Human And Non Human Primates

Although I did not catch the gibbon in the act, they are distinguished by their unique sound. Gibbons use their vocals to communicate with each other. Lar gibbons communicate in solos and duets, which are typically loud and long calls. In order to keep intruders out and defend their territory, normal duets are sung. Male white-headed gibbons sing together at range edges to keep intruders out and increase their territorial defense (Beaman,

Non-human primates’ communication based on a limited range of sounds and gestures. Human communication is far more focused on the use of oral sounds. The human voice and non-human primate vocalizations are characterized by important differences. Our speech is radically different from other sounds used by non-human primates to communicate. Vocal perception abilities through conspecific vocalizations are important in social interactions. Only human possess speech perception to communicate in a highly efficient manner (Belin, 2006). Human and non-human primates’ vocalization differs in the morphology of the vocal apparatus and acoustic structure (Fitch 2000, 2003). Primates such as monkeys possess vocal folds in the vocal tract which are absent in humans (Schon Ybarra 1995). The larynx in the vocal tract of human is much lower compared to the non-human primates. The lowered larynx allows the increase of flexibility of the tongue and thus yielding a large range of frequencies. In contrast, higher larynx leads to inflexibility of the tongue thus limiting the non-human primates’ ability to yield acoustically distinct sounds through their vocal tract (Belin, 2006). In addition, non-human primates do not use their tongue to modify the shape of the vocal tract for the production of sound. The distinct production of human speech involves

In the article, “Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and ´Dignity´ to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?¨, written by Ed Yong, who explains the moral but unclear delma of granting Great Apes rights. Extending from Spain to the U.S., the Great Ape Project (GAP) fights for these basic sets of moral and legal rights for apes. The problem is that apes, although genetically similar to humans are still viewed as simple animals. Which makes the ability to give these non-human animals, human like rights unnecessary as it would to give rights to dogs or rats. The U.S. has also passes the Great Ape Protection Act, which stop any harmful experience to apes. Consequently also stopping any further understanding of underlying biological mechanisms,

there are many arguments surrounding what defines culture and how it is possible to label all animals, including non-human primates, as exhibiting signs of possessing culture. They may not take in the opera or sip fine wines, but the verdict is in: apes are cultured. Fifty years of research on the apes has shown they use tools, communicate, and sometimes shake their hands just because it’s cool.

This paper aims to study the traits of non-human primates. By observing two types of primates including Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorillas), I try to find out their characteristics, pattern of their behavior, and differences between these two primate species. Especially, characteristics and behavior such as social interaction, food acquisition and intelligence will be discussed and compared in this paper. In order to enhance the persuasiveness of my observation, I recorded and examined at least 25 distinct characteristics of both Common Squirrel Monkeys and Western Gorillas. It is also helpful for me to compare these two primates. Apart from exploring the primates’ traits and differentiation between them, this paper will discuss the effects of captivity. How being in captivity and on display in a zoo would influence their behaviors and emotions? The observation was a great success and I have successfully derived with a hypothesis base on our observing data. The ultimate goal of this paper is arousing humans’ awareness of the importance of studying primates.

I have really enjoyed learning in this class and glad I took it because I found it to be very interesting. From learning all these different types of primates, from non-human to human primates, to even developing a better understanding of the evolution of primates and primate behavior. For my final paper, I will be going over and portraying the behavior of non-human primate and human primate. I will be comparing the primates behavior seen over the movies and literatures that we were assigned, to the understandings of evolution. Being able to learn and compare the behavior of non-human primate and the behavior of human primate, it can help further one understandings of how we are similar in physical and biological structures. According to the Wikipedia, “The primate lineage is thought to go back at least 65 million years ago”. (Wikipedia) With this one could say that the evolution of primates have been evolving for quite a while now, and even if we do not look like a non human primate we are similar than we think. The reading materials and the movies we had to watch for this class displayed the behaviors of non-human primate and human primate, some how differed. There are many question about evolution, and to how we were created? are there other reasons deeper than evolution? How much can we learn about evolution by just comparing the different behavior of the primates?

Orangutans (Figure 3) are our first cousins since they share 97 percent of our genetic material. Contrary to other apes, orangutans are semi solitary which is unique in its social organization (3). Adult males which are the most solitary, and they associate with only their current, former, and potential consorts. For the semi-solitary orangutans, the only playmate is its mother. Even female adults are more social than male ones, rarely they groom, touch, hold hands, chase, or fight. On rare occasions, female adults may groom; however, it lasts only few seconds. Sometimes, female adults meet and travel with one another to express the close relationship. The long call by a male orangutan expresses an alert to others about his presence. Usually, other orangutans only react if the call is close by or aggressive towards them. Male orangutan can use vocalization to express that he is angry and frustrated, and that call signals a threat to another male (3). Female orangutans also produce vocalization when they get upset by the presence of another male.

Primates have some features that support them for the arboreal life. First, primates have developed grasping extremities with the divergent hallux and nails instead of claws. These features help them grasping branches better. Second, primates have enhanced vision with the optic convergence, which helps them look straightforward. They also have postorbital bar to protect the eyes. Third, primates reduced the olfaction that is not useful for arboreal life. Fourth, comparing to the other mammals, primates have large brain consider to the body size. The large brain helps them to process the complicating reactions, and thinking. Haplorrhines primates have some unique derived traits: the loss of tapetum lucidum, which enhances the vision in the darkness; and haplorhini, which is dry external nose. The anthropoid primates have developed some derived traits. They have postorbital bar with closure, and this makes a complete bony ring surrounds the eyes. They also have fused mandibular symphysis. The Platyrrhines have the dental formula 2.1.3.3/2.1.3.3. The Catarrhines have dental formula 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3. The Cercopithecoids have the bilophodont molars to enhance the chewing ability. The hominoids are the most developed primates, which have some derived unique traits. They have larger brain, loss of tail, longer arms than legs, broad thorax with more muscles, and highly mobile shoulder.

The study of primates has been a common field of study for a long time. The studies are carried out for different reasons but the common reason is trying to understand human beings better. Studies have revealed that the behavior of primates is similar to that of human beings on different aspects. Human beings and primates have a history of being related based on the evolution stories. The earliest human beings are believed to have been apes and evolved from there.

For many animals, the ability to move is essential for survival. Animals move for a variety of reasons such as: to find food, a mate, a habitat to live in, or to escape predators. It is important for animals to develop new abilities and traits to accomplish these necessities of living. Natural selection has shaped the locomotion methods and mechanisms used by moving organisms for millions of years. Generally, non-human primates are studied to garner an understanding of evolution caused by natural selection because of the many distinctive adaptations that have occurred within their taxonomic order. To understand the origin of locomotion that exist amongst primates, the two categories of primates must be analyzed to recognize morphological trait differences. Then, three major determinants can be evaluated to describe the variety of locomotor patterns primates display: the ecological niches in which the primate originates, the current inhabited niches, and the major key aspects of survival such as

Experiments and research on non-human primates has helped advance the fields of biology and medicine. The experiments and research done on primates often plays a major role in testing the safety of new drugs, research on understand how the brain works, and research on how to prevent infections disease in humans. Thanks to research done with animals, medical advances are continuously made. In some way, all humans benefit from animal research. Non-human primates are a group of mammals that consists of monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, lemurs and others. Monkeys are then divided into two smaller groups known as Old World monkeys and New World monkeys. New World monkeys are native of Africa and Asia. Old World monkeys originate from Central and South

The rarity of human uniqueness no longer exists in the thoughts of scientists believing that human ability skills lie within the construction and use of tools. As declared by Goodall in which chimpanzees used straight sticks after removing the leaves and branches to collect termites or ants for consumption. (Goodall, 1986) Other species both primate and non-primate demonstrate successful abilities., which include a sense of self as well as the theory of mind, by which other species recognize that other individuals contain different information than themselves. Different species also have the ability to communicate symbolically to one another through the sounds of vocalization. (Sapolsky R. M., 2006)

“What makes us human?”, is an unanswered question asked by many. Is it because of our ability to have empathy for others? Or is it because of our cognitive ability which allows us to look into the future? One of the main arguments made that separates humans from animals is our communication style; our language. Is language inherently unique to human? To answer such a question, we first operationally define language as; “a system of communication based upon words and the combination of words into sentences” (University of Oslo). The purpose of language is for us to be able to convey an infinite amount of ideas to one another. Sign language in general also falls under this definition as it has a complex system of rules and syntax that allow the signed figures to function as words. Animal communication on the other hand, is operationally defined as, “the transmission of a signal from one animal to another such that the sender benefits, on average, from the response of the recipient” (Pearce 1987). With this in mind, current research has shown that the answer is that language is inherently unique to humans.

Our basic mean of communication among species and interspecies is thru language. Language enables us to communicate with each other, our thoughts and feelings, ideas and concepts, likes, and dislikes, fears, dreams

The claim, humans are the only animal that can acquire language has been the subject of much debate as scientists have investigated language use by non-human species. Researchers have taught apes, monkeys, parrots and wild children with various systems of human-like communication. Thus, one might ask, what is human language? According to Ulla Hedeager, A universally accepted definition of language or the criteria for its use does not exist. This is one of the reasons for the disagreement among scientists about whether non-human species can use a language. In nature, researchers find numerous types of communication systems, several of which appear to be unique to their possessors, and one of them is the language of the human species. Basically, the purpose of communication is the preservation, growth, and development of the species (Smith and Miller 1968:265). The ability to exchange information is shared by all communication systems, and a number of non-human systems share some features of human language. The fundamental difference between human and non-human communication is that animals are believed to react instinctively, in a stereotyped and predictable way. Generally, human behavior is under the voluntary control,