Planent of the Apes...With different Locomotor skills!

1. Lemurs
a. Lemurs are only found on the Comoro and Madagascar Islands.
Some have been found to live in the dry and hot areas but the     majority live in the rainforest where it is overgrown and there are plenty of tree and more food. Lemurs like to eat mostly flowers, leaves and insects. They adapt very easily so they use any environment to their advantage.

b. A lemur's locomotor pattern is how it jumps from branch to branch on the trees balancing themselves with their extra long tails. Unlike their primate cousins, lemurs use their arms and legs only to grab onto branches.

c. Lemur's locomotor patterns have adapted with the environment by the way their tails are used to provide them with more balance instead of being used as an extra limb. Also, how their arms and legs have adapted to move them swiftly and efficiently from treetop to treetop.


2. Spider Monkey
a. They are typically found in the tropical rain forests around Mexico, and South and Central America. Like the lemur, the spider monkey finds its meals in the trees. They like to eat spiders, fruit, bird eggs and plants. As a survival technique, the spider monkey has acquired a loud screech to alert of danger, which can echo throughout the forest.

b. Their locomotor pattern is the way they use all five limbs to travel; two arms, two legs, and one strong tail. They have an abbreviated thumb and long fingers to assure a tight grip on the branches. They also use their tail to grip onto branches if they need a little extra reach.

c. Adaption has occurred do to the tall forest environment, by making their tails a truly useful limb, helping with travel and food collection. By having the tail, the spider monkey is able to hang from a branch and collect food with both hands and feet if necessary. Their elongated fingers also gift them with speed and agility.

 3. Baboon
a. The majority of baboons love dry climates and can be seen in the Savanna but some have also been known to hang around the rain forest. They eat simply; fruits, grass, birds and rodents. Unlike the lemurs and spider monkeys, baboons like to hangout on the ground but they do venture into a tree for sleep and protection from predators.

b. Baboons walk on the ground on all fours or quadrupedally. They are semi-terrestrial creatures which means they walk on ground during the day and by night they climb the tress to sleep, which is the main reason they don't require a tail. They don't have a long tail like their primate cousins because they don't need it for travel or for balance because they are always on the ground.

c. Environment plays a big part in the baboons adaption because unlike the other primates he doesn't need a tail to swing from the trees. He only sleeps in the trees so he has a big butt instead so he can sit on his rock and branches.


4. Gibbons
a. Also known as a lesser ