Two Different Suborders Of Primates

Primates

Woo Youn Choi

Professor Sharon Rachele

Biological Anthropology

June 4, 2014
Primates
There are two different suborders of primates such as strepsirrhini and haplorrhini. All non-human primates are divided by these two suborders; in other words, primates with having moist nose are strepsirrhini, and primates with dry nose are haplorrhini. In modern day, lots of primates still exist in specific regions. For instance, ring-tailed lemur is one of non-human primates from strepsirrhini, and chimpanzee is one of primates from haplorrhini. Because of living in different environment, these two primates have different characteristics and specific social group they involved. There are also many studies are being done with these
primates. In addition, even though these two types of primates have lived in different region and different environment, they also have similarities between their environments. Unfortunately, one of their similarities is that a number of their species is dramatically decreasing by several factors such as primate hunters and loss of habitat. Through this paper, it mainly explains about how these two primates, ring-tailed lemur and chimpanzee, are threatened and additional information about their distinct characteristics. Non-human primates are categorized and researched by primatologists who study both living and extinct primates in their natural habitats and in laboratories by conducting field studies and experiments in order to understand aspects of their evolution and behavior.
Among lots of primates, ring-tailed lemurs are one of the most clearly identifiable primates due to their long, vividly striped, black and white tail. (Sauther 120). Through a research, called The Socioecology of the Ringtailed Lemur: Thirty-Five Years of Research, about ring-tailed lemur, it gives brief ideas about how lemurs look like and what specific characteristics they have. First, most of lemurs are located in the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. This region is extremely significant to primatologists because there are not only lemurs but also many amazing animals, found only in Madagascar but nowhere else in the Earth. Research also indicates that lemurs use their two hands and two feet to move through the trees without using their tails. One specific characteristic ring-tailed lemurs have is that they spend their primary time on the ground when other typed lemurs spend their most of time on the trees. (National Geographic) In addition, their eating habitat is also one
of main characteristics because it is significant factor of their existence. One of the major food for them is fruit, which makes up the greater part of their diet, but also eat leaves, flowers, tree bark, and sap. Moreover, ring-tailed lemurs use their remarkable odor to communicate with others, and also they use their odor as a kind of weapon to protect from other species. In

their social group, they usually live in groups as troops gathering with 6 to 30 animals. (National Geographic). Both male and female lemurs live in troops, but a dominant female presides over all. Chimpanzees are an example of haplorrhini of suborder. According to Los Angeles Times, they have interesting fact that they are the closest living relatives with human by sharing more than 98 percent of human’s genetic blueprint. Therefore, scientists and primatologists still study about relationship between human and chimpanzee to figure out how they are close each other, and they may think that human and chimpanzees share same ancestors approximately four to eight million years ago. (National Geographic). As looking at chimpanzees’ living arrangement, they live in social group with almost fifteen of them, and they are acclimatized with environment such as African rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Another characteristic that chimpanzees have is that they usually walk on two hands and two legs which call as knuckle walking; however, they can also stand and walk upright. (Montagu). By swinging from branch to branch they can also move quite efficiently in the trees, where they do most of their eating. Chimpanzees usually sleep in the trees as well, employing nests of leaves. Madagascar’s lemurs are on the verge of extinction, and according to the article, Lemurs named world’s most endangered mammals thanks to destruction of their tropical forest habitat on Madagascar, a reporter points out that lemurs are probably the most endangered group of mammal on Earth. The major reasons why lemurs in Madagascar endangered are habitat destruction and hunting by human who wants to make money by selling them as bushmeat or pet animal, and interference of people continues to threaten this decreasing population more seriously. Because of their beautiful and rare silky white fur and amount types of lemur species, enormous numbers of visitors or tourists from all over the countries come to the Madagascar to view them. Unfortunately, this also threatens lemurs by local hunting, deforestation, and limiting environment and population of this primate. Not only this reason but also its limited population size, restricted range, and “ongoing human threat create that lemurs in Madagascar is recognized as one of the top 25 most endangered primates among 600 total primates in the world.” (Daily Mail). This indicates that enormous numbers of this primate greatly decrease and eventually it reaches to “top 25 most endangered primates”. Chimpanzees are an endangered species. Enormous number of chimpanzees lives

throughout equatorial Africa from southern Senegal through Central Africa to western Tanzania. The size of this area is extremely huge as the North America; therefore, the population of chimpanzee is also enormous. According to a article about chimpanzee, it states that there are approximately “170,000-300,000 chimpanzees left in Africa” (Troglodyes), and unfortunately their population is speedily decreasing. One of the primate-protecting organizations finds out that the “chimp population there had decreased 90% in just the past twenty years.” The major reasons of decreasing this primate are loss and change of environment, hunting, and disease. One of the most primary factors why their population is decreasing is the increasing human population. While human population is rapidly increasing, they interfere deeply into protected areas of chimpanzee habitats, and large scale logging is now a major threat to the forest primates of Africa. By human, chimpanzees are used as commercial pet or food. Increased contact with humans has also brought the threat of diseases which is also major factor of decreased their population. Lots of primates exist in the world, and each of them has specific characteristics including eating habitat, communication skill, and group society.
Primatologists have studied about them and categorized them as a separate group. Through the primate taxonomy, there are two suborders which separate all primates into two groups. Each of two suborders, strepsirrhini with moist nose and haplorrhini with dry nose, has specific characteristics. This paper analyzes two primates, lemurs for strepirrhini and chimpanzees for haplorrhini about why they are in danger from extinction and what characteristics and social groups they are consisted. Even though lemurs and chimpanzees are in different group and live in different environment, both are threatened from habitat destruction and hunters. Since people have meddled their environment, population of lemur limited. There is not only this reason, but also there are more reasons that lemurs are on verge of extinction. Some people go to Madagascar and take some of lemurs because people sell them as rare pet animals or bushmeats by cooking them. These selfish human behaviors make number of lemur decreasing in large percentage. Numbers of chimpanzee also decreases enormously because of same reasons with lemurs. Even though chimpanzee shares 98 percent of DNA
with human, human destroys chimpanzees’ habitat and kills or takes them to sell with expensive money. Not only lemurs and chimpanzees but also other types of primates endangers from interference of human. To protect them from extinction, many organizations are constructed such as The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). These organizations

primarily focus on protecting pollution and environment; therefore, primates can live with more comfortable and better environment.

Works Cited
"Chimpanzees, Chimpanzee Pictures, Chimpanzee Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. National Geographic, 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 2 June 2014.

"Chimp Facts." Save the Chimps. Boston Interactive, n.d. Web. 2 June 2014.

"Lemurs Named World 's most Endangered Mammals thanks to Destruction of Their Tropical Forest Habitat on Madagascar." Daily Mail 14 July 2012, 2nd ed.: n. pag. Print.

Montagu, Ashely. "Behavior of Chimpanzees." Los Angeles Times 4 Feb. 1989: n. pag. Print.
"Ring-Tailed Lemur – National Geographic.” National Geographic. National Geographic, 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 2 June 2014.

Sauther, Michelle L., Robert W. Sussman, and Lisa Gould. "The Socioecology of the Ringtailed Lemur: Thirty-Five Years of Research." Evolutionary Anthropology 1 Jan. 1999: 127-128. Print.