Comparative Primate Blog Post

1.       Lemurs, Spider Monkey, Baboon, Gibbon, Chimpanzee

The expressions of the particular trait of the 5 categories of primates are:

1.       Behavior. Most of the primates have same behavior traits just like human. Their sexuality, infant care, aggression, grooming and communication.

2.       Social interactions are also very common. Most of the primates are territorial. They also have similarity in social systems such as mating and giving birth.

3.       Their physical traits are similar such as the flexible limbs, forward facing eyes, the arms, their chest, the physical feature of face and the fingers for gripping.

4.       The intelligence is shows similarity but the level of intelligence varies in many ways. Considering that baboons are more intelligent than chimpanzees when it comes to social interactions

5.       Among the 5 primates chimpanzee and gibbon are considered an ape which distinguished according to the physical feature such as broader chest and lack of tails and while lemur, spider monkey and baboon are considered monkeys because of their common physical feature. Though baboons are considered old world monkeys and the chimpanzees considered the species of the great apes.

2.       ABC: The Locomotor Patterns

Primate locomotion, being an aspect of behavior that arises out of anatomic structure, shows much of the conservativeness and opportunism that generally characterizes the order. Primates with remarkably few changes in their skeletons and musculature have adopted a bewildering variety of locomotor patterns. The “natural” habitat of primates—in the historical sense—is the canopy of the forest.

Vertical clinging and leaping, for instance, is primarily a function of the hind limbs, as is bipedalism, whereas brachiation is performed exclusively with the forelimbs. Quadrupedalism involves both forelimbs and hind limbs, of course, although not to an equal extent. Some quadrupeds are hind limb-dominated; in others, the forelimb and the hind limb are equally important. The hind limb-dominated primates, such as the langurs and colobus monkeys, employ a large element of leaping in their movements, a less-notable feature of the more generalized quadrupeds such as guenons. The quadrupedal category is inevitably somewhat of a grab bag, and the gaits included in it have not yet been studied critically. One subtype, here designated as slow climbing, differs profoundly from the other subtypes of the category, being somewhat ponderous and devoid of elements of leaping or jumping. The species in this category are lorises and pottos, all of which are arboreal and nocturnal.

Bipedalism- Some degree of bipedal ability, of course, is a basic possession of the order Primates. All primates sit upright. Many stand upright without supporting their body weight by their arms, and some, especially the apes, actually walk upright for short periods. The view that the possession of uprightness is a solely human attribute is untenable; humans are merely the one species of the order that has exploited the potential of this ancestry to its extreme. Chimpanzees, gorillas and gibbons, macaques, spider monkeys, capuchins, and others are all frequent bipedal walkers.

When the subject of primate arboreal locomotion is studied in evolutionary terms by using fossils, it becomes clear that locomotor categories are not discrete but constitute a continuum of change from a hind limb-dominated gait to a forelimb-dominated one. The best single indicator of gait, one that has the added advantage of being strictly quantitative, is the intermembral index. Briefly, the index is a ratio expressed as percentage of arm length to leg length; an index over 100 indicates relatively long arms. This provides a model by means of which the locomotion of an early primate can be inferred by determination of the intermembral index of the fossil skeleton. Animals do not necessarily fall discretely into categories. Species with indexes lying between those of clearly recognizable locomotor types represent transitional types, whose style of locomotion really does manifest features of both of the bracketing categories. Some lemurs have indexes that fall between 65 and 75, and their gait is a combination of vertical clinging and quadrupedalism. The South American spider monkeys (genus Ateles), whose index lies between 100 and 108, show a type of locomotion that contains the elements of both quadrupedalism and brachiation.

3.       A. Description of Environment:

Lemurs - There are at least 10 species of sportive lemurs (family Megaladapidae) that live throughout Madagascar in both rainforests and dry forests. The lemur lineage continued in tropical forests, however, and they were particularly successful in Madagascar, where they were relatively free from competition with more-advanced primates.

Spider Monkey- lives in forests from southern Mexico through Central and South America to Brazil.

Baboon- primarily terrrestrial monkeys found in dry regions of Africa and Arabia.

Five subspecies live in Africa, with one species extending into the Arabian peninsula. Baboons live in brush, grassland, or rocky country, foraging on the ground for roots, seeds, fruits, insects, and small animals, including other monkeys

Gibbon- The gibbons, including the siamang, are known as the small, or lesser, apes; they are the most highly adapted of the apes to arboreal life.

Chimpanzee- Chimpanzees inhabit tropical forests and savannas of equatorial Africa from The Gambia in the west to Lake Albert, Lake Victoria, and northwestern Tanzania in the east.

B. Specified character:

Lemurs- They are solitary and nocturnal, feeding on leaves and flowers, which are digested in their enormous cecum with the aid of bacteria. Bacterial fermentation enables energy to be extracted from the large quantity of otherwise indigestible cellulose in the lemur’s diet. Lemurs are docile, gregarious animals; some species live in groups of 10 or more. Most of their time is spent in the trees eating fruit, leaves, buds, insects, and small birds and birds’ eggs, but diet varies among different species. Some, for example, are mainly insectivorous, whereas others feed almost exclusively on foliage. All breed seasonally, and females may have only one fertile day during the entire year. Single offspring are usually born after two to five months’ gestation. The newborn lemur then clings to its mother’s underside until it is old enough to ride on her back.

