Portal:Primates
The Primates Portal A primate is a member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains lemurs, the aye-aye, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including great apes. With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth, most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas, Africa and Asia. Primates range in size from the 30-gram (1 oz) pygmy mouse lemur to the 200-kilogram (440 lb) mountain gorilla. According to fossil evidence, the primitive ancestors of primates may have existed in the late Cretaceous period around 65 mya (million years ago), and the oldest known primate is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis, c. 55–58 mya. Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older, originating in the mid-Cretaceous period around 85 mya. Primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. Some primates do not live primarily in trees, but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees. Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree, walking on two or four limbs, knuckle-walking, and swinging between branches of trees (known as brachiation). Primates are characterized by their large brains relative to other mammals. These features are most significant in monkeys and apes, and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs. Many species are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have different physical traits, including body mass, canine tooth size, and coloration.
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Like other living ("crown") strepsirrhines, these nocturnal primates have a reflective layer in their eye called the tapetum lucidum, which enhances their night vision. They also have a rhinarium or "wet nose", which is a touch-based sense organ. Because of their close relation to lemurs and other lorisiforms, they also possess a toothcomb, which is used in personal and social grooming, as well as feeding. Like nearly all prosimian ("pre-monkey") primates, they have a toilet-claw, which is also used in grooming. Slow lorises have a round head, narrow snout, large eyes, and distinctive coloration patterns. Their arms and legs are nearly equal in length, and their trunk is long, allowing them to twist and extend to nearby branches. The hands and feet of slow lorises have several adaptations that give them a pincer-like grip and enable them to grasp branches for long periods of time. Slow lorises and possibly some of their closest relatives have a toxic bite—a rare trait among mammals. Little is known about their social structure, but they are known to communicate by scent-marking. Males are highly territorial. Slow lorises reproduce slowly, and the infants are initially parked on branches or carried by either parent. They are omnivores, eating small animals, fruit, tree gum, and other vegetation. All slow loris species are listed as either "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) and are threatened by the wildlife trade and habitat loss. Although their habitat is rapidly disappearing and becoming fragmented, making it nearly impossible for slow lorises to disperse between forest fragments, unsustainable demand from the exotic pet trade and traditional medicine has been the greatest cause for their decline. Selected picture A Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) by the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in Gibraltar. Although the species is commonly referred to as the "Barbary ape", it is in fact a monkey. The Barbary macaque population in Gibraltar is the last in the whole of the European continent. A popular belief holds that as long as Barbary macaques exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. CategoriesSelected species  Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)|Least Concern The vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), or simply vervet, is an Old World monkey of the family Cercopithecidae native to Africa. The term "vervet" is also used to refer to all the members of the genus Chlorocebus. The five distinct subspecies can be found mostly throughout Southern Africa, as well as some of the eastern countries. Vervets were transported to the islands of Barbados, Saint Kitts, and Nevis in conjunction with the African slave trade. These mostly vegetarian monkeys have black faces and grey body hair color, ranging in length from about 19 in (50 cm) for males to about 16 in (40 cm) for females. In addition to very interesting behavioral research on natural populations, vervet monkeys serve as a nonhuman primate model for understanding genetic and social behaviors of humans. They have been noted for having human-like characteristics, such as hypertension, anxiety, and social and dependent alcohol use. The most significant studies done on vervet monkeys involve their communication and alarm calls, specifically in regard to kin and group recognition and particular predator sightings. Did you know?
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