Comparing Primates: (Sociality and Mating patterns)

Lemurs:

A.The lemurs are found in rainforests and are native to Madagascar. Some lemurs are nocturnal and they are usually found alone. Lemurs that are day dwellers are found in the trees or bushes. Some lemurs are herbivores. They eat plants, leaves, seeds and anything from the trees. There are some lemurs that are omnivores. Those Lemurs will eat lizards, insects, eggs of other animals and small mice.

B. They live in groups of 11-17 and the females are the dominant ones of the groups. If the groups gets bigger than 25 then they tend to break apart and start new groups. The females are sexually receptive for 2 days a year at the most. The breeding season for them is in May and can last for about 3 weeks and they obtain multiple partners during this time

C. The lemurs ability to swing swiftly from tree to tree they also jump from side to side while on the ground, which is not often, this forced adaptation to their environment helps them stay away from predators 

D. 

Spider Monkeys-

A. Spider Monkeys are found in tropical rain forests of Central, South America, Brazil and Mexico.

B. During the day, groups break up into subgroups of two to eight animals. The size of subgroups and the degree to which they avoid each other during the day depends on food competition and the risk of predation. Females rather than males disperse at puberty to join new groups. Males tend to stick together for their whole lives. Hence, males in a group are more likely to be related and have closer bonds than females. The strongest social bonds are formed between females and their young offspring.

C. Spider monkeys find food in the treetops and feast on nuts, fruits, leaves, bird eggs, and spiders.

D. 

     Baboon- 

     

    A. Baboons are found in a ton of different habitats and are extremely adaptable. They generally prefer semiarid habitats, like savannas, but some live in tropical forests. The major requirements for any habitat seem to be water sources and safe sleeping places—either in tall trees or on cliff faces.  Baboons are generally found in dry regions of Africa and Arabia.

B. Baboons are different they live in harems made up of one male and several females and their young. The males are fierce fighters and protect the group. Their group will typically include a younger male, but he will not attempt to mate with the females unless the older male is removed. In the harems of the Hamadryas baboons, the males jealously guard their females, to the point of grabbing and biting the females when they wander too far away. The hamadryas baboon is dependent on water, and is never found far from water sources. Their wild life expectancy is about 30 years. 

C. The males and females are bodily quite different from one another; the male's body could be twice as big as the female. The females have cyclical changes of the external genitalia which include swelling and redness and alert the male that they are sexually receptive. The baboons live in different kids of social groups; colobines live in small groups with very few males while the savanna baboons and most macaque species live in large social structures. Monogamy isn't something baboons practice.

D. 

Gibbon-

A. Gibbons are found in the forest of Southeast Asia.  The climate is warm, humid, and could be generally characterized as monsoonal.

B. The gibbon social structure looks a human marriage: a male, a female, and an offspring and raise their children together but are not necessarily monogamous.Unfortunately, food is a problem for this species making it difficult for this species to thrive. Their social and behavioral aspects of the gibbon has kept the gibbon producing offspring and essentially allowing the species to continue.

C. Gibbons thrive on the rich fruit trees in their tropical range, and are especially fond of figs. They will occasionally supplement their diet with leaves and insects. They are omnivore.

D. 

Chimpanzee- 

A. Chimpanzees live in social communities of several dozen animals, and can habituate themselves to African rain forests, woodlands, and grasslands.

B. After a 230 day pregnancy, female chimpanzees give birth to a single baby once every three or four years, which they will raise by themselves. The infants ride under the mother's body, until they are about 5 months old. Then they ride on the mother's back and leave their mothers after 6 years. 

Adult chimpanzees enjoy the social activity of grooming where they pick through each other’s hair to remove dirt particles. They occasionally fight among themselves, usually to establish their rank within the social group. They are also aggressive toward chimpanzees from other territories and will sometimes kill them.

C. Chimps have long arms, and when extended, they are about 1 ½ their body height. Their arms are longer than their legs. The bonobo is a little shorter and thinner than the common chimpanzee, but has longer limbs. Both species use their long, powerful arms for climbing in trees. Chimpanzees usually walk on all fours using their knuckles to support their bodies. Both the common chimpanzee and bonobo can walk upright on two legs when carrying objects with their hands and arms. The bonobo has proportionately longer upper limbs and tends to walk upright more often than the common chimpanzee. The face, fingers, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are hairless. They do not have a tail. 

D. 

Summary: I think that after my research the lemur and spider monkey have more in common like the things they eat and their habitats. The Chimps, Baboon and Gibbons are more like a human, they eat a lot of the things that we eat and they also have very similar body types as we do. I think that they are all similar in many ways but like I mentioned before, the lemur and spider monkey are the least like a human in the ways they live and their life styles.