Comparative Primate Post

Lemurs (Prosimians/Strepsirhini)
 Most lemurs live off of the coast of Africa and live in the rain-forest and typically stay at the top or mid-level of the forest. Most species spend their time in the trees, although there are a few types that are larger and spend most time on the ground. They are considered arboreal and eat fruits, nuts, and insects among a few other things.
Lemurs do not really have any sexual dimorphism since both genders are basically the same size. In lemur packs, there is one female that is in charge of the pack. The females are in dominant and are in control of the males.
The lemur species' can vary in size, the ones that live on the ground are general larger because they are more susceptible to predators. The lemurs that live in the trees do not have to worry so much about predators like on the ground, so their size stays the same. The lemurs have grown to protect themselves and their size helps that.


Spider Monkey (New World Monkey/Platyrrhini)
Spider Monkeys live in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America. They are mostly in the trees and use their tails to hang from the branches.
There are different sizes of spider monkeys depends on the species. The average is about 13.5 pounds and 3-5 feet in height. They use their tail as a fifth limb to help them move around high in the trees. They live in groups and separate to find food during the day.
Spider monkeys do not have a thumb and they have four curved fingers. Their fingers are shaped like a hook and this comes from living in the forest and trees.


Baboon (Old World Monkey/Cercopithecidae)
Baboons are part of the Old World Monkey class and they are found throughout Africa and parts of Arabia. There are five different species of Baboons.They live in rain forests, mountains and savannas.
The males are generally twice as big as the females and they have sharp canine teeth meant for defending their group. While hunting during the day, groups of 4 to 5 female and young are led by a dominant male that is the leader of the pack and fights off other males.
Males are the dominant sex and because of this they are larger and have tools that help them fight off other predators. They have to be bigger and stronger so they get the females to mate with them and so they can protect their young when they are little.


Gibbon (Lesser ape/Hylobatidae) 
Gibbons can be found in the dense jungles and tropical rain forests across Southeast Asia. They are part of the lesser ape family and are more related to the great apes.
Gibbons are small and lightweight and only weigh about 75kg. They are about 90cm tall and that allows them to be able to easily move around their environment. The males are only slightly larger than the females, so sexual dimorphism is not apparent.
They have very long arms, their arms are longer than their legs because they are used to help them get around in the trees. Their arms are also used for balancing while they are walking on branches high up in the trees.


Chimpanzee (Great ape/Hominidae)
Chimpanzees are considered great apes, and they are native to the continent of Africa.
Chimps are part of groups ranging from 15-100 and they have smaller groups within the large group. Each group goes out and does their own thing and those groups change frequently because of new groups meeting. They can weigh up to 150 pounds and standing straight they can be up to four feet tall. The males mate with several females so they treat all of the young like their own because there is really no way of telling. The males are also larger so they can attract females and protect their group.
Chimpanzee's are a lot like humans and they use their opposable thumbs to pick things up. They use their emotions on their face to convey certain emotions and in many ways are like humans.


After looking at the results from each animal, the difference between them are some have sexual dimorphism and about half do not. The animals that are on the ground and have to deal with larger predators seem to be the ones with larger males for protection. The animals that live mostly up in the trees do not have any real size difference because they do not have a need to be larger. The animals that do not compete for a mate seem to not differentiate in size because they do not have to fight other males off.