Spider Monkey- Spider monkeys that are shot with arrows while being hunted for food sometimes remove the arrows with their hands and attempt to stem the bleeding. Wary of humans, they will break off tree branches and try to drop them on intruders, and they bark like terriers when approached. Spider monkeys also produce a variety of other sounds. When separated from other members of their group, they call to one another in a whinnying voice like a horse. They are also capable of prolonged screams. Spider monkeys are dextrous with their tail as well as their hands. They pick up objects with the tail, and they hang from branches by using the tail alone.

Baboon- Most species travel in groups of 40 to 80, which are socially based on a core of females and may include several transient males. Some subspecies, like the hamadryas baboon (Papio hamadryas hamadryas), form harem groups led by a dominant male and have a highly developed social order.

Gibbon- These acrobatic mammals, endemic to the dense forests of southern Asia, are perfectly adapted to life in the trees and rarely descend to the ground. They have strong, hook-shaped hands for grasping branches, comically outsize arms for reaching faraway limbs, and long, powerful legs for propelling and gasping. Their shoulder joints are even specially adapted to allow greater range of motion when swinging.

Chimpanzee- Chimpanzees awaken at dawn, and their day is spent both in the trees and on the ground. After a lengthy midday rest, late afternoon is usually the most intensive feeding period. In the trees, where most feeding takes place, chimps use their hands and feet to move about. They also leap and swing by their arms (brachiate) skillfully from branch to branch. Movement over any significant distance usually takes place on the ground. Though able to walk upright, chimpanzees more often move about on all fours, leaning forward on the knuckles of their hands (knuckle walking). At night they usually sleep in the trees in nests they build of branches and leaves. Chimpanzees are unable to swim, but they will wade in water. The chimpanzee diet is primarily vegetarian and consists of more than 300 different items, mostly fruits, berries, leaves, blossoms, and seeds but also bird eggs and chicks, many insects, and occasionally carrion. Chimpanzees also hunt both alone and in groups, stalking and killing various mammals such as monkeys, duikers, bushbucks, and wild pigs. They also appear to use certain plants medicinally to cure diseases and expel intestinal parasites.

C. Trait expression of the adapted environment

Lemurs- lives in rainforest of east and dry regions of the west most lemurs are very good “swingers” to avoid harsh climate and weather to survive. They are very distinct because of their ecological niches and the selection of the habitat. Their diet consist more of fruits thus for them survive they have a behavioral diversity and immense morphological.

Spider Monkey- lives in forests from southern Mexico through Central and South America to Brazil. In spite of its thumb less hands, this lanky potbellied primate can move swiftly through the trees, using its long tail as a fifth limb.

Baboon- Baboons live in brush, grassland, or rocky country, foraging on the ground for roots, seeds, fruits, insects, and small animals, including other monkeys. Depending on the species, they may gather in troops of 350 individuals or more for protection at sleep sites on rock outcroppings. Baboons are powerful fighters and show little fear of larger animals, including humans. They can successfully take on leopards, their worst enemies.

Gibbon- Gibbons thrive on the abundant fruit trees in their tropical range, and are especially fond of figs. They will occasionally supplement their diet with leaves and insects.

Chimpanzee- Chimpanzees inhibits forest.  The common chimpanzee is a frugivorous species, but will also consume seeds, nuts, flowers, leaves, pith, honey, insects, eggs, and vertebrates, including monkeys. During the dry season when fruit becomes scare seeds as well as bark, flowers, resin, pith, and galls are important food resources. Through their geographical location many chimpanzees are hunt food over again through the use of their cognitive maps.

Chimpanzees exhibit complex social strategies such as cooperation in combat and the cultivation of coalitions and alliances via ranging together, reciprocal grooming, and the sharing of meat (sometimes in exchange for mating opportunities).

D. Image of the primate:

 

4.       The level of environmental influence is extremely important to the expression and behavioral traits because adaptation is important for survival. Animals just like humans they have the natural traits to adapt to the environment in order to survive. The weather conditions, the temperature, the food are some of the factors that needed to be considered for adaptations. The most intriguing behavioral trait is of the spider monkeys. That when shot with arrows while being hunted for food sometimes remove the arrows with their hands and attempt to stem the bleeding. This is one of the survival techniques and adaptations. Though they are thumb less yet they adapted ways to swing using their long tail as a fifth limb.  Baboons which commonly found in Africa also have special feature traits for survival. Africa is known for hot and warm weather so thus Baboon has a thick fur to survive and adapt the environmental factors. Like the primates, humans are capable of adapting toward his environment. Like many of tropical Asian country people who migrated to colder countries will similarly adapted to the environment. Skin color has also proven to be one of the factors for survival and adapting environment. Many Asians are brown skinned specially those who live in tropical regions.  Thus, In Darwin’s theory Survival of the Fittest was extremely given emphasis in the evolution or the natural selection. Those who are not fit to survive will never evolve.

 

Reference:

Britannica Encyclopedia

NatGeo.com

Photos: Googleimage.com; natgeo.com