Rodents are mammals in the order Rodentia, a remarkably varied group that includes mice, rats, squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs, beavers, porcupines, guinea pigs, chinchillas, capybaras, and many less familiar animals. What unites them is not a shared lifestyle, body size, habitat, or relationship with people. Their defining pattern is anatomical and evolutionary, especially the … Read more
Many primate species are threatened with extinction, but the level of risk varies greatly among species and populations. Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the broadest pressures, especially where forests are cleared for agriculture, logging, roads, mining, settlements, or other development. Hunting, capture for wildlife trade, conflict with people, disease, and climate-related habitat change can … Read more
Living nonhuman primates are concentrated mainly in tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, Asia, Madagascar, Central America, and South America. Forests contain much of this diversity, but primates are not limited to tropical rainforest and they do not all live high in trees. Depending on the species, primates occupy dry forests, woodlands, savannas, montane forests, … Read more
Primates eat an enormous variety of foods. Depending on the species, habitat, season, and life stage, the diet may include ripe fruit, unripe fruit, young leaves, mature leaves, flowers, nectar, seeds, nuts, plant gums, sap, insects, other invertebrates, eggs, and occasionally vertebrate prey. Some primates are strongly specialized, while others shift among foods as availability … Read more
Primate social behavior ranges from largely solitary spacing to pair-living, family groups, large mixed-sex troops, multilevel societies, and flexible communities that split into smaller parties and later reunite. There is no single “primate society.” Orangutans often spend substantial time apart, many gibbons live in small pair-based groups, gorillas commonly form cohesive groups, chimpanzees and bonobos … Read more
Primate intelligence is not one ability that can be measured with a single score. Researchers study specific cognitive skills such as learning, memory, attention, inhibitory control, spatial reasoning, social learning, problem-solving, tool use, planning, and self-recognition. Different primates show different strengths, and performance can change with age, motivation, experience, social setting, and the design of … Read more
Primates communicate through far more than vocal calls. Depending on the species and situation, they may use facial expressions, gaze, body posture, hand or arm gestures, touch, grooming, scent, and combinations of several signals at once. A call may attract attention before a gesture is given, a facial expression may change how rough play is … Read more
Primate hands and feet are not built around one universal grip. Instead, the order shows a flexible anatomical pattern that lets different species cling, climb, leap, walk along branches, hang below supports, move on the ground, or manipulate food. Mobile digits, sensitive pads, nails on many digits, flexible wrists and ankles, and opposable digits where … Read more
Lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers can look superficially similar because many are small-bodied, tree-dwelling primates with large eyes. Modern classification, however, separates them in an important way. Lemurs and lorises belong to Strepsirrhini, while tarsiers belong to Haplorhini, the same major primate branch that also contains monkeys and apes. That relationship is why the older label … Read more
Great apes and lesser apes are both members of the ape superfamily Hominoidea, but they belong to different families and have evolved noticeably different body sizes, movement styles, and social systems. Great apes belong to Hominidae and include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. The animals traditionally called lesser apes belong to Hylobatidae and include … Read more
