Primate Observation Report

The bonobo and the chimpanzee are physiologically very similar, so much so that bonobos were considered a subspecies of the chimpanzee for quite a while before they were destinguished as their own species. While the chimp is slightly larger, they are relativaly the same. They both are terrestrial and arboreal at times; The chimpanzee makes nests in trees at night. Though they look fairly similar, the bonobo and the chimpanzees vairy wildly when it comes to social and behavioural traits. Chimpanzees live in large groups of many male and female individuals.

Humans need communication and good relationships with others to be healthy. Animals do as well, when sociable animals are no longer meeting their social needs there stress levels increase and thus abnormal behaviors arise. These behaviors were observed in a study done on chimpanzees in zoos in the United States and United Kingdom. The conclusion was that every chimpanzee in the study exhibited abnormal behaviors (How Abnormal Is the Behaviour of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees? 2011).

Odors, vocalization, gestures, and facial expressions are used by non-human primates to inform others of their psychological state and present concerns, which is an important clue to what they are likely to do next. They use these call systems when they are in the presence of food or danger, when they desire company, or when the animal desires to mark its location or to signal pain, sexual interest, or the need for maternal care. Most primate species communicate affection and reduce group

Chandra et al. (1999), presented more evidence concerning the cranial thickening in lions, particularly of tentorium cerebelli and the parietals, and concluded that the deficiency of vitamin A could be the source of the problem. Additionally to changes of pathological origin, there are great differences concerning the body size and rate of maturity between captive and wild animals, evidence suggest that better nutrition while captive could be the cause. A good example is given by Smuts, Anderson & Austin (1978), they found that the dimensions of the cranium of a small sample from a captive lion cub was great than those of the wild from the same geographical area. In addition, observations showed that wild lion cubs were smaller than captive cubs of the same age and are thought to be because of various periods of starvation in the wild animals - a great factor displaying the impact of selective evolution.

When we visit the zoo, we all thought monkeys and lions are cute animals, taking pictures with them and trying to get their attention. But when you live next to one, you no longer feel the same. Even if they are cubs or infants, you still see them as threats. I am sure some of you are facing the same problem, but that’s not your fault. Right now, Alabama is one of the few states yet to establish a law which requires an owner to obtain a license to possess big cats, monkeys, bears or other exotic animals.

Anthropoid primates demonstrate a direct correlation of social group size and brain size. Early history demonstrates that anthropoid primates use cognitive skills similar to pairbonded relationships to form relationships with non-reproductive partners. The article suggests that humans today put too much thought and emotion into relationships and sociality, while primate sociality of animals was based more immediate benefits regarding individual fitness. These animals did not socially connect for mating selection or parenting strategies. Relationships are made negotiating long term fitness benefits.

On the island of bugs, the finch would most likely have a longer but thinner beak to catch bugs. The larger beaks on the other hand would be used to crack open nuts, like a nutcracker. But on another island it could have an even amount of both, so the beak would be medium on all accounts. This could be the same for ways to travel. Flatter land could mean smaller wings, and be a ground finch.

According to “Do You Really Want a Baby Tiger?”, “Most people who own exotic pets find them irresistible-and manageable-when they are small (Lewis).” However, soon enough an adorable cub becomes a powerful adult. Wild animals are wild, even in captivity and are strong enough to be dangerous even without meaning to cause harm. In conclusion, despite best efforts to educate the community and pass legislation banning ownership of exotic pets, people do continue to buy and care for them. Owning an exotic pet is expensive, time consuming, and a huge responsibility. People shouldn’t be allowed to own an exotic pet but if they are thinking about owning one, they need to take a great deal of careful consideration for themselves, their surroundings, and the animal

Instead of fighting off multiple crows for more food, the crow understands that the plentiful amount of food is enough for the group to feed from comfortably. The crow avoids conflict and coexists with its fellow species in order to benefit the individual as well as the group. Social interaction is key in certain species of corvid depending on their social interaction. A prime example is evidence showing that social corvids are able to achieve a social learning task quicker than they are to learn an individual task. This has a separate effect on more non-social species of corvid where they are able to achieve the tasks whether they were social or individual with no contrast in the amount of time taken to achieve them (Templeton, Kamil, & Balda, 1999).

“There are many differences between chimpanzees” or monkeys in general to “humans in DNA sequence and how our genes function. These genetic differences ultimately cause differences in physiology” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aysha-akhtar/why-animal-experimentatio_b_3997568.html). “Human diseases are typically artificially induced in animals, but the enormous difficulty of reproducing anything approaching the complexity of human diseases in animal models limits their usefulness”. According to the The Flaws and Human Harms of Animal Experimentation, even if there were a considerable amount of similarity between an animal like the monkey and the corresponding human disease, the interspecies differences in physiology, behavior, pharmacokinetics, and genetics would ultimately limit the reliability of the results of the animal study, even if there was a considerable amount of research put into the study. One of the most notable failure of the ability to translate the results of animal experimentation using monkey is the HIV and AIDS vaccine research.