Zoo Assignment
For the primate observation project I went to the Santa Barbara zoo to observe and contrast different types of primates. I observed one species of an old world monkey, which was a gorilla and two different species of new world monkeys, which were the Bolivian Grey Titi Monkey and also the Golden Lion Tamerin.
The first type of primate I observed was a Bolivian Grey Titi Monkey which is a type of new world monkey species found in areas of eastern Bolivia and also can be found in Brazil. The scientific term for this species is Callicebus donacophilus. These types of monkeys have medium sized body structures and do not exhibit sexual dimorphism between male and females. The Grey titi monkey is diurnal making them mostly active during the day. They are also arboreal, which means that this species spends most of its life living in the trees. I noticed that this type of monkey is able to travel around on the ground and move throughout the trees very quickly. Since they are able to move around so quickly and have a sustainable life in the trees, I think that is how they avoid potential predators or larger animals that would be a threat on lower levels. The form of locomotion that they mostly use is walking, using all four limbs to support their bodies, which makes them quadralpedlic. Their diet primarily contains of fruits, leaves and insects that they forage by searching on the ground and using their hands to reach in the trees to obtain it. There is a strong bond between adults mating pairs. Evidence of the bond was observed through their behavior and proximity of the pair, while resting on a branch, I observed the pair with their tails intertwined with one another. When separated to communicate within the small range of their cage, I noticed that both used high pitch squeaks to call and find their partner. While observing