Lemurs
a.
At one time they lived in most tropical
regions of the earth, including North America. Today, they are found in
the wild only in the Old World.
b.
They are herbivorous in diet, mostly eating
fruit and some leaves.
c.
These lemurs that live in these tropical areas
eat fruits and leaves because that’s what is readily made for them. This has
made them prefer this type of diet compared to eating meat.
d. 
Spider monkey
a.
New World monkeys are limited to tropical forest
environments of southern Mexico, Central, and South America.
b.
They eat leaves, fruits, nuts, gums, and
occasional small prey such as insects.
c.
Another case of monkeys living in tropical
areas, that is the most supplied food in these areas. Its easier to find
fruits, nuts, and leaves in the tropics.
d.
Baboon
a.
These are all African species with the exception
of the macaques which also live in Asia and Gibraltar. Many species of
cercopithecines sleep in trees or on cliff faces and spend their days in large
groups foraging for food on grasslands. Among the most familiar of these semi-terrestrial
monkeys are several species of African baboons.
b.
These are omnivorous
monkeys since they compete with each other for desirable foods and are not
inclined to share. Fruit and meat are particularly
prized. Large male baboons aggressively hunt other monkeys, young
chimpanzees, and even flamingos for food.
c.
These types of monkeys are able to hunt other
animal for foods because they are larger than the ones they go after. The
reality is that they like meat and feel the need to go out and find it, while
some eat fruits as well. But fruit must not be easily supplied to them.
d.
Gibbon
a.
Gibbons and orangutans live in Southeast Asia,
while gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos are exclusively African apes. They live in well defined
territories in the tree tops and rarely go down to the forest floor.
b.
Because of their lack of size they eat some
insects, fruits, and some leaves.
c.
These animals are limited in what they can eat
because of their lifestyle in nature. They already live in a poor community
with lack of resources, especially food.
d. 
Chimpanzee
a.
The natural habitat of chimpanzees includes both
tropical forests and bordering savannas
in Africa. Chimpanzees live in fluid societies of 10-50 individuals
without monogamous mating bonds. Membership changes through time as females
move from one community to another apparently seeking new mates. In
contrast, males usually stay together in their natal community throughout their
lives and act as a group in defending the food resources of their territory
against incursions by other chimpanzee communities. These interactions
can be quite noisy, violent, and sometimes fatal.
b.
The chimpanzee diet is usually at least 90%
vegetarian. Males are more likely to eat meat than are females, although
chimp hunting skills are relatively poor.
c.
Fruits and leaves and smaller insects are what’s
more readily for the chimps. Males, 10% of the time ate meat when they had to
defend their food resources.
d. 
So after looking at these five different primates these
animals eat what according to the environment in which they live in.For those who live in the tropical areas or mostly stayed in the trees ate more fruits and leaves than any other foods. Those who wandered the grassland more often ate more meat than fruits. Some animals were also physically tied to their environment. Like the Gibbon, with its large arms for the use of swinging from tree to tree. And also the larger the primates were the more likely it would eat meat, because they could actually hunt their food, while the smaller species found their food sources in the trees.
A common connection throughout your post is that primates eat what they do because that is what is available to them. What is missing from this observation is that they aren't taking advantage of *everything* available to them. Lemurs, spider monkeys and gibbons are predominanty arboreal. There is a whole world of food options available on the ground that they don't take advantage of because they stick in the trees, mostly for defense purposes against predation. Likewise, baboons and chimpanzees are predominantly terrestrial. This means most of their food comes from the ground, so that is a limiting factor on their diet. It isn't that these primate are taking advantage of all options in their entire environment. They have limitations based upon the specific sub-environment in which they live. These were the more specific connections you needed to make here.
ReplyDeleteA little more expansion on the diet descriptions themselves would have been helpful for your readers.
Your summary does mention the environmental limiting factor I describe above. You just needed to include this as part of your discussion in each primate. You did a better job of highlighting differences between these primates in your summary than you did in the post itself.
Animals eating habits have always been an aspect of nature that has interested me. It's interesting to think about what they do eat and why they even eat it in the first place. Well we know that evolution is the reason they eat the thing that they do. After reading another classmates post I learned that Spider Monkeys actually eat Spiders! Isn't that a little bit ironic? I could have used a little more information in your post. I did like the post but could not help but feel like there could have been more.
ReplyDeleteInteresting information, i didnt know that Chimpanzees live in fluid societies of 10-50 individuals without monogamous mating bonds makes you see why we are related. The different diets are interesting and all because they had to adapt to their environment to survive.
ReplyDelete