Lar Gibbon

Monkeys and humans have been compared for years, we have all heard the expression “Monkey see, Monkey do”. Analyzing individual primates at the Santa Ana Zoo was quite an experience because when I use to hear monkeys I use to only picture one certain appearance and that was a brown monkey with a light brown face, and a long tail. Moneys are not just monkeys, humans aren’t just humans, and apes aren’t just apes they are all primates which is a mammal that has certain characteristics such as: flexible fingers and toes, opposable thumbs, flatter face than other mammals, have eyes that face forward and spaced close together, large and complex cerebrum, and they are also social

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,

Within these small groups, the Cross River Gorilla has very predominant traits to keep them alive when almost extinct and facing a harsh environment (What’s Our Mission). These gorillas have a considerably large body size and they also have quite large hands but short forearms; along with small forward facing eyes that are put close together on top of a large nasal region (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N,). Due to being so big they need a lot of nutrients, and in order to obtain enough food, they eat a large array of diets such as plants in many varieties, and fruits (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.). Since they live in the higher parts of the mountains near the border of Nigeria, the amount of fruit trees that exist are much lower than other regions, so they have come to rely on vegetation (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.). Since almost all fruit is seasonal, the primates must learn when they can eat one type, and when vegetation is important. (Etiendem, D., & Tagg, N.), (Imong, I., & Robbins, M.). The food they eat also determines how sexually successful they will be in the coming years.

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

I primarily observed three orangutans, one male, one female, and one juvenile, of Sumatran and Bornean descent, scientifically known as Pongo abelli and Pongo pygmaeus, respectively, and to a lesser extent, two gibbons known as siamangs, or Symphalangus syndactylus. These primates share the same enclosure in the San Diego Zoo in California. I observed the orangutans from 12:58 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. CST on September 19th. During this time frame, the three orangutans mainly stayed high up in their man-made structures, consisting of multiple metal bars covered with nets, ropes, and hammocks. The female and juvenile orangutans stayed above ground from 12:58 P.M. to 1:31 P.M., and again from 1:48 P.M. until 2:00 P.M, approximately 45 minutes. During

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.

The Bornean Orangutan lives on the island of Borneo, a part of Malaysia and an Indonesian province. The Sumatran Orangutan lives on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They can be found in the heavily canopied rain forests, low elevation forests, and sometimes in grasslands . Due to their surroundings, the diet of the Orangutan consists of over 500 plant species, with fruits being the primary staple food but they also eat leaves, bark, insects and flowers. The results of this diet mean that they are one of the main distributors of seeds throughout the forest, creating the cycle of growth to maintain their food source. In their environments orangutans are not known to form large communities, but small groups with specific

They are clean primates that like grooming, and while observing them in the morning they would groom each other for about 10 minutes. They clean the hair of one another using their fingers. Just like any other primates, the Siamangs also do sleep, and based on the observation that I had they sleep for up to around 8hours. They sleep alone with one individual hurdled on each other on the tree trunk, sitting up right. The male and female have a

The first focal animal I chose to observe was a female adult spider monkey named Gumbelina who was sitting with a few of the other monkeys that were all sitting and grooming each other. She seemed to be very relaxed and won’t

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.

I observed a type of Ape known as the Western Lowland Gorilla. The scientific name for a Gorilla is the Gorilla gorilla. Gorillas are the largest of all living primates and at native to west central Africa. Gorillas exhibit sexual dimorphism within their species because males are very obviously much larger than females. The size of the gorillas came across very intimating and gave me an off impression of what this specie was actually going to be like. While observing the gorillas I noticed that these creatures are very slow, lethargic primates. Gorillas move quadrupedally by putting weight down on their arms and knuckles as they walk. They have hands and opposable thumbs, like humans, and are able to grasp things with a better grip. When Gorillas need to reach above themselves such as for leaves or branches they are able to stand on both legs while reaching. While resting Gorillas sit on their bottoms, legs to the side in a similar position that humans do. When resting I noticed that sometimes Gorillas like to take advantage of the moment by self grooming, using their hands. Gorillas usually have an herbivore diet but eat occasional insects. Due to their large body structure it is harder for them move around quickly so they do not need to eat foods that contain as much nutrients and proteins as smaller,

The Strepsirrhini group are “more primitive than other primates such as monkeys and apes.” (3). Lemurs have olfactory communication, have stink and spur fights. Lorises are known for their “nocturnal behavior and are extremely slow in locomotion”. (3). Galago’s also called bush babies because their calls sound similar to an infant, they can jump about 8 feet from a sitting position and have very strong eyesight.

During my research of Orangutans and Mandrills I observed them in captivity at the San Diego Zoo. My observations included a 20 minute observation of each primate as it cohabitated with other Primates and with other members of its own species. My findings will support the research of Orangutans and Mandrills through firsthand observations.

I decided to look at the sexual behavior of bonobos because they are known for their frequent sexual behavior. Though they are not one of the types of great apes mentioned in the book, a bonobo is nonetheless a great ape that belongs in the same genus as the common chimpanzee. Furuichi et al. observed bonobos in their naturalistic habitat in Wamba, Democratic Republic

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Los Angeles zoo on a beautiful, sunny Thursday (October 19th). Although I arrived off schedule which left a minimal amount of time to observe primates, I managed my time well. After being told that the larger animals get put away earlier, I figured my first stop would be at an ape enclosure. The ape I chose to see that day was the gorilla. The time that I began my observation was at approximately 3:05. At that time only one ape was quite visible and he was sitting at the front making eye contact with me making it seem as if he is HABITUATED. Next, post gorilla watching, I had the chance to take a gander at the ring railed lemurs at 3:40. These prosimians all had their own personalities which interested me deeply. Lastly, and certainly not least on my journey through the LA zoo, I had the chance of looking at the mandrills which were once classified as baboons. Considering that two baby mandrills were present and only a month old, this was my favorite exhibit to see because of their high energy and randomness of actions.