#primate facts

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Why the face shape?

Despite being close relatives, humans and other great apes have very different face shapes. While our faces are vertical, the ape face shape slopes more, from the brow ridge to mouth. The brow ridge in particular disrupts their silhouette and sets them apart from homo sapiens- but why? What's the advantage in a lumpy forehead?

The brow ridge acts as a built in hat brim, casting a perfect shadow over their eyes! Even on the sunniest of days, apes eyes stay protected by this handy feature. In contrast, humans have much more vulnerable eyes. However, we still have one forehead feature to our unique advantage! As the sweatiest primates, we have eyebrows to keep sweat from running into our eyes. Perhaps not as handy as a natural visor, but it seems to work well enough for us.

[primatology-daily]

What is a primate?

You might be wondering, or maybe not, but I will explain! 

The Order Primates is a specific designation under Class Mammalia reserved for a weird and diverse group of folks with some unique characteristics. 

1. Large relative brain to body size compared to other animals. Example: primates and mammals with similar body sizes, but quite different brain sizes!

2. Stereoscopic vision > smelling abilities: meaning we have forward facing eyes and use or vision more than our olfactory senses. Example: horse’s eye facing the side rather than the front! 

3. Slow life histories: our babies take awhile! We only have one offspring at a time (usually) and they need to be raised carefully. 

4. Five digits with opposable thumbs: this is one we all know, but another important thing is how we have nails rather than claws. Though some families of primates evolved nails, and then back to claws again! Example: an ape hand versus a dog paw.

4.5 Primates all have a divergent hallux— a fancy way to say a strong, independent big toe... well, all except for humans, of course. 

5. Mostly arboreal (living in trees), flexible behaviors (adapting to changing environments and food availability), and mostly found in the tropics or sub-tropics. 

However, keep in mind these are just some basic characteristics, and there are exceptions to these traits. Nothing in nature is simple, there are always exceptions to the rules we humans create! 

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Idk how else to put this but bush babies just... look like the cats of primates. 😭 And they truly live up to their name, what adorable little babies! 🥺 Have any bush baby facts for us?

I do indeed! 

1. There are actually 20 known species of bush babies! They are all very similar, but because of how small and reclusive they are there are likely even more types of bush babies we don’t know about yet.

2. They use urine on their hands and feet to improve grip, and can leap 3-5 meters.

3. Senegal bush babies have been seen using old birds nests and abandoned bee hives for shelter. Perks of being extremely small!

4. The name bush baby comes from their distinct calls which sound very similar to human babies. Their surprisingly loud calls are key in communicating!

5. Like owls, their eyes are so big that they are fixed in place and cannot move independently of the head.

They are as interesting as they are adorable.

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

hello! I love your blog and it’s become especially relevant to me as I’m about to start research on social behaviors of geladas and their hormones. I’ll just be working in the lab with fecal samples, but I was wondering if you had any fun facts about geladas or any experience working with them? From the little I know already they seem very interesting!

Very cool! I think my favourite thing about geladas is how they are the only surviving member of their genus! Theropithecus once included many primates that are now extinct, leaving geladas in a league of their own.

An unexpected feature of the gelada is that they have the most opposable fingers and thumbs of the primates! Their short, stubby, dexterous fingers are perfect for digging and picking throught blades of grass for the best snacks of the ground.

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

I saw the most beautiful wood carving of a Tibetan macaque today and he looked so loving and i was wondering if you got any facts you'd like to share about them if you know em well? Because I have fallen in love <3

Absolutely!

1. Tibetan macaques are some of the largest primates in Asia! Still not super big at around 2 feet tall, but impressive nonetheless.

2. Tibetan macaques are most frequently born in January of February. If you're a Capricorn, Aquarius, or Pisces you may have a birthday twin macaque.

3. They have a diverse range of communication that includes 11 types of vocalizations and a bunch of facial expressions and body language.

4. They have very fiercly competitive hierarchies, and babies have a role in them. If an alpha shows preference towards an infant, lower ranking males will spend time with that infant to keep on the alphas good side.

5. They live mostly on the ground, though they are great climbers and prefer to sleep in caves.

Enjoy!

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Hi! I don't have any media to share with you, but I wanted to know if you happened to have any facts about Black-and-Gold howler monkeys handy. They're my all-time favorite monkey species, so I'm making a howler monkey character, and I want to give her as many fun/weird details as I possibly can. Thank you for running this blog!

With pleasure!

1. Black and gold howler monkeys live up to their names! They are loud enough that their calls can be heard more than 3 miles away, and the calls they make are deep in pitch.

2. Their coloration is sexually dimorphic. Only the adult males of this species are black; the females range from golden brown to olive brown, and infants are born blonde!

3. Their calls are amplified by the hyoid bone, this bone is so large that it actually restricts arm movement! Because of this, they rely on their prehensile tails to aid in locomotion.

4. They are the largest primates in their habitats at approximately half a meter long (not counting the tail, which is longer than the rest of their bodies!)

5. They have excellent senses of smell, and can smell food up to 2km away!

and of course, they are very cute!

[primatefacts]

Happy Father's Day! Here's a white cheeked gibbon family, from Julie Larsen Maher.

Gibbons are unique in that infants are born with blonde fur like their mother, but by age 2 their color turns to black.  When they reach adulthood, males remain black and females change back to blonde.

[primatefacts]

A crowned lemur enjoys a snack, from the LA Times.

Its name, the crowned lemur, describes the conspicuous marking above the brow line and by the sides of the eyes. Both males and females bear these crowns, and in males it is a bold chestnut orange colour, with a grey-black patch on top of the head. The crown seen on females of this species is a smaller, chestnut brown V-shape.