Characteristics Of Proboscis Monkey

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PROBOSCIS MONKEY IN BORNEO Two of the most intriguing primates on the primate-rich island of Borneo are the proboscis monkey Nasalis larvatus and the orangutan Pongo pygmeus (Tisdell & Nantha, 2007). The proboscis monkey is restricted to Borneo whereas the orangutan occurs both in Borneo and in Sumatra. The proboscis monkey is classified under the one of the largest and most diverse primate families distributed throughout Africa and Asia (Sha, Matsuda & Bernard, 2011), family Cercopithecidae or Old World Monkeys. The characteristics of proboscis monkeys are the morphology of the species, the feeding ecology and the preference of their habitat (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1). The first distinctive characteristics of proboscis monkeys …show more content…

According to Bennett & Gombek (1993), proboscis monkeys have greatly enlarged, cow-like stomachs. It is a very different diet to that of a primate with a simple stomach. These contain a vast array of bacteria which ferment the animal’s food. Proboscis monkey do not chew the cud but their stomachs. With the presence of the bacteria, proboscis monkeys have energy from leaves because the bacteria break down cellulose. The other advantage is that the bacteria deactivate at least some poisons in the food, allowing the monkeys to eat nasty food which kill any normal animal. Proboscis monkeys cannot eat the plants that contain lots of fiber and tannin which hinder digestion, because they are indigestible. Moreover, some plants contain chemical that act as antibiotic. The chemicals kill the bacteria in their stomachs and without the bacteria; proboscis monkeys cannot eat other foods. Since proboscis monkeys have bloating problem, they cannot top up their diet with sweet succulent fruits and because of that, half of their diet is made up of non-sweet fruits (Sha et al., 2011). This type of diet is typical for colobine monkeys, non-sweet fruits, mixing young leaves and seeds. This is different compared to other primate with a simple stomach like orang-utans and

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