Essay About Common Chimpanzee And Much Movement

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There is a lot I learned studying the primates. Primates are very fasincating and I
think there is a lot more to learn about them. There are many different primates in the
world and for many of them not much is known. Primates have many different
characteristics and because of this they are classified in different groups of spieces.
I did my observations on prosimians, new world monekys, old world monkeys, and
apes as well as some research to learn more about them.
I went to Lincoln Park zoo to do some observation on the Apes and the one
I chose was the common chimpanzee. When I found the habitat for the common
chimpanzee it looked very well suited for them. The habitat inside had features of what
resembled somewhat like a savannah; however, the habitat that was built for the outdoors
resembled that of a forest. When observing the common chimpanzee I was looking at
weather or not the spine is stiff. Their spines are pretty stiff because they did not look
as if they had much movement in their back when they were moving around. What I
began to observe next about them is if they had ischial callosities. The male chimpanzees
had ischial callosities while most of the females were in estrus. Once taking noticed that the
female chimpanzees were in estrus I began to pay more attention to them. From observing
the females I took notice to something I had not reliazed before. What I noticed was that
the male chimpanzees in the habitat were just following the females in estrus around like
puppy dogs. The female chimpanzees in estrus just continued to go about there day while
the male chimpanzees tried to impress them. There was still much more for me to observe
so I stayed at the chimpanzee habitat longer. In the habitat from what I saw there seemed
to be more females than there were males. I took notice to some of the young as well.
There were just a couple of young chimpanzees in the habitat. They seemed to be very
playful toward eachother and when they got tierd they just clinged to their mothers back.
Something that also caught my attention was that when the young were playing together one
walked bipedal for short periods of time because it had something in its hand at the time.
The male and female chimpanzee look very similar; however, they are sexually dimorphed.
The male chimpanzee looked just slightly bigger than the female. While I was observing
them no dominance was being shown among that group at the time. The common
chimpanzee locomotion patterns are quadrapedal. Most of them were walking on there
knuckles and the soles of their feet. They are terrestrial; although, I saw one of the young
climb a branch so they also might be somewhat arboreal as well. Most or all I should say
were terrestrial. The common chimpanzee has no tail but they do have opposable thumbs
on both their hands and feet. The common chimpanzees diet is known to be omnivorious,
but in the habitat there was only leaves and food that was compacted and I am not really
sure what that consisted of. While there I was looking for any social grooming, but none
was found. The common chimpanzees genus is Pan and its species is P. troglodytes.
Studying the common chimpanzee was very fascinating. These creatures are full of surprises
and you never know what you will expect from them next. From observing them for just
about an hour or more I learned so much about them. They seem to be very similar to
humans in the ways they act. From all my observations of this species I have a better
understanding of the common chimp.
Once I finished up with the common chimpanzee I decided to observe an Old
World monkey and I went to go check out the Black and White Colobus monkey.
The first time I went to Lincoln Park zoo the Colobus monkeys were just sitting high
up in the trees digesting the food they had just got done eating. The Colobus monkey
resembles a much bigger version of a shunk. What I decided to notice upon about the
colobus monkey is the shape of their nose. Though I did observe them from a distance
they seemed to have a narrower nose with their nostrils facing downward. The Colobus
monkey also has a very long tail that becomes very fluffy at the end. The tail at the
time did not act like a fifth limb so I was not able to determine weather or not it was
used; however, from what I have learned that if you dont use it you lose it I have a
feeling it is used. The tail also seemed to be just as long and maybe even longer than