Unflanged Orangutans
Andrew Hilgers
The Great Apes
Orangutans
Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males usually weigh about 90 kg, while females range from 30-50. Orangutans are a red/orange color. Their arms are a lot longer than their legs. They have 2 m long arms, so they could touch the ground if they were standing on 2 legs.
There are two types of male orangutans. There is a flanged and an unflanged. Flanged male orangutans have large, flat cheeks that are very wide. These special cheeks are called flangs, thus, giving it the name. Flanged orangutans have a throat sac that vibrates, which allows these orangutans to make a “long call”. Flanged orangutans also have a dark-brown layer of hair on their back. Flanged orangutans aren’t always displaying their flangs, for reasons unknown, they can change hide their flangs to look unflanged. Unflanged orangutans don’t have flangs, so they look like a normal adult female orangutan. …show more content…
Orangutans are very important for the ecosystem.
They are the gardeners of the forest. They disperse seeds throughout the forest, which is important for humans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. So orangutans are some of the most important animals for the ecosystem in the world. There are two species of orangutans. There are Bornean and Sumatran, which only differ a little in behavior and color. They both have thick hair, but Sumatran have longer facial hair. Sumatran are also more social than Borneans. Sumatrans are found a lot more in the trees. The Males very rarely seen on the ground, and females pretty much never touch the ground, whereas Borneans touch the ground much more
frequently.
Bonobo Bonobos are similar to Orangutans, but they do have a few differences. Bonobos aren’t as arboreal as orangutans, and Bonobos are a more Gray/Black color. Bonobos are the opposite of orangutans when it comes to arm and leg length ratio. Unlike orangutans, Bonobos have longer legs and shorter arms. They don’t need as long or powerful arms because they don’t spend as much time in trees. Bonobos live in big groups of up to 120. In these groups are subgroups. These subgroups are usually around 10-15 apes. There are usually much bigger subgroups around food. Subgroups try to stay away from each other to avoid conflict. Bonobos eat lots of fruit, but they also eat leaves, pith, flowers, seeds and invertebrates. There has been sightings of Bonobos eating small mammals, but unlike Orangutans, they are rarely sighted. Bonobos are endangered because of poachers. People are killing Bonobos even though they are our closest ancestor. Very few Bonobo sightings make us unable to make an estimate of how many remain.
The Great Apes
Orangutans
Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animal in the world. Males usually weigh about 90 kg, while females range from 30-50. Orangutans are a red/orange color. Their arms are a lot longer than their legs. They have 2 m long arms, so they could touch the ground if they were standing on 2 legs.
There are two types of male orangutans. There is a flanged and an unflanged. Flanged male orangutans have large, flat cheeks that are very wide. These special cheeks are called flangs, thus, giving it the name. Flanged orangutans have a throat sac that vibrates, which allows these orangutans to make a “long call”. Flanged orangutans also have a dark-brown layer of hair on their back. Flanged orangutans aren’t always displaying their flangs, for reasons unknown, they can change hide their flangs to look unflanged. Unflanged orangutans don’t have flangs, so they look like a normal adult female orangutan. …show more content…
Orangutans are very important for the ecosystem.
They are the gardeners of the forest. They disperse seeds throughout the forest, which is important for humans, tigers, elephants and rhinos. So orangutans are some of the most important animals for the ecosystem in the world. There are two species of orangutans. There are Bornean and Sumatran, which only differ a little in behavior and color. They both have thick hair, but Sumatran have longer facial hair. Sumatran are also more social than Borneans. Sumatrans are found a lot more in the trees. The Males very rarely seen on the ground, and females pretty much never touch the ground, whereas Borneans touch the ground much more
frequently.
Bonobo Bonobos are similar to Orangutans, but they do have a few differences. Bonobos aren’t as arboreal as orangutans, and Bonobos are a more Gray/Black color. Bonobos are the opposite of orangutans when it comes to arm and leg length ratio. Unlike orangutans, Bonobos have longer legs and shorter arms. They don’t need as long or powerful arms because they don’t spend as much time in trees. Bonobos live in big groups of up to 120. In these groups are subgroups. These subgroups are usually around 10-15 apes. There are usually much bigger subgroups around food. Subgroups try to stay away from each other to avoid conflict. Bonobos eat lots of fruit, but they also eat leaves, pith, flowers, seeds and invertebrates. There has been sightings of Bonobos eating small mammals, but unlike Orangutans, they are rarely sighted. Bonobos are endangered because of poachers. People are killing Bonobos even though they are our closest ancestor. Very few Bonobo sightings make us unable to make an estimate of how many remain.