Primate Observation - San Diego Zoo Essay

Also the enclosure had a lot of roaming room and resting areas for the great apes. Seven gorillas populated this exclosure and it was not an exhibit of mixed species. While I visited the Western Lowland Gorilla I mostly observed them resting. However there was a small baby in the exhibit which interacted and watched the visitors while climbing all over its resting mother. After a while the baby started feeding on it mother and once it was done it climbed on her back as she began to roam around the enclosure. It was very intriguing to watch the baby interact with its mother and witness it being

Observing non-human primates gives humans new knowledge & a glimpse of the past to better understand human evolution. I was able to watch the San Diego Zoo’s Ape Cam for over an hour back and forth the Orangutan was golden brown in color and looked very spectacular. The Ape was very quiet and peaceful in captivity it didn’t move around much. It was sitting down eating tree leaves similar as how a human sat on a chair in that particular manner for over half an hour. The Ape has similar body function processes as humans in terms of using its hands to eat & buttocks to sit. I was able to learn and further acknowledge that we are so similar to the Ape’s compared to other animals in the animal kingdom. Suddenly I witnessed the Orangutan

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.

Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of promisians to human, many characteristics has been represented due to the adaptations to new environments and resulted in evolutionary changes. The Earth has encountered several geological and climatic changes over time. For the primates existed at that time had to adjust itself especially in body configurations and locomotion in order to better survive. It is important to be aware of this information since we are the part of occurring changes as well. Throughout the evolution owing to

Primates have been around for as long as we can remember and throughout time they have been classified in specific groups depending on their order and family. These classifications have given people the opportunity to study primates more in depth according to their demography, diet and social system by comparing them to one another. Spider monkeys and Woolly monkeys have branched out from the New world group. But most importantly there are other categories of monkey’s within the spider and woolly monkey’s that have given us a deeper understanding of primates and their natural lives. In particular, the Lagothrix and Ateles belzebuth. Although, both the Lagothrix and the Ateles Belzebuth monkey’s land under the New World category their behavioral strategies are different.

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,

Chimpanzees (Figure 1) are the closest living relatives to us, and they share 99 percent of our DNA (1). Chimpanzees have distinct group territoriality. Male chimpanzees “patrol” near the boundary between the two ranges, at that time they move very carefully and quietly, and they can cease to listen and observe the range of their neighbors. Patrolling individuals are likely to face cruel and violent

What is black all over, loves the jungle, and is the coolest exhibit at most zoos? Gorillas are one of the coolest animals at the zoo. The big muscular body of a gorilla makes it a unique creature; as well as the many other unique physical qualities of a gorilla. These primates also live in troops make them a force to be reckoned with. Because gorilla’s habitat is in jungles they live quite a few places. The gorilla’s life cycle is very interesting as well. The gorilla’s behavior is also a unique one and is just as important. Big Strong, the Gorillas appearance, family, life cycle, habitat, and behavior combine to make this zoo animal one of the coolest animals at the zoo.

One of the main reasons why we are so interested in the other primates is that by looking at them we can obtain some ideas of what our ancestor must have been like a few millions years ago. Even though, we are not descended from any modern-type monkey or ape, our lineage does appear to have gone through stages in which we were a medium-sized, reasonably intelligent creature with good binocular vision, hands that were good at manipulation and the ability to climb trees. An evolutionary trend in primates involves the development of offspring both before and after birth and their integration into complex social systems. Another trend in primate evolution has been toward a more elaborate brain. In addition to brain size and gestation periods,

The gorilla branch of the family tree went one direction, while the human, chimpanzee, and bonobo line went a different direction. 5 to 7 million years ago, the human line branched off from a common ancestor that it shared with chimpanzees and bonobos which went a different direction. The human branch developed bipedalism requiring the skeletal changes like the shift in the foramen magnum. Also, humans diet changed requiring the change in dentition from the gorilla dentition like smaller molars and smaller canines. Like all primates, humans and gorillas, have “enhanced vision, reduced sense of smell, opposable thumbs, are dietary generalists, extensive parental involvement, expanding brains, and social complexity” (Anonymous,

Macaca Fascicularis, also known as monkeys, live around the world and come in many colors and sizes. The smallest is the pygmy marmoset, weighing in at 4 ounces, and the largest is the Mandrill weight in at 77 pounds. They are the closest relatives to humans and are very intelligent. Similar is human, they have fingernails instead of claws and Opposable thumbs, which allow them to hold stuff in their hands like humans. (71 words)

Gorillas are Sexually dimorphic with the females averaging 4.92 ft and weighing in the ballpark of 159 to 216 pounds and the males standing on average 5.6 feet tall and weighing up to 500 lbs. Dominant males display a silvered patch of fur that extends down their back from the shoulders down to the hips, promoting the term “Silverback” and a pronounced sagittal crest (point on top of the head.)

People always wonder: How similar are apes to humans? Well, I’m going to answer that. Everyone thinks about the chimpanzee, but what about the other apes? Bonobos and gorillas are all very similar to us humans.

The gorilla is divided into two species: eastern and western gorillas and they are also an endangered species. It is said that this animal is one of the largest living primates by physical size. The scientific classification for this species is Mammalia; warm- blooded vertebrates. These animals are from the Animalia kingdom, they are in the primates’ order and come from hominoidea. Female gorillas can last up to nine months of pregnancy and give birth to one infant. The infants are able to hang to their mother after four months of being born and they ride on their mother’s back until two or three years of age.

Thousands of years ago there were numerous of animals with different features and ways of living. Many individuals believe that these animals were monkeys and chimpanzees that are commonly seen today, but these animals were in the primate family but they were not exactly