Anthropology Zoo assignment(BIOANTHROPOLOGY)

profileNikkiYuan
ZooReport1.docx

Zoo Report

Common Name:

Orangutan

Patas Monkeys

Colobus Monkeys

Humans

Brown Bears

Kingdom:

Animalia

Animalia

Animalia

Animalia

Animalia

Phylum:

Chordata

Chordata

Chordata

Chordata

Chordata

Class:

Mammalia

Mammalia

Mammalia

Mammalia

Mammalia

Order:

Primate

Primate

Primate

Primate

Carnivora

Family:

Hominidae

Cercopithecidae

Cercopithecidae

Hominidae

Ursidae

Genus:

Pongo

Erythrocebus

Colobus

Homo

Ursus

Species:

Pongo Borneo

E. Patas

Colobus angolensis

Homo Sapien

U.arctos

Weather:

Partly sunny and cloudy, 48F

Partly sunny and cloudy, 48F

Partly sunny and cloudy, 48F

Partly sunny and cloudy, 48F

Partly sunny and cloudy, 48F

Primary Locomotor Patterns:

Brachiation

Terrestrial Quadruped

Arboreal Quadruped

Bipedalism

Plantigrade

Anatomical Feature:

-Long arms, short lower body such as legs, and waist. -With the support of their hips, and long arms. It was able to help support the Orangutan to move swiftly from the branches and the ropes that were provided in their area.

-Hands, feet, and waist are about the same length. -Small facial structure such as cheeks, eyes, and mouth.

-Arms, legs, waist, feet, and hands are about the same length. -Longer tail compared to the body.

-Legs longer than arms which helped support humans to walk and support movement.

-All parts of the body are about the same length. -Hands and feet helped support the bear to move to each area of the zoo they were in.

Primary Behavior:

-Orangutan was active by moving between each branch and sitting in their hammock.

-Another Orangutan was relaxing with a blanket over their body.

-Patas Monkey was curious. Looking at other animals as well as humans. Just sat and barely moved from the area they were sitting. -Later on went to lay down and sleep.

-Two Colobus Monkeys were sleeping on the ground. -Two Colobus Monkey was in the tree branches observing its surroundings.

-Two Colobus Monkey was being playful on the ground rolling around and touching plants.

-Curious by watching all the animals that were presented. -Little children were jumping of excitement and observing the animals.

-One Brown Bear was sleeping and then later got up to eat the food they were provided. -One Brown Bear was laying down resting, and started moving to eat the food that was provided.

Anatomical Feature:

-Round, flat face with a pronounced snout. -Longer fingers and toes with five fingers and toes each.

-Longer legs and slender body length helped support them get to place to place. -Smaller facial structure such as ears, nose, eyes.

-Smaller head compared to the body and tail.

-Their ears are visible.

-Long finger and toes with five on each.

-Hands and fingers helped humans be able to hold on objects for a long time such as the Woodland park zoo map, beverages, and children.

-Large teeth allowed them to eat their meat that they were given in the visit. -Paws were very large and strong to support their weight.

Social Interaction:

-Orangutans were using their non-verbal communication by looking around at the individuals that were watching them. -Another Orangutan put its blanket over its face because it seemed like they wanted to be left alone.

-Non-verbal communication by looking at the individuals that were watching them.

-Later on moved away to find an area to sleep.

-Very little social interaction for most of the Colobus Monkeys. One monkey looked like it wanted to play because it was rolling on its back and moving. Other Colobus Monkeys slept and one stayed on a branch the whole time.

-Verbal towards another human.

-Body posture facing towards the animals that were presented.

-Non-verbal communication such as pointing, eye contact.

-Very little social interaction. Slept and ate the whole time. Looked at the individuals that were watching them one time.

-Eye contact between two brown bears as a sign of communication.

For my zoo report, I decided to go to the Woodland Park Zoo to observe many primates and non-primates that were available. I went to the Woodland Park Zoo on February 14th at 10:45am.

One similarity between a colobus monkey and a patas monkey was their anatomical feature. Their body’s were similar except their tail. They both had smaller facial structures, and were very curious primates as I was observing their behavior. Even though some were sleeping, they were very aware of their surroundings and needed a lot of sleep to function throughout their daily lives. One difference between a patas monkey and a colobus monkey, is the patas monkey who didn't stay close to us. They were individually by themselves observing around them while the colobus monkeys stayed together even if some were sleeping and if some were awake. I thought that was interesting to see because they both are old world monkeys and have a lot of similarities.

As I was observing four primates and one non-primate, I was able to connect what I have learned so far from the labs and text reading to what I saw while doing the zoo report. Something that was mentioned in the, “Primate Behavior:Communication,” reading was, “most primates spend their lives in complex, tightly woven societies and need to frequently communicate with each other.” As I was watching the primates behavior, I did notice most of the primates would stay together or stay close by while being in their designated areas. Being able to observe that visual to what I have been learning about primates behavior helped me analyze why they do this behavior and what it means for each individual primate. Something that I also learned about non-primates social interaction was that their communication isn’t the same as the primates social interaction. The online textbook, “Primate Behavior;Non-human primate communication,” mentions, “gestures, and facial expressions are used by non-human primates to inform others of their psychological state and present concerns, which is an important clue to what they are likely to do next.” The brown bears were occupied with their food, and sleeping, but once they had a moment to take a break or woke up, they automatically made non-verbal cues towards their other mate. It was interesting to see how their social interaction is similar, but different from a humans social interaction. Humans can interact with both non-verbal and verbal communication that can resonate with primates and non-primates. This zoo report taught me that locomotion is an important part to understand primates way of survival and how they function daily. In the slide, “Primate Locomotion,” it mentions, “We can determine much about locomotion by looking at anatomy.” Being able to recognize why each primate has these specific locomotion patterns relates to how their bones are designed for their skeleton. For example, humans have bipedalism locomotion and orangutans have Brachiation locomotion. Humans are bone structures that are made for them to have longer and stronger legs because in their nature, their legs help stabilize them to move from place to place. Orangutans bone structures are made for them to carry their weight with their arms since they are longer and stronger compared to their legs due to heavier weight. Being able to go to Woodland Park Zoo and see the four primates and 1 non-primate locomotion, behavior, and social interaction helped me understand why their bodies move differently and why their species have to communicate depending on how they survive in the areas they live in.

Work Cited:

-Online Textbook; Primate Behavior

-Primate Locomotion slide; Primate locomotion patterns