feel and explore the environment
o Visual acuity
• Developed because making a mistake high up in a tree could be
costly. Mistakes in reaching or moving could quickly lead to death.
o Upright posture
• Standing up allowed primates to scan the environment and identify
predators, food, or water sources nearby.
Primate Classifications
• Prosimians
• Monkeys
o Old World
o New World
• Apes
o Great Apes
o Lesser Apes
Prosimians
• Primitive primates
• Generally small, furry, arboreal and nocturnal
• Longer noses, more developed sense of spmell and
smaller brains than other primates
• Diet consists of insects and plants
• Examples
o Lorises, lemurs, sifakas, aye-aye, indri, mouse lemurs, bush babies, tarsiers,
pottos
Prosimians
• Creepers: Lorises
o Slender and Slow Loris
• Large eyes, nails, thick fur, lots of vertebrae allowing it to move easier
than any other primate species
• Nocturnal hunter, arboreal, slow and solitary
• Habitat: dense forests
• Range: SE Asia
• Diet: insects, lizards, bird eggs, some fruit
• Offspring: Have 1 at a time, hangs on mother
• Defense mechanism: Freezing (for several hours if needed)
Prosimians
• Slow Loris cont.
o Interesting fact……they have a toxin-producing gland located on the
inner elbow
o When feeling threatened, will raise its arm to its head and quickly take the
toxin (which smells like sweaty socks) from the inside of its elbow into its
mouth
o The small incisors of the lower jaw will conduct the toxin-laced saliva
through capillary action into the bite wound
o Very little is known about the chemical nature of the toxin secreted from
the slow loris
Prosimians
• Leapers: Lemurs
o Range in size from 5in-4ft tall
o Diurnal, female dominant species (the more submissive males are found
more attractive)
o Generally solitary, territorial and aggressive
o Habitat- Dense forest
o Range- Madagascar
o Diet- Fruit and plants
o Offspring- 1-2 per pregnancy, stay in nest and moved around in the
mouth of the mother or hang off of the mother
o Defense- Scent marking and clawing
o Examples
• True lemurs, mouse lemurs, indris, sikafas, wooly lemurs, ring-tailed
lemurs
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Lemur#p00dzdsk
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Lemur#p00cn9fh
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Aye-aye#p009yp79
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Indri#p00dzcdb
Prosimians
• Leapers: Lemurs
Monkeys
• Larger and more prominent skulls, greater
intelligence and full color 3D vision
• New World = South America
o Flat nosed
o Examples
• Spider monkey, howler monkey, tamarin/marmoset, capuchin
• Old World = Africa/Asia
o Downward nose
o Examples
• Baboons, Macques, Langurs, Colubus
New World Monkeys
• Arboreal
• Diurnal
• Prehensile tails or non-prehensile tails
o Prehensile tails are tails used to grasp onto objects, such as tree limbs
Habitat: Rainforest
Range: South and Central America
Diet: Insects, fruit, plants
Offspring: 2 on average, but can have anywhere
from 1-4 at a time
• Defense: Calls, Fight and Flee
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New World Monkeys
• Callers: Howler Monkeys
Largest and most widespread New World monkey
Arboreal and diurnal
Live in groups
Have prehensile tails, specialized digestive system to adapt to a leaf diet
Habitat: Dense rainforest
Range: Central and South America
Diet: fruit and plants (50% of diet is leaves)
Offspring: 1-2 young, stay in nests and move around by hanging onto
mother or her carrying them in her mouth
o Defense: Howl to warn off other howler groups
o Interesting fact: Have one of the loudest sounds of any animal- can be
heard from 1 km away
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New World Monkeys
• Squabblers: Squirrel Monkeys
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Most populated primate species in South America
Arboreal and diurnal
Live in large groups
Non-prehensile tail
Habitat: Dense rainforest
Range: Northern South America
Diet: Fruits and Plants
Offspring: 1-2 on average
Defense: Living in large groups
Old World Monkeys
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Tails
Habitat: Dense forest to open Savannahs
Range: Africa and Asia
Diet: Fruit and Plants
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Olive_Baboon#p00b36yy
Old World Monkeys
• Lookers: Guenon Monkeys
o Include blue monkeys, Owl-faced vervet, Moustached monkey, Redtail
etc.
o Blue Monkeys
• Arboreal
• Non-prehensile tails
• Sexually dimorphic
• Habitat: Dense forest
• Range: Central Africa
• Diet: fruit, plants, leaves, insects, seeds and flowers
• Offspring: 1-2 on average
• Defense: Calls
Old World Monkeys
Old World Monkeys
• Walkers: Savanna Baboons
Largest of all monkeys
Sexually dimorphic
5cm long canine teeth
Non-prehensile tail
Live in large groups
Habitat: dense forest to open savannas
Range: Africa and Asia
Diet: Fruit, plants, roots, seeds, reptiles, monkeys, gazelle, rabbit, eggs,
insects
o Offspring: 1-2 on average
o Defense: Calls, displaying canines, fighting
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Old World Monkeys
Apes
• No tails
• More complex behaviors due to a larger brain
• Two classifications
o Lesser Ape
• Gibbons
o Greater Ape
• Chimps, gorillas, orangutans, bonobos
Apes
• Swingers: Gibbons
o Smallest of all apes (3 ft tall)
o Monogamous species of ape
o Arboreal and use brachiation to move around
• Brachiation: process of swinging under one branch to get to another
o Very fast, rarely on ground but can walk upright
o Habitat: rainforst
o Range: SE Asia
o Diet: fruit, plants, sometimes bird eggs
o Offspring: 1-2 at a time
o Defense: Calls, very loud and can be heard for up to 2 miles away; flee
o Examples:
• White-handed/Lar, Siamang, White cheeked gibbon
o http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/gibbon_swinging
• Orangutans
Apes
o Borean and Sumatran
o Solitary, slow, arborial, 5 ft tall with an 8ft arm span
o Heaviest tree dwelling animal
o Habitat: Dense forest to open savanna
o Range: Asia (islands of Borneo and Sumatra only)
o Diet: Fruit, plants, insects, and eggs
o Young: hang on for first 2 years of life and may be nursed until it is 6
o Defense: calls
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Bornean_Orangutan#intro
Apes
• Gorillas
o Most gentle and shyest of all primates despite their large size
o Live in groups of 8-24 called troops
• Each troop is lead by one dominant silver-backed male
o Habitat: Dense forest to open savannah
o Range: Africa and Asia
o Diet: Fruit and plants
o Offspring: 1 every 3-5 years
o Defense: baring teeth, series of panting sounds, beating their chest
o Much of what we know about gorillas can be attributed to the research
done by Dian Fossey in the 1960’s and 1970’s
Dian Fossey
o http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-filmshowcase/mountain-gorillas-survival-dian-fosseys-legacy-lives-on
Apes
• Common Chimpanzees
o Our closest living relative
• We share 99% our DNA with chimps
o Habitat: Dense forest to mixed forest/savannah areas
o Range: West and Central Africa
o Diet: Fruit, but can adapt to whatever is available in the environment such
as insects and meat
o Offspring: 1 every two years, but stay with mother until they are about 6 or
7
o Defense: Bare teeth, facial expressions, calls
Communities and Parties
• Common Chimpanzees