Comparitive Primate Blog post week 4 Anthro 101 (#4)

Comparative Primate Blog Post

The trait I was to use is Locomotor patterns.
         
             Lemurs

a)     Lemurs: The lemurs are found in rainforests and are native to Madagascar. Some lemurs are nocturnal and they are usually found alone. Lemurs that are day dwellers are found in the trees or bushes. Some lemurs are herbivores. They eat plants, leaves, seeds and anything from the trees. There are some lemurs that are omnivores. Those Lemurs will eat lizards, insects, eggs of other animals and small mice.

b)    The locomotor pattern of the lemurs include, jumping from tree to tree, sometimes spanning fifty feet. They can use vertical clinging and suspensory climbing. They use their long tails for balance however they don’t use them to hang from treetops, they use their long arms and legs to grip trees. Their arms are longer than their legs (Brachiators).

c)     How can the trait be viewed as an adapdation to their environment? Because of the lemurs ability to swing swiftly from tree to tree they also jump from side to side while on the ground, which is not often, this forced adaptation to their environment helps them stay away from predators .

d)

Spider monkey

a)     Spider monkeys are found in the tropical rainforests of central and South America, as well as, the southernmost part of Mexico and Brazil. These primates also live high up in the trees to avoid predators therefore looking for food high up in trees. They like eating fruits, nuts, and eggs from other animals. It has been noted that spider monkeys are quite loud and will shake trees when predators are around.

b)    Their locomotor pattern is being able to move around using all four limbs and their tails. They have prehensile tails which means that the tail has been adapted to be able to grasp and hold trees. This means that their tails are very strong. They also have tactile pads on the underside of their tails which allows them to grasp objects, it is said that they use their tails almost as an extra hand to hold and manipulate food items.

c)     As I mentioned above because of their prehensile tails it helps with gathering food and eating, because of this the environment has strongly influenced their locomotor adaptation. They are also very rarely found on the ground in order to escape their predators.

                  d)

Baboons

a)     Primarily baboons live in Africa and Arabia. They prefer the savanna and semi-arid habitats, very few live in the tropical rainforests. They spend most of their time on the ground however they can climb trees to eat and sleep as well as keep an eye on their possible predators. Baboons will eat pretty much anything they can find, fruits, seed, bark, farmers crops as well as meat.

b)    The locomotor pattern of a baboon is called “terrestrial quadrupeds”; this means that they use all four limbs to walk. Because of this trait the baboon’s arms and legs are the same lengths. They can also walk strait up.

c)     Their environment is important to their locomotor pattern because they use all four limbs equally and do not have a prehensile tail to use as an “extra limb”. Furthermore because of this their limbs tend to be stronger than those of the lemurs or spider monkeys.

 

d)

 

 

Gibbons

A)    Gibbons are mainly found in northeast India, Indonesia and southern china. Their habitats are tropical and sub tropical, usually liking the warmer climates and only live in trees. Because they live in the trees they eat fruits, twigs, leaves and insects. Gibbons are also the fastest of all the primates that live in the trees.

B)    Gibbons are medium in size and fast. They have wrists that have a ball and socket joint which allows them to completely rotate their hand. They use their arms to swing from tree to tree. Their locomotor pattern called “brachiating” allows them to swing with a hand over hand motion. When they do walk on land it is bipedally which means they walk on two feet.

C)    Gibbons have strong arms and legs and have adapted to their environment with their arms being longer in order to go from tree to tree and look for food as well as stay away from predators such as leopards, large snakes and other wild animals.

D)

 

 

 

Chimpanzee

 

A)    Chimpanzees live in social communities with lots of other chimps sometimes up to 100 at a time. They can live in the African rainforests or in woodland areas, swamps and forests. They primarily just need trees. Their diet is usually made up of plants, fruits, and leaves. At times they will eat insects, eggs and meat.

B)    Chimpanzees are quadrupeds, meaning they walk on all four limbs, however they can walk upright. Chimps have increased upper body strength so that they can move through the trees.

C)    Chimpanzee’s locomotor pattern has been greatly affected by their environment and very quickly. Chimps can climb quickly into trees, swing from tree to tree using their arms and they can walk standing up adapting to whichever environment they are in. Chimp’s arms are longer and stronger than their legs. Being able to change from swinging in the trees to walking on the ground works to the chimpanzee’s advantage in avoiding their predators.

D)