by Laisy Almanza,
Zoo
Primates on a Regular Day
Abstract
This paper focuses on the conclusions made during
one day of observation of primates at Lowry Park Zoo. Keeping in mind that they
aren’t in their natural habitat I observed a Golden Lion Tamarin, a Mandrill, a
Siamang Gibbon, and a Ring-Tailed Lemur. I was able to observe the hierarchy
involved with the Mandrills by observing the male in the group which was very
interesting. I was also able to see the vibrant orange color of the Golden Lion
Tamarins and how they vertically cling on tree branches as a mode of
locomotion. The Ring-Tailed Lemur really interested me because it was so
interested in all the people viewing it. It kept inspecting the viewers as if
to wonder why they were there even though they should be used to the attention
by now. The Siamang Gibbon amazed me with its amazing brachiating and also how
playful the young were which made them all amazing to observe even though I
focused on one individual from each group of primates.
Introduction
The purpose of my
study was to simply observe the actions of each group of primates during a
period of time. This also allowed me to see what made each of them a primate
and I could also compare their behaviors in certain situations to ours which in
some cases were similar. It was extremely interesting to see this because
humans always place themselves in a higher class then the rest of the world but
they don’t realize that a lot of our actions are a lot like other primates’
actions. Although these primates are not in their natural habitats, observing
them at the zoo gave me a close view of their usual behaviors even if they are
somewhat different in a fake habitat. My main question during this research
was: What makes humans, us, so different from other primates, them? With further observation I was able
to determine that we aren’t much different from “them” in many ways.
Materials and Methods
I took a quantitative approach for this research
because I wanted to view the behaviors of each primate in a systematic way.
This allowed me to focus on the typical behaviors and once done I could go back
to my data and “replay” their behaviors. I was able to do this by using
ethograms for each primate with one minute intervals in between each behavior.
Results
The first primate
that I observed was the Golden Lion Tamarin which was mostly just sitting and
inspecting the viewers except for a couple of times where he would get up and
walk around for a couple seconds. The second primate that I observed was the
Mandrill which was really interesting because by simply observing the male I
could tell there was hierarchy in the group of Mandrills. When I began to observe
the male he was standing but then he began to walk and inspect for a couple
second. Then it began to stare at the people and it flashed its eyes a couple
times and swayed from left to right for a brief moment which is a form of
display to mark their territory but since no one threatened him the display did
not continue for more than a couple seconds. Also after he was done displaying
he remained prone for the rest of my observations and I noticed that none of
the rest of the mandrills got near him as if they were scared. The third
primate I observed was the Siamang Gibbon which was really fun because they
were all extremely playful. I observed an adult male gibbon and even though he
was an adult I still saw some playful behavior in addition to brachiating. The
brachiating was amazing because I could see how flexible their shoulder joints
are. I also saw some scratching and auto-grooming. Another amazing thing I was
able to see was the vocalizing but only for about 20 seconds.
Something even more interesting than this was that I
saw him run on his two legs for a brief moment. The last primate I observed was
the Ring-Tailed Lemur. The lemur did a lot of inspecting while he was sitting
and occasionally scratching. During my observations I was only able to see him
leap once but it was extraordinary because it was a pretty high leap.
Discussion
After compiling all
of my data I was able to come to the conclusion that Golden Lion Tamarins are
extremely calm creatures or at least they are in the habitat that was created
for them. The fact that they are not in their natural habitat should always be
taken into consideration of course. The weather could have also played a big
part in their calmness because, similarly to us, they become tired when the
sunlight is shining on them. I also came to the conclusion that Mandrills have
a culture similar to us where hierarchy is involved. The alpha male of the
group is the one that has to show or display their greatness while everyone, in
a sense, worships him. This of course is an advantage when it comes to having
the best treatment and resources but it’s a disadvantage when it comes down to
conflict because being the alpha male they have to protect the rest of the
group. In our society the male is also viewed as the” protector” of the family
and therefore have to be stronger and better than the other males. The Siamangs
turned out to be very active and playful creatures. They brachiated several
times during my observations which shows how strong their shoulder joints are.
I also realized that, when needed, siamangs will use bipedalism although not
well because of the placement of their bones and also their pelvic bones 
Works Cited
France, D. L. (2011). Lab Manual
and Workbook for Physical Anthropology. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Jurmain, R., Kilgore, L., Trevathan, W.,
& Ciochon, R. L. (2011). Introduction to Physical Anthropology.
Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
National Geographic. (2012). National
Geographic. Retrieved from National Geographic:
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/golden-lion-tamarin/
Zoo, H. (2008). Honolulu Zoo.
Retrieved from Honolulu Zoo: http://www.honoluluzoo.org/ringtailed_lemur.htm
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