Viviana Haro

ANTH 1020
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Final Project-
Zoo
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Physical Characteristics of Primates
Nose Characteristics
 The rhinarium is the very front pad of the nose of some
mammals. It is hairless and often kept wet by regular licking. It’s
main function is to enhance the ability to smell. Primates with
rhinarium include lorises and lemurs.
 Catarrhine nose has nostrils that are pointed downwards.
Primates with catarrhine noses include apes and humans.
 Platyrrhine noses are flat, wide noses with nostrils that point
sideways. Primates with platyrrhine noses include New World
monkeys like capuchins and spider monkeys.
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Physical Characteristics of Primates

Tail Characteristics
 Prehensile tails give the ability to grasp objects. Primates with
prehensile tails are able to suspend themselves on branches
with their tails. Primates with prehensile tails include howler,
spider, and woolly monkeys
 Ischial callosities are toughened skin located on the buttocks of
some primates. The main function is to allow for long periods of
sitting on tree branches. Primates with this include baboons and
macaques.
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Physical Characteristics of Primates

Extremities
 Opposable hallux gives the ability to grasp (in this case, with the
foot, because the hallux is located on the foot.) Primates with the
opposable hallux include gorillas, chimpanzees, and
orangutans. Humans have opposable thumbs, so they would fit
in this category as well.
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Physical Traits of Primates

Sexual Dimorphism is a visible and physical difference between a

male and a female of the same species. Often times, size is the
most obvious difference between a male and female of the same
species.
Sexual Dichromatism is a form of sexual dimorphism that involves
the coloring of the male and female of the same species. It is most
commonly seen in birds, like ducks and peacocks.
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Behavioral Characteristics of Primates
Transportation
 Brachiation is a means of transportation for some primates that
involves swinging from branches using the arms.
 Semi brachiation combines full brachiation as well as leaping
onto other branches.
 Quadrumanous walking is a way that some primates move when
they are on branches. They hang on a branch and use both
arms and both legs to move slowly.
 Knuckle walking is used by apes because their arms are much
longer than their legs. This form of walking allows the back to be
more supported.
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Behavioral Traits of Primates

Grooming is more than an issue of hygiene when it comes to

primates. It is often a social matter. Gorillas, for example, often
groom other gorillas whom they trust, and they allow themselves to
be groomed by gorillas that they trust.
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Primate Behavior Coding

When observing gorillas via a live stream, there were quite a few
behaviors that I was able to observe. Between the two live cameras
that I observed gorillas through, I noted that the gorillas spent most
of their time eating. One of the cameras captured gorillas in what
appeared to be their natural habitat, so they seemed to be eating
the plant material that they were living among. They other camera
captured gorillas living in a zoo, and they seemed to be pulling on
leaves from the tree branches and eating them.
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Primate Behavior Coding

On another day viewing the same camera, the gorillas seemed

to be spending quite a bit of time sleeping. There was a group of
about five gorillas who were sleeping for the majority of the 30
minutes that I was watching them. Occasionally, one would wake
up, move around, yawn, and go back to sleep. I didn’t see any
yawning that seemed aggressive towards any other gorillas.
At one point, two of the gorillas were awake and seemed to be
staring at each other. This didn’t appear to be a threat gesture, as
neither of them appeared to be getting aggressive.
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Primate Behavior Coding

There were quite a few behaviors that I didn’t observe. The most
notable were mother/infant interaction as there were no young
gorillas on either of the two streams that I watched.
There also didn’t seem to be any kind of playing among the
gorillas. That could be because, as mentioned before, they spent
most of their time eating and sleeping. It also could have been
because their were no young gorillas.
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Human Behavior Coding

After observing the gorillas, I observed humans. There were a lot

of behaviors that I didn’t see in gorillas. I saw a lot of play, and that
could’ve been because I was actually able to observe young
humans.
Something that I was also able to see among humans was
aggression and threat. However, these behaviors were also only
seen in the children that I observed, none of the adults showed
these behaviors.
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Human Behavior Coding

When I observed humans I was also able to see mother/child

interaction. Mother interaction with the child included grooming and
feeding as well as playing. The playing that the mother and child
engaged in was much different from the play that two children
would engage in. Play between mother and child seemed to be
more gentle and quiet. This could have been because of the young
age of the child.
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Conclusion

I gained a lot of knowledge when completing this assignment. I was

able to identify the physical characteristics of primates and how these
characteristics aided that specific animal. I was able to see the
similarities between non human primates and human primates. Many
of the physical traits that I researched with non human primates in
mind turned out to be traits that humans also have, like the catarrhine
nose and sexual dimorphism.
This assignment helped prompted me to think about the
relationship between non human primates and humans. I always knew
how similar they are, but when I read about behaviors that non human
primates have, I realized that humans can have these same behaviors,
just modified to fit the difference in lifestyle.