Comparative Primates

Diet

1.      Lemurs (Prosimians/ Strepsirhini)

a) Lemurs can be found in Madagascar and the Comores Islands. They can be found living in a variety of environments including dry desert- like forests and moist tropical rainforests. Although ringtail lemurs that can be found living on the ground, the majority of lemurs can be found living in the top of the canopy of the rainforest within the trees.

b) Lemurs are basically herbivores (a.k.a. vegetarians) whose diet consists mainly in eating plants, tree bark, flowers, seeds, sap, leaves, and fruit. There are however certain types of lemurs that incorporate insects, larvae, and small animals such as frogs and lizards into their diet as well.

c) The lemur’s diet has been influenced by its environment because of deforestation. By cutting down the trees in which they live and find their food, it severely limits their diet and is making them have to search elsewhere for food and try to adapt by eating more insects and small animals (which is making them vulnerable to other animals).

d)

1.      Spider Monkey (New World Monkey/ Platyrrhini)

a) Spider monkeys can be found in the evergreen tropical rainforests in South America, Central America, and Mexico. They live in tropical climates and live in the upper canopy of mangrove and semi deciduous forests.

b) Spider monkeys have a diet that consists mainly of eating seeds and fruit (about 90%). They also eat leaves, bark, flowers, nuts, and pieces of wood. Less often, they will eat things such as small insects, spiders, insect larvae, and bird eggs,

c) The spider monkey’s diet has been influenced by its environment because logging and deforestation are greatly reducing the number of trees in which they live and find their food in. This has even caused them to go from being endangered to being critically endangered.

d)

Baboon (Old World Monkey/ Cercopithecidae)

a) Baboons can be found in either Arabia or Africa. They can be found living in a variety of environments which include tropical rainforests, and the savanna and other semi- arid habitats. Although they are adaptable, the few things they look for in a good habitat are a sleeping area near a cliff or in tall trees (for protection), and a water source.

b) Baboons have a diet that consists of grass, plants, leaves, bark, roots, seeds, berries, and fruit. They also eat insects, fish, birds, rodents, rabbits, and the babies of other animals.

c) The baboon’s diet has been influenced by its environment. In being able to live in a variety of environments, it has been able to adapt its diet to suit wherever it’s living. For instance, some baboons that live near farming villages have been found to eat the crops that are growing there instead of looking for food in the forests. This is why baboons have become known as opportunistic in regards to their diet.

            d)

4.      Gibbon (Lesser Ape/ Hylobatidae)

a) Gibbons can be found living in the tropical rainforests in southeast Asia. They live in the trees and rarely are found on the ground (they even sleep sitting up in the trees).    

b) Gibbons have a diet that consists of eating plants, fruit, flowers, leaves, seeds, and tree bark. They also eat bird eggs, insects, and small animals such as birds.

c) The gibbon’s diet has been influenced by its environment because with deforestation, their food supply is quickly disappearing. The plants and animals that they usually eat are either being cut down or are being run out of the forests. This has caused them to be put on the endangered species list and is threatening their existence.

d)

4.      Chimpanzee (Great Ape/ Hominidae)

a) Chimpanzees can be found living in a variety of habitats including the African woodlands, grasslands, swamp forests, and rainforests.

b) Chimpanzees have a diet that consists of hundreds of foods. Their diet includes fruit, flowers, seeds, plant shoots, insects, eggs, and different types of meat. They also eat small animals which sometimes includes small monkeys.

c) The chimpanzee’s diet has been influenced by its environment. Because of the chimpanzee’s wide variety in its diet, it’s able to adapt its diet to the seasonal availability of food found in its habitat/ environment in which it lives.

d)

My findings on the level of influence the environment has on the expression of physical and behavioral traits are that the environment has a lot of influence over a primate’s diet. When a primate lives and spends most of its time in trees, a change in its habitat caused by logging, deforestation, and humans moving in and living in what was once their territory can have a huge impact. Cutting down the trees in which the primates live and are for the most part protected in, leaves them not only vulnerable to predators since they now have to forage for food elsewhere, but it also threatens their very existence since the food in their diet is either being cut down or chased out of the forests. Because of this, the environment has a lot of influence over a primate’s diet and whether or not they will find food at all.