Sifaka-lemurs(Prosimians/Strepsirhini representative)
-Most species live in Madagascar, The environment that they prefer is rainforestand they like to live at high elevations in
trees. The climate is usually humid and warm,
-They are herbivores so food is
not too scarce most of the time also because they can live with each other, mostly
deal with destruction of forest habitats by hunters
-Females take priority over males when feeding, they feed
first and males get punished if they break this code
-They are usually social because they can mix with other lemur groups no problem and lemurs do not usually fight with lemurs
-They live in small groups up to 13 members.
-polyandry, males compete for females
-The groups change constantly because males move from group
to group, often looking for female mates.
-The environment influences their social and mating patterns by allowing different lemur groups to mesh with each other. Because the trees are at high elevation, the only other life they see is other lemurs. Also there are many chances for mates due to the ability to move groups.
Spider Monkey(New World Monkey/Platyrrhini representative)
-They live in Central and South America in tropical forests in upper layers
of rainforest.
-They are social animals that can live in groups of 35 or more.
-Considered the most intelligent new world monkeys.
-They are usually in danger from humans because they are often sought after as meat because of their large size
-They live by the system of fusion fission –a large loose group that breaks into small
groups usually to forage food.
-They are polygamous-one female to many males.
-The environment influences them to be hostile towards other species especially humans, since they are hunted.
Olive Baboon(Old World Monkey/Cercopithecidae representative)
-They are savanna-dwelling creatures that live in wide plains of the grasslands,
rainforests and desert.
-Adult females have sexual swellings near their genital
areas that attract more males according to how large it is. These females tend
to have babies more often.
-They can live in groups ranging from 15-150 with few males and many
females.
-There is a social ranking system where females and daughters rank the
highest and males are ranked depending on how long they have been in the group and who their female mate is.
-Males will fight other males for female partners and this can make them very violent.
-Females and males can create strong nonsexual bonds called “friendships.”
-Females may reproduce with many males while males tend to
stick to one partner.
-Being able to live in different habitats allows for them to
freely change groups and meets others with not as much risk. This also allows the species to have more variety and expand due to this diversity.
Lars Gibbon (Lesser ape/Hylobatidae representative)
-They live in primary lowland and submotane rainforest, mixed
deciduous bamboo forest and seasonal evergreen forest.
-They can become isolated from each other due by large rivers in
the area.
-Monogamous family pairs sometimes polyandry pairs
-Live in very small groups
-Monogamous
-Not as social because each family has its own territory
-The anti-social life means that they are not as diverse and the population is not as big. The seperation from rivers also causes this non-diversity.
Chimpanzee(Great ape/Hominidae representative)
-Can live in many different environments such as rainforest, mountain areas and savannahs.
-Omnivorous diet
-Their social system consists of beta males and one alpha male
-They develop socially complex
relationships with each other.
-large multi male and multi-female social groupscalled
communities
-The Alpha male is not necessarily the strongest or biggest but is actually the one who has convinced the most people through his political abilities.
-The ability to live many environments allows the species to become very diverse and this diversity has led to why the species is so intelligent and has a complex social system.
This is a good post, very straight forward which helped me to grasp the information of each primate. It was interesting to see that the sifaka does have a code. I never knew that the females would take priority when feeding. What was surprising to me is how big a group of Baboons can be when compared to any other primate, 150 baboons with a social ranking system is very interesting to me. The chimpanzee with its adaptability to environments or how diverse they have become and how it influenced the intelligence of the species is really surprising because it also can solidify the fact that they are our closest ancestor.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion of the sifaka, including good connections with the trait and their environment.
ReplyDeleteFor spider monkeys, a couple of points. First, polygamy is a generic term meaning one individual having multple mates of the opposite sex. Spider monkeys tend to practice a competitive version of polygyny, where males compete for available receptive females and will not just limit themselves to one female. A female may engage in intercourse with more than one male, but the males still have the high number of partners.
For the discussion on the environmental influence, remember that we are trying to understand how the environment influences the trait you are focusing on. So how does the environment influence their social and mating patterns? They tend to live in large, fluid groups. Could there be a tie in there to predation threats (even from humans)? What is the advantage of larger groups? And with such large numbers, couple the mating pattern be the most likely way for a male (and female) to reproduce successfully?
Okay on the baboon section, though males also have multiple mates. Why do they travel in such large troops? Could it be related to their terrestrial locomotor pattern, putting them on the ground closer to potential predators?
Why do you think gibbons practice monogamy (usually) and none of the other primates do? What is the advantage? Remember that these primates tend to remain in particular territories as pairs. Would it be harder to manage enough territory to have multiple individuals?
For the chimpanzees, similar question to the baboons. These primates have a large and complex social and mating system. They also spend a great deal of time on the ground. They are also territorial and have been known to establish groups to fight others straying into their territories (like a "war"). Can we tie all this in? Does terrestrial living have any influence over other traits?
Missing a final summary? Good images. Please keep in mind that these are like papers. They should be in paragraph format, not bullet points.
Very straight forward post and informational. Interesting to know that chimpanzee live in mountain areas or the fact that the Alpha male is not necessarily the strongest but influential through his "political abilities."
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post, I liked how you organized your information it made it easier to read and understand, good choices with pictures. Good effort on your research. Thanks
ReplyDeleteIt is quite intersesting how these primates come to interact socially and bond with one another, as related to the fact they are creatures who want to force dominance onto one another
ReplyDelete