Nonhuman Primate Research Assignment

Nonhuman Primate Research Assignment The Nonhuman Primate Research Assignment helped me better understand the diverse characteristics and tendencies of primates. Not only did it assist in delivering vast knowledge but gave me a better appreciation for zoos. The zoo I chose was the Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens. It was an enjoyable experience as I went with my family and became a family bonding trip. Being one of the first to enter the zoo, I loved the calm, quiet atmosphere as most of the animals were just rising from their nights rest. The weather was perfect with cloudy skies but the right amount of sunlight piercing through. As I entered the zoo, I looked at my map and went straight for the primates. Throughout the course of my trip
The chimpanzee was the first primate I observed for the research assignment. As I approached them, they were already up and awake enjoying themselves on top of the cliffs. Chimpanzees belong to the suborder Haplorrhini. Their genus is Pan and species is troglodytes. In addition, chimpanzees are mainly distributed in Central and West Africa (Chimpanzee zoo plaque, 2018). They have nails on all digits and do not have a tail. Sexual dimorphism is slightly apparent in chimpanzees as the males seem a little bigger than the females. Their habitual mode of locomotion is knuckle walking on ground and climbing. The chimpanzee cage in the LA Zoo had about eight individuals from what I could see at the time. Although I could not clearly distinguish the sex of the chimpanzees, I concluded there were three males, three females and two immature individuals. At the time I saw them, the weather was nice and slightly windy. Since it was still early, most of the chimpanzees were tired and laying around. There was one chimpanzee that was active, so I chose him to be my focal point. This chimpanzee was a male,
As I was walking around the zoo, I heard a deafening noise coming from my right side. I ignored it the first time thinking it was just an alarm being tested, but then I realized it was an animal making that noise. I ran to the cage along with my dad and discovered it was a golden-cheek gibbon making the noise. Golden-cheek gibbons belong to the Haplorhini suborder. Their genus is Nomascus and species is gabriellae. These gibbons are commonly found in the rain forests of Southeast Asia (Golden-Cheeked Gibbon plaque, 2018). Although they are heavily arboreal, they do not possess a tail nor a prehensile tail. There does not seem to be any sexual dimorphism present amongst the male and female. Their form of locomotion is brachiation which means they rely on their upper limbs to move from tree limb to tree limb. The cage at the zoo consisted of only two adult individuals. The two individuals were split into one female and one male. Gibbons are monogamous and form extremely strong pair bonds which leads to mating for life (Nelson, 2016). The focal animal I decided to observe was the male gibbon. This was largely in part by who vocal and active he was. Despite being on the earlier side of the day, he had plenty of energy. His body was all black with spots of gold on his cheek. I loved the color pattern of this gibbon as the black and gold combo complimented each other well. His long