Similarities and Differences between Santa Barbara Zoo's Inhabitants - Case Study Example

Lecturer Part The zoo that was visited on February 21, is the Santa Barbara Zoo. The zoo is located in the Santa Barbara region of California on 12 ha piece of land near the ocean. The zoo is recognized as one of the best medium sized zoos in the United States. The zoo has a diverse collection of more than 500 animals, sourced from different parts of the world. The zoo also has several non-animal attractions; for instance, the 2ft narrow gauge, and the zoo train. The zoo began operations in August 1963. The main objective of the anthropology assignment entails analyzing the behavior profile of three species of animals in the zoo environment. The primate categories analyzed are; prosimian, monkey and ape. The prosimians involve primate type that entails strepsirrhines that are living or extinct; for instance, lemurs, adapiforms and lorisoids. The category also involves the haplorhine tarsiers, and extinct relatives like omomyiforms. Prosimians have relatively primitive characteristics, than the apes, monkeys or humans. The assignment analyzes the Philippine tarsier that was identified in the Santa Barbara Zoo. Philippine tarsier is one example of the prosimian primate. The scientific name is CARLITO SYRICHTA. The monkeys involve haplorhine primates. They generally have tails and have more than 260 living species. Majority of the monkey species are arboreal or tree dwelling; however, there are several other species that live mainly on the ground, like baboons. Majority of the species are diurnal and hence active during the day. Monkeys are basically considered intelligent. Crested capuchin is the monkey category analyzed in the assignment the scientific name of the monkey is SAPAJUS ROBUSTUS. The capuchin monkeys are part of the Cebinae subfamily of the New World monkeys.the diversity of the capuchin monkey involve; Central America, northern Argentina, and South America. The apes involve old world tailless primates that are native to Southeast Asia and Africa. The analyzed ape is the Bornean orangutan that is native to the Borneo Island in Asia. The orangutans are highly intelligent, have unique cultural patters, and illustrate advanced tool application. 97% of the DNA of orangutans is similar to humans. The scientific name of Bornean orangutan is PONGO PYGMAEUS (Larsen 127). The Phillippine tarsier spent 90% of its time resting. This is because it is nocturnal, hence mostly active during the night. They rest on tree branches and in a sleeping position with their limbs around the tree branch. They also sleep on top of tree branches, with their limbs around the tree branch. The animal feeds insects, snake, bats, lizards and birds. They are mainly insectivorous. They feed using mainly their two front limbs. The hand limb is used in grasping the food object. The animal forages by jumping at insects, lizards, birds or snakes. It attacks its preys using both front and hind limbs. Philippine tarsiers perform grooming on each other. This is through using the front limbs, and in front-and back movements. The second and the third toes located on the hind feet are specifically applied during grooming. In terms of vocalizations, the tarsiers possess strong auditory sense. This is due to the unique and distinct auditory cortex. The facial expression illustrates enormous eye ball that are an estimated 16mm in diameter. Tarsiers illustrate close interactions, especially during grooming. They live collectively in small groups as illustrated by the resting patters. The remaining 10% of the time was spent grooming and lazily jumping at preys. The Phillipine tarsier is a shy and nocturnal creature, and it is always observed trying to hide within the zoo environment. The hiding place is usually dark hollows near the ground, on tree trunks, and beneath the shrubs. The always try to avoid observance by the humans, zoo visitors, through hiding. I observed one female tarsier carrying an infant using its mouth. The Crested capuchin spent 15 minutes restless and moving from one tree branch to the other. Only 5 minutes was spent resting. This explains that arboreal and diurnal animals that look for food during the day. During the five minutes rest, the monkey lied on a napping position. They sleep on trees, wedged between the tree branches. The Crested capuchin is omnivorous. They feed on fruits, seeds, buds, insects and eggs. They eat in a sitting position. The two front limbs are used in holding the food. The animal forages for food, by jumping at prey and searching for fruits and seeds from one tree branch to another. Mutual grooming is practiced by the capuchins. The two hands are mostly applied in grooming, in the combing motion. The hands and feet are used mainly for locomotion, when jumping on tree branches. Vocalization is applied during communication and also stabilization of the dynamics of the group. The animal has big dark eyes, with elongated nose and mouth facial features. Capuchins are seen walking, jumping and resting in groups. The crested capuchins that are males possess an adequately well developed or formed sagittal crest. This illustrates the bony ridge that is at the top of the animal’s skull. The males also possess fur that is relatively darker. The male is generally bigger than the females; however, similarity in all the remaining aspects is very close. The Bornean orangutan spent 17 minutes resting in lying position. The resting posture entails lying on the belly, with the fore limbs as head support. The animals feed in sitting position, using mostly the hands. The diet of the animal is diverse, hence, it is omnivorous. The food range from insects, tree barks to seed and leaves. The ape forages through picking leaves, fruits and also jumping at insects. The orangutan practices mostly self grooming. This is through using the hands to comb the facial and body fur. The hand and feet are mainly used for movement, especially when foraging for food. Bornean orangutan are mainly solitary animals, they only illustrate enhanced social activities during mating or when nursing. The ape has small eyes with elongated moth and nostrils that are covered by facial fur. The unique vocalization is applied during communication. The ape utilized 3 minute walking to pick a fruit on the ground. The Bornean orangutan in some cases engages in gathering and hunting attempts. The animal consumes the inner plant shoots, and it was observed sucking the liquid content of fruits and drinking water from a tree hole. The zoo guide explains that the Bornean orangutan has been observed trying to use a stick to spear fish in the zoo fish pond. The three observed primates illustrate behaviors, which are different and also similar in certain cases. The body parts of the three primates are mainly responsible for illustrating the similarities and also differences. The feeding habits of the three primates are similar. This is illustrated through the usage of front limbs or hands in grasping food. The four limbs of the primates ensure easy locomotion. They thus can move easily from one tree branch to another. The hands are applied in holding the tree branches, while the legs, hind limbs, are applied for support during movement. The monkeys are differentiated from the rest through the tails. Even though the gorilla is tree dwelling, it mostly prefers resting on the ground. On the contrary the monkey and the prosima are mostly on top of trees. The weight difference explains the scenario. The gorilla is heavy, hence cannot rest comfortable on tree branches. The prosima and the monkey are very light; therefore, they rest and jump on different tree branches easily. Work Cited Larsen, Clark Spencer. (2014). Our Origins: Discovering Physical Anthropology. 3th Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, New York. Read More