The Evolution Of The Orangutans

What makes a primate a primate? A primate is defined by its many incredible features. A primate is a mammal that has certain characteristics such as: flexible fingers and toes, opposable thumbs, flatter face than other mammals, eyes that face forward and spaced close together, large and complex cerebrum, and social animals. What makes a primate a primate is its characteristics. Some of the physical features primates are identified by is their teeth, snouts, eyes, ears, arms, legs, fingers, and toes. Human evolution is a big part of humans being primates, and having similar features and characteristics make humans to be considered to be a primate, but both humans and non-humans have differences.

Habit loss has been one of the most prominent issues regarding the animal kingdom, and now it seems like the human race is trying to rid our earth of the decreasing amount of flora in certain areas. In Indonesia rain forests are being torn apart to make way for palm oil plantations. Although palm oil is used in packages foods and cosmetics, the Sumatrans elephants and orangutan are suffering from the habitats loss. (Corwin, 8)

The orangutan, one of the world’s great apes, resides on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The forests of these islands are being destroyed in order to create palm oil plantations. Palm oil is in high demand due to its uses as a biofuel and as a vegetable oil. The palm oil industry is a major threat to the survival of the critically endangered orangutans, due to loss of habitat. This leads to illegal poaching since the orangutans are viewed as pests, leaving many young infants orphaned and alone. There are rescue groups that rehabilitate these great apes, but more must be done in order to prevent the extinction of this rapidly declining species. Sustainable palm oil options need to be researched and utilized and there should

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

Because orangutans are so well adapted for the ecological niche they occupy, it is understandable why their populations suffer when their habitat is destroyed. In fact, in the last 20 years orangutans have lost nearly 80% of their natural habitat largely due to deforestation. Between the years of 1999 and 2006 roughly 55% of that deforestation was due to the expansion of the palm oil industry. Furthermore, Indonesia and Malaysia combined account for nearly 87% of the global output of palm oil with Indonesia generating about 18.7 and Malaysia 17.4 million tons a year. When considering these statistics, it raises questions about why this industry is seemingly more relevant than conserving natural resources and more importantly protecting an invaluable species of ape from extinction. To answer this question, it might be helpful to consider how the vast majority views the palm oil industry by comparison to the orangutans in terms of economics.

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 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

Introduction This first lecture is designed to introduce the primate order in terms of its classification and to familiarise you with the animals so that the rest of the course makes some sort of sense. I will cover a working definition of what makes a primate, give you a general classification scheme, describe the major features that identify the groups within the classification and discuss some of the controversial areas of the classification. I shall treat the taxonomy as a synonym for classification which seems to be its commonest current usage, although you should be aware that some people consider taxonomy to be more about the principles behind the classification than the classification itself.

My observation of the orangutan habitat was on a sunny and hot day with the average temperature being between 65-70F. The Enclosure for the orangutans was a grassy and dirt area that was approximately 35ft+ in width and about 75ft+ in length with a long glass barrier for observation. The habitat featured three 15ft tall fake trees which were fashioned after a tree but bare of leaves. The trees were

For the Orangutan in the zoo each enclosure they had a total of three orangutan in each pen, most were all adults, except one which was a young juvenile. As well as it is appear to be that none of these orangutan are a part of a subgroup because some, if not all isolated themselves from others. In which is very common according to Lang C. (2005), "Adult males and independent adolescents of both sexes range alone while adult females range with their dependent and weaned offspring" (Primate Factsheet pongo, para. 1). So the zoo's orangutan act very similar to the wild ones. Next the differences is how are they physically built between in each others. For the orangutan, if they are standing they are about 5 feet tall, however including arm and leg span due to how they are built to climb and swing to places their body size will be seven feet tall. Another difference was that they had no tail due to they ancestors evolution to who they are now, which remove the chance of having the ability to have a prehensile tail in the process. The last physically difference is their hands. They have all fingers and thumbs, but they don't use their thumbs to grab; they use mostly their fingers to grasp objects. Which make them who they are

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 second plan is the “Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of Western Lowland Gorillas and Central Chimpanzees 2015–2025” by the IUCN, which was implemented in 2014. The plan addresses the species specific threats and the recommended actions. It also looks at different priority sites and site specific actions. Furthermore, the plan gives an overview of the research that has been done concerning gorillas and chimpanzees.

Orangutans are native of Malesia and Indonesia, and they are currently found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were considered to be one species. Since 1996, they have been divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan and the Sumatran orangutan.

In the last twenty years orangutans have lost about eighty percent of their homes, and one third of the orangutans have died during the forest fires according to the Orangutan Conservancy. Everyday the homes of orangutans are chopped down and destroyed leaving the orangutan homeless. The orangutan makes its home in palms trees mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia. In an effort to harvest palm oil, which is used mainly in toiletries and baked goods, we are causing damage to the orangutan’s natural habitat. The process by which we gather palm oil destroys the environment, hurts the orangutans health, and ultimately puts the orangutan into extinction. When will we stop these horrible actions and protect the orangutans in the twenty first century?

Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation because as human population grows the need for agricultural products increases. Unfortunately, the land used for cultivation results in the displacement of tree reliant animals such as the orangutan. “Without forests, orangutans cannot survive” (Galdikas). Palm oil is produced from trees grown in large plantations in regions where tropical rainforests once existed. The orangutans’ way of life revolves around the existence of trees, they nest in trees, drink water out of holes, and eat their fruit. Orangutans also