6. Suppose that you are working as a primate expert at a zoo. One day, an animal
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6. Suppose that you are working as a primate expert at a zoo. One day, an animal control officer brings in a primate rescued from cage in someone's house. Your job is to make an initial determination of the four general groups to which the primate belong Prosimian, New World monkey, Old World monkey, ape). Describe how you would make the determination by noting the feature you would you look for to make your classification. State which traits you would look for and the conclusion you would reach they were or were not presentExplanation / Answer
Ans) Primates are considered as most intelligent and developed mammals whose ancestors are considered to live in trees of Tropical forest.
According to the Traditional classification of primates it has been divided into two groups as Prosimians and anthropoids(simians). However Prosimians are considered as most earliest primates that includes limurs of madagascar, lorisoids , Tarsiers.
Simians include monkeys and apes. Monkeys of new world and old world and Apes are considered as higher primates. Apes however are considered as monkeys but they are not similar to monkeys Apes includes Gibbons and chimpanzees. Apes and monkeys are different as Apes do not have Tail while monkeys have.
Being a primate expert firstly the Traditional classification and recent classification would be considered about primates. The external and physical appearances should be helpful in categorizing the rescued Primate.
Prosimians are the most primitive or are earliest primates and old world monkeys , new world monkeys and Apes are the higher primates which are the evolutionary forms of order primates and they have evolved characteristics and not the ancestral features. Prosimians first sign of characteristic is presence of two laterally flattened toilet claws helpful for Grooming , The dental formula like presence of different types of teeth like incisors , canines , premolars and molars are 2,1,3,3 and so have 36 in total teeth. Prosimians are Nocturnal animals and are thus have enlarged and buldging eyes. Ears have flap and are more mobile as they work on hearing abilities. Prosimians have inexpressive face as they lack facial muscles. The eyes are enclosed and enlarged.
Monkeys have size ranging from a mouse to that of Dog , some monkeys are arboreal while others are terrestrial as well. Considering different characteristics features the classification for the rescued primate could be done.
New world monkey vs Old world monkey
- NOSTRILS: New world monkeys have flat nose unlike old world monkeys who carry a Downward facing nose
New world monkeys have flat apart nostrils and old world monkeys have nostrils close together.
-DENTAL FORMULA: New world monkeys bear teeth in numbers 2,1,3,3 while old world monkeys bear 2,1,2,3 therefore old world monkeys possess Two premolars but new world monkeys have three premolars.
Old world monkeys possess cusp around the Molars but not the new world monkeys
Last molar of New world monkey may be absent or smaller than the old world monkeys.
-EAR: New world monkeys presents with a bony ring between external ear and tympanic membrane while in old world monkeys there is bony tube which is easily visible.
-TAIL: Tail can also be distinguishing feature for old and new world monkeys as in new world monkey the tail is Prehensile and long and therefore help in grasping , but old world monkeys lack prehensility in tail and is not long and helpful for grasping.
HAND AND DIGITS: New world monkeys have oriented and in same line all the digits and may or may not have finger nails. Old world monkeys have more opposable thumb and nails present in all digits.
APES- These are considered as most higher primates and most evolved having ability to speak , hang swing by using their arms. Most important distinguishing feature of Apes from other primates is Absence of Tail. Apes have larger size than monkeys and prosimians only Gibbon is lesser ape with small size.
Apes have ability to recognize themselves in mirror, They have broader chest and rotating shoulder. Flexible wrist, long fingers with ability to grasp easily.
So categorization of the rescued primate could be done easily as the external features and characteristics of all four groups of primates can be easily distinguishable. Physical appearance can in itself be helpful to classify the species like tail , fingers , size , face shape and expressions , activities like mirror recognition , flexibility , grasping of objects.
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