Physiological and psychological traits of two primates - Assignment Example

?Running Head: analysis paper Analysis Paper Teacher’s ID Introduction This observational activity was conducted in Fort Worth Zoo in Texas during which physiological and psychological traits of two primates were studied and compared. Male Gorilla The first primate selected for this activity was male Western lowland Gorilla. This primate belongs to hominidae family of genus Gorilla whereas the name of the species was G. Gorilla. The particular primate being studied was having brownish grey coat of hair. However, body hairs were not visible on the face, hands and feet of this animal. He also had silver grey hair as well on his bak which showed that this gorilla was in his late 20s. Same hair color was visible on its thighs and chest as well. The weight mentioned on the board was 40 kg which is fairly regular for this genus. Average height was supposed to be around 65 inches. There were three more gorillas kept in the same setting however major focus of this session was on the male Gorilla who appeared to be the leader of the herd and had a silver back. An interesting fact about the outlook of this gorilla was his lower jaw protruding the upper one. This particular primate was kept in an open area which had concrete floor as well as grassy area. However, the animal appeared more comfortable on the grassy land. He was being fed with bananas and other fruits whereas he was also occasionally picking grass and chewing it. There were some big insects visible on the grassy land which were picked by Gorilla and taken into his mouth. The Gorilla had its arms longer than legs and was moving on four limbs with major support given by the hands with curled digits. This kind of walking is known knuckle walking. The male Gorilla did not appeared to be interested in interacting with the visitors and was showing less receptiveness to the food given or noises made by them. Throughout the observation, a single instance of low growling sound made towards the visitors was witnessed. The gorilla had made a small nest of plants and shrubs which he was using for occasional sitting. The weather on the day of visit was sunny and subject being studied appeared to enjoy sunlight. However, he kept on moving between shadows made by artificial rocky walls and open ground. Another interesting observation made was about little interest shown by Silver back gorilla regarding activities taking place in its habitat. Rest of the gorillas who appeared as female due to their smaller height and weight were roaming around freely towards food provided by zoo employees however they were just interested in food supply and not the individual feeding them. Unlike them, male gorilla only moved towards food once other gorillas had taken their share. Furthermore, he was picking up fruits thrown by some children. Some of the edible items were removed by zoo members and they were also told not to throw food inside gorilla’s habitat. The male Gorilla also appeared a little offended due to noise made by visitors to attract a smaller gorilla that seem to be attracted by the food offered by visitors. Therefore, when the smaller gorilla tried to move towards walls of its living arena in order to get closer to the visitors, the male Gorilla who was the subject of this activity quickly made a forceful growl in order to warn him. This production of sound was further followed by few quick leaps as well. Later on, the smaller Gorilla was taken to the nest of shoots where it was handed over to other female Gorillas. It was also noticed that the male Gorilla was paying relatively no attention to the water reservoir present in its living area. Although he moved towards it several times but did not touch the container with its mouth. On the contrary, he dipped his hands in the container and then put them in his mouth which quenched his thirst for the time being apparently. Perhaps, the reason for such low consumption of water is high use of vegetation which already has sufficient percentage of water. Male Mandrill Another subject selected for the observation was male Mandrill present in the zoo. Mandrills belong to genus Mandrillus whereas the name of the specie is M. Sphinx. It appeared more close to family of baboons. The habitat of this primate had more artificial caves and rocky walls. Along with the male Mandrill, there were three other female Mandrills as well in the same area. This primate was very colorful and had visible multicolored marks on its face and buttocks. These colored patches had blue, white and red stripes. Similar white patches were visible on the belly as well. Male mandrill had more distinct and bright coloration in the same areas as compared to other female mandrills. The face of Mandrill was hairless whereas rest of the body parts had thick olive colored hair. Also, occasional display of teeth also helped in understanding that male Mandrill had larger canine teeth as compared to other smaller female Mandrills. It was also noticed that the selected Mandrill was responding well to the visitors and sounds made by them by grinning. He was also trying to show signs with the help of his limbs when fruits were shown to it by the visitors. The upper limbs of male Mandrill were reasonably longer than the other limbs. Rest of the body hair had an olive green shade which also appeared as golden in the sunlight. Careful analysis also indicated that the weight of male mandrill was in between 21 to 25 kg. Furthermore, the head of selected Mandrill had a furry crest which was thicker as compared to others. The red nose and lips were the most distinct features. It was also noticed that unlike rest of the body hair, he had visible thick yellowish hair above its eyes. The mane-like beard was also giving similar shade. The selected male Mandrill also had a short tail. As far as the habitat was concerned, they were kept in the open area, not cage however it had more vegetation grown in it and male Mandrill was moving from one greenly pasture to another. Occasionally it was taking twigs and shoots for eating. Food provided by zoo employees strictly constituted of fruits. When provided with it, rest of the herd waited for the male Mandrill to take his share and leave. The male Mandrill being studied often moved to plants and sniffed them while looking into shoots for insects. At few points, he was also seen trying to eat flowers as well. It was also noticed that male Mandrill walked on its four limbs but main support was given by the toes of all limbs. Furthermore, he also jumped a few times to cover bigger leaps. He was also seen trying to clean its face with the help of its hands during eating. It was also observed that male Mandrill was spending more time in sunlight than in shady areas. It was interesting to note sexual dimorphism between male and female Mandrills. It was evident that male Mandrill is relatively more colored, heavier, quicker and has bigger upper limbs as compared to the female ones. Although they both had chest glands however apparent masculinity was indicating that male Mandrill was the head of the herd. There was also frequent exchange of high-pitched sounds between male and female Mandrills with male Mandrill having a dominant tone which further showed its supremacy over the herd. The male Mandrill selected for observation showed reasonable interest in other members of the herd and preferred to roam back and forth. The description written about it outside its habitat declared it to be omnivorous with vegetations and insects etc being part of its regular diet. It also moved back and forth as if it was examining other mandrills. There was another male Mandrill which was smaller in size but looked male due to distinct coloration. However, this particular Mandrill did not showed interest in other members of the community which demonstrated that only dominant male Mandrills are responsible for rest of the herd members. Summary A careful analysis of male Gorilla and male Mandrill during this zoo visit helped in understanding that there some major differences in their outlook as well as behavior. Beginning with their exterior outlook, they both move on four limbs however Gorilla used curled fingers whereas Mandrill uses its toes. On the other hand, face of Gorilla appeared to be bigger than the Mandrill. The color of their body hair was distinctly different. Colored face and behind of male Mandrill was one of the major differences in these two primates. The male Gorilla also had no tail unlike the mandrill. In comparison, the upper limbs of male Mandrill also appeared longer than the Gorilla. Also, it had a leaner body than male Gorilla. As far similarities are concerned, they both are omnivorous however male Mandrill appeared more interested in plantation around them. Furthermore, they are both quadrupled. Also, they both do not have hair on face and hands. Both male Gorilla and Mandrill were physically larger than their females which gave them an outlook of alpha male who was head of the herd as well. They also appeared different behavior wise as Gorilla was not responding to visitors and zoo staff. He also appeared to be comfortable on moving in between concrete floor and patches of grass. On the other hand, male Mandrill had a similar habitat but with more vegetation. Their socialization within the herd was also fairly different. Male gorilla appeared more isolated whereas male mandrill was visiting other mandrills from time to time. He was also communicating to other Mandrills in frequent high-pitched exchange of sounds. Mandrill visibly had more height than the Gorilla and also appeared more physically active. Another behavioral similarity was observed in these subjects regarding safety of their herd. Both male Gorilla and Mandrill appeared offended when they perceived their herd members to be endangered and took necessary measures to protect them. Read More