Chapter 7 The Primates

1. Chapter 7 The Primates

2. The Primate Radiation Mammals are divided into three groups: Metatheria Prototheria Eutheria

6. The Primate Radiation (cont’d) • The extraordinary diversity of nonhuman primates • 300 species of nonhuman primates are recognized • More than 400 taxa or varieties • Size and form vary greatly • Body shapes vary tremendously

7. The Primate Radiation (cont’d) What Exactly is a Primate?: Primate Suborders Strepsirhini and Haplorhini Prosimian and Anthropoid

8. The Primate Radiation (cont’d) • Anatomical Traits • Grasping hands/opposable thumbs and big toes • Flattened nails • Forward-facing eyes with stereoscopic vision • Generalized body plan • Generalized teeth • Petrosal bulla • Enclosed orbits

9. The Primate Radiation (cont’d) • Life History Traits • Single offspring • Large brains • Encephalization • Neocortex • Extended ontogeny • Lifecycle • Sociality • Living in groups

10. The Primate Radiation (cont’d) • Behavioral Traits • Activity Patterns • Diurnal • Nocturnal • Crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk) • Sociality • Living in groups

11. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates • The Strepsirhines • The Lemurs • Madagascar • Lemuridae • Cheirogalidae • Indriidae • Daubentoniidae • The Lorises • Tropical Africa and Asia • Galagos

12. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates (cont’d) • The Haplorhines • The Tarsiers • New World Monkeys • Old World Monkeys • The Hominoids

13. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates (cont’d) • New World Monkeys • Infraorder Platyrrhini • Superfamily Ceboidea • Small body size • Three premolar teeth • Arboreality • Prehensile tails

14. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates (cont’d) • Old World Monkeys • Infraorder Catarrhini • Superfamily Cercopithecoidea • Ischial callosites • Bilophodant molars • Estrus (in some)

15. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates (cont’d) • The Hominoids • Apes • Hylobatidae • Pongidae • Encephalization • Brachiation • Extended ontogeny • Social complexity

16. A Guide to the Nonhuman Primates (cont’d) • Apes • Gibbons • 14 species • Asia/ Indonesia • Orangutans • Indonesia • Gorillas • Africa • Chimpanzees • Africa • Bonobo/ Chimpanzee

17. Primate Ecology • Diet • Most primates are herbivores • frugivores • folivores • Phenology • Dietary and Digestive Strategies • Strategic foraging

18. Primate Ecology (cont’d) • You Are What You Eat: Dietary and Digestive Strategies • In general, the largest-bodied primates rely the least on insect prey • Chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys forage for insects intensively and at times consume large numbers of them • Gorillas don’t eat many insects • Very small-bodied primates rarely eat large quantities of leafy matter

19. Primate Ecology (cont’d) • Diet • Primates select food to balance an energy budget of nutrients and calories that requires them to forage all day long • Diet and Feeding Competition • Nonhuman primates engage in feeding competition and use well-defined areas of their habitat to find food and shelter predation • Activity budget allows compensation for calories expended with calories consumed

20. Primate Ecology (cont’d) • Territorial Ranges • All mammals, including nonhuman primates, live in defined places called home ranges • This area can be very limited, smaller than a football field in the case of some nocturnal strepsirhines, or many square kilometers in the case of some apes and monkeys • The range must contain all the resources needed by a nonhuman primate or a social group: water, food, shelter, and mates

21. Primate Ecology (cont’d) • Predation • Nonhuman primates in the wild face challenge of finding food while avoiding attacks by predators • Failing to find food will leave a monkey hungry the next day, but failing to avoid an attack by an eagle or leopard will leave it dead or injured • Behavioral defenses against predators

22. Primate Communities • Primate communities, like communities of other animals, are integral parts of tropical forest ecosystems