Titi Monkeys

Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.

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

Most primates do not shape their environment in an adaptive way. They use it as it is without modification. The sleeping nests of the great apes are poor, roofless constructions created for only one night. Monkeys simply sleep on convenient tree branches without making nests. No primate other than humans is known to store food. They have a hand-to-mouth economy which forces everyone to seek food and

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

An observational study conducted, concluded that wild capuchins use anvils and stone pounding tools as a means to facilitate nut-cracking . In the study, a group of ten wild capuchin monkeys where observed in a habitat that is scarce in food, aside from palms. There are different types of palm nuts, larger ones with an oval shape and smaller ones that are as small as 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter. It is interesting to note that many different anvil sites were observed, and what is more interesting is that on the anvil sites, river pebbles were seen and since these are not usually found in the area, it can be assumed that capuchins transport their stones to the anvil sites. An abundance of palms, yet otherwise limited food, has contributed to tool use for nut-cracking becoming a common routine. As a result of the study, wild capuchins were directly observed using anvils as tools for stone pounding. Additionally, characteristic depressions on anvils as well as palm shells and stone pounding tools leftovers indicate nut-cracking. Capuchin monkey choose anvil sites that provide a flat surface to facilitate nut-cracking, often the anvils used by capuchins are made of sandstone or siltstone, but they can also be boulders and fallen trees Essentially anything in the capuchin’s vicinity, that could provide a suitable substrate. When capuchins crack palm nuts, they typically hold the selected stone using both hands and stand in a bipedal

The animal I have chosen to study is the Japanese macaque, more commonly known as the Japanese snow monkey. Sir David Attenborough recently described the macaque as “one of the most successful and versatile of all primates”, commending its capacity to be “versatile, resilient, enterprising, tough and capable of surviving in extreme conditions”. This essay will continue by examining the Japanese macaque in a number of ways. Firstly, I will describe the physical characteristics of the animal, paying particular attention to the way in which their appearance has adapted to enable them to dominate in their habitat. Secondly, I will discuss the environment in which the macaques live in and the unique capabilities they maximise to develop a

Isbell and Wright’s articles both focus on monkey species and their native environments, Africa for Isbell’s (1994) vervet Old World monkey and South America, Peru area, for Wright’s (1994) owl and titis monkeys. The articles main focus is the relationship between these monkeys and their natural predators. Focusing on how the predator aspect of their lives is determined by their environment and adaptations they make to ensure survival. Isbell’s Vervets Year of Doom focuses more on the adaptations that was forced upon the vervets’ because of their changing environment, the death of fever trees. While Wright’s Night Watch on the Amazon focusses more on how the primates way of life affects their relationship with predators and the likelihood of attacks. Both articles have similar aspects however the species way of life, specifically their environment and sleep schedule, are quite different as well as the authors way of observing and studying the primates within their habitats.

The hands are hook-like, with four elongated, curved, fingers.” (The author) then goes on to describe how the thumb of the brown spider monkey is “reduced,” which is helps in swinging and gripping branches while the monkey travels in the upper canopy of the rainforest. The coloration of brown spider monkeys ranges from light to dark brown on the upper parts of their body and their head, while the inside of the arms and legs is a slightly lighter color of brown. Some individuals of the brown spider monkey population also possess the conspicuous characteristic of a white triangular forehead patch. Behaviorally, the brown spider monkey is a diurnal and very social species. They live in what are known as “fission-fusion” societies in which smaller groups, up to about 30 members, are formed during the day. Male spider monkeys usually travel in all male groups while females travel with other females and their offspring, though it is not necessarily unusual to find a brown spider monkey traveling or foraging alone. At night, brown spider monkeys sleep in trees in the high canopy away from most predators. They choose a location to sleep that is near a fruit tree so they do not have to travel far the next day to find food. Differences in sizes of these groups occur due to varying availability of fruit. When fruit is abundant, the groups tend to be larger and when the amount of fruit is limited they

Color vision is an evolutionary trait that provides primates with significant reproductive and survival value (Gomes, Pessoa, Suganuma, Tomaz, & Pessoa, 2002). However, the quantity and quality of color vision varies within and between species in the primate lineage. Primates are divided into four groups Apes, New World, Old World, and Prosimians. The New World primates are located in the rainforests of South America and surrounding areas, while the other groups of primates are distributed across Africa and Asia (Regan et al., 2005). The vast range of geographical locations inhabited by primates provide images of food requirements that vary dramatically based on environmental conditions.

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 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

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.

On Friday, March 31, a observation study was conducted at the L.A. Zoo. The time of arrival for the observation was at 11:48 am and the end of the observation was at 2:42 pm. The weather condition at the zoo was very sunny with a mild gust of wind every so often, which is a perfect weather condition to conduct a study. The main reason for conducting this observation study was to study and gather information about the many different types of primate that are located at the zoo. To see how different or similar each primate is to one anotherin different aspects.

Kavanagh, M. & Morris, D. (1983). Complete guide to monkeys, apes and other primates. London: Viking Press.