Scientific Name: Samiri oerstedii
The Central American Squirrel Monkey is found primarily in primary and secondary forests and cultivated areas in. They are omnivores, which eat insects and when available they also eat fruit, flowers, and occasionally vertebrates. The major population in located in Panama and Costa Rican border. They hardly ever travel on the ground and are most active during the morning and late afternoon.
Cultivated and disturbed areas are especially hospitable to the Squirrel Monkeys because of the large number of insects those areas attract. These monkeys live in groups made up of about 40 to 70 individuals. Large group size provides many eyes to search for food. Squirrel monkeys also associate with other monkey species that have similar food preferences, following them to forage areas. The group size also provides safety in numbers: more eyes/ears lower chances of a sneak attack by predators; large numbers make it more difficult for larger monkeys smaller to chase squirrel monkeys out of a “their” trees.
Neither one sex nor the other appears to be dominating, though the females are ones to disperse from the troops. The sex ratio within wild groups tends to be approximately 50-50 males and females.
Though they become independent after the first year of their life, female squirrel monkeys tend to reach maturity and begin breeding at around the age of 2.5-3 years of age, and males become fully adult at about the age of five. For the most part the majority of social interactions between the sexes take place during the breeding season. During the non-breeding males tend to stay live on the perimeter of the troop’s territory, while females stay safer in the center. Large group size provides safety in numbers: more eyes/ears lower chances of a sneak attack by predators; large numbers make it more difficult for larger monkeys (that live in smaller groups) to chase squirrel monkeys out of a favored tree.
Females receive no help from adult males in caring for their young. Instead, a female will have other female "friends" to help carry and watch over the young as the mother forages. These "friends" are usually offspring from previous years, which do not have young of their own. Since the monkey uses all four of its legs when walking and climbing, the new born babies ride on the mother’s back by gripping her fur, when the mother stop, she will hold her baby with both arms.
In the short story, "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs, I came to the conclusion that Sergeant Major Morris was responsible for the sorrows that resulted from the monkey's paw. For instance, he was the one who owned the paw in the first place, allowed Mr. White to keep it, and even told them how to use it, stating on page 377, "Hold it up in your right hand and wish aloud."
As stated in the article, “each ape’s social success depends on what other group members are up to, natural selection has favored the capacity for social maneuvers and [superior intelligence]” (2). Natural selection also favors apes because they are not ones to dwell or hold grudges on other apes when they get into feuds. Frans de Waal, a primatologist at the Arnheim Zoo in the Netherlands, shows how natural selection has also promoted the ability to strengthen the relationships of others. In his example, he gives an account of Mama, the most influential female in the colony, who would reconcile other apes after they got into
A Primate’s Memoir, written by Robert Sapolsky, documents the author’s time in Kenya while he studied the various behaviors of a troop of baboons. One of the key aspects of the book was the social rank that developed within the troop. Female baboons have a social hierarchy that is fairly cut and dry. The eldest baboons in the troop are considered the higher-ranking females, and as the baboons get younger, so to follows the string of dominance. The ranking for males was essentially from the strongest baboons to the weakest baboons. The baboon at the top of the social hierarchy was considered the alpha male. This social rank has huge implications for the troop in regards to which baboons mated with each other. If another baboon wanted to become the alpha male, then he would have to challenge the current alpha male to a fight, and win. The baboon’s distinct personality mixed with their instincts are the primary factors for where one lands on the social hierarchy. Another key aspect of the book was the strategies that took place when the baboons wanted to mate with another baboon. Similar to humans, the baboon males tried to impress the female baboons in a way that would make them want to mate. The rank of the male is considered to be one of the greatest factors contributing to what mate they end up with, because there is nothing more impressive than becoming a high-ranking baboon. Also, there were instances of lower-ranking baboons strategizing and forming teams with other baboons to become a higher ranking baboon for the mating possibilities. The baboons in the group are considered a patch-work of different troops, as it is common for one baboon to move to different groups frequently.
The second step shown in these monkey’s evolutionary progress is that now these animals appear to be goal oriented. Like mentioned previously, these monkeys had been working for themselves. They would do what ever they could to benefit themselves, get food, and have a nice place to sleep. Yet, once the changes begin and they have a leader, the monkeys begin to act as a group. They are more coordinated and it seems that their living style has changed from anarchy to monarchy. They attack a larger animal and kill it as a group. In turn, the raw meat is then split between the monkeys and everyone gets a share.
Quiatt, D., & Reynolds, V. (1993). Primate behaviour: information, social knowledge, and the evolution of culture. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press].
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
In all these chores, anything that would make the females expose the private parts of their bodies to outsiders is avoided and assigned to the males” (228). This shows that sometimes the women get out of doing certain chores because their private parts are not to be shown to any outsiders under any conditions. “Naturally, women are the birth-givers, as a result, musical practices around child birth; weaning and other related activities are the sole responsibilities of women. Similarly, there are roles which embody information or knowledge that men wish to pass or make exclusive to themselves” (Ibekwe 138). The women are the child bearers and are the ones that are fully responsible for
In the early 1950s, Harry Harlow’s famous study of rhesus monkeys to determine attachment relationships demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys raised in isolation, preferred the comfort of a cloth-covered surrogate mother to that of a wire-mesh surrogate with an attached feeding bottle. Harlow wished to dispute the traditional view that affection and mother–infant attachment was based on food, and his experiments had clearly demonstrated that the foundations of attachment were not associated solely with the need for nourishment. A more important facet of human nature was that the profoundly meaningful act of physical intimacy plays a greater role in the health of an infant than nourishment alone. (Vicedo 2009)
The forest where animals live already deforested because of human activities, for example they build a huge building for office, turn-over the function of forest became farming, and many more. We already felt, the transition of life goes so fast. As the time goes on, people need many foods because human population in the world keep increasing each year. That’s why people cut down the trees and change the forest become farming. But the bad effects that causes animals lose their habitat. Most of them move to another place, find a new place to hold their life, and problems that the chimpanzees face are they can’t find food as usual. Chimpanzees spend six to eight hours each day searching for food. They eat a wide variety of food, 200 different types of plant, and are particularly fond of leaves, fruit, nuts and berries (Banks, 1999). In a long term one by one the chimpanzees died because they can’t survived in their new habitat, that’s happened many times. Beside that they must face new predators likes jungle cat and reptile, it also the effect of human
Primate socioecology studies the impact of ecology on the social behavior of primates. A socio-ecological model focuses on the behavioural trends in individuals and the resulting social system that arises as a result (Schaik, C. et al., 1996). Another main principle of socioecology is to understand the evolution of social systems, including group characteristics and the social to mating dynamics. The theoretical framework of socioecology concentrates on the concept of traditionally largely impacting ecological factors especially predations risk and resource distribution. This framework is supported by a multitude of tests correlating with the specific predictions from the model (Kappeler, et al., 2003). Socioecology was first demonstrated in
Brian Handwerk claims in his article “Chimp ‘Girls’ Play With ‘Dolls’ Too—First Wild Evidence”, published in 2010, that female baby monkeys play with dolls, and that this phenomenon occurs through evolution to make the female a better mother. Handwerk uses persuasive appeals, mainly ethos and logos, to reaffirm his point in the article, as well as some pathos. Ethos is used very often in the piece, and Handwerk does an excellent job at communicating the credibility of his sources.
The paper Total social isolation in monkeys by Dodsworth, Harlow, & Harlow (1965), likens rhesus monkeys to children as parallels exist between the social development of humans and monkeys. The study kept infant rhesus monkeys in total isolation therefore depriving them completely of any caregiver and possibility of attachment, mimicking children in orphanages, or children suffering from emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Though no monkeys died during isolation, a monkey that had been isolated for 3 months developed emotional anorexia and refused to eat subsequently dying. While the effects of total social isolation from birth was severely deleterious, rhesus monkeys that had been socially isolated from birth showed no social skills such as play, aggression or sexual behavior, though instead high levels of fear in social situations. Harlow however observed that though the social or emotional brain had been obliterated, the intellectual portion seemed to be intact. Suomi and Harlow (1972) also found th...
The monkeys of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book are a very unique group of characters. They are viewed by the other animals of the jungle, or the Jungle People as they call themselves, as outcasts and outlaws. The most prominent chapter they occur in, “Kaa’s Hunting”, shows their lawless, shiftless, and uncivilized way of life. This image in itself does not give off any racist undertone. However, Disney’s adaption of The Jungle Book carries this view of the monkeys, while also giving them strong attributes that are commonly associated with African-Americans.
The baboon is the most widespread primate in Africa. Well-known for their remarkable ability to adapt, baboons can be found in a variety of habitats, ranging from semi-desert to rainforest, and from coastal areas to mountains. Their adaptability also extends to their feeding habits — baboons will eat just about anything. The baboon's diet includes a wide variety of plants, of which they eat every part: leaves, fruit, buds, flowers, roots, bulbs, tubers, seeds, shoots, bark and even sap. As for meat, these resourceful monkeys will eat insects, shellfish, small reptiles and amphibians, rodents, birds, fish, eggs and even young antelope or livestock.
After researching and observing the lives of orangutans I can support my hypothesis. The orangutans are restricted into a small area, fed when the trainers feed them, and live on the ground because there are no trees causing them to have a different lifestyle than the wild orangutans. The captive orangutans are taken care of by the trainer and never have to struggle to get food. They seem to sit and sleep at the same time, for majority of the time I was observing. There are no predators for them to have to fight off since they are separated, where in the wild they would have to protect themselves and in some cases their offspring. If an adult female were to give birth while in captivity, the offspring would grow up to have a completely different lifestyle than a juvenile in the wild. The juvenile is cared for and protected by the trainers more than they would be by their own mother. Being in captivity gives the primates the option of medicine in cases of sickness or an injuries. In the wild the primates have to live without the nurture of these trainers which is why they tend to live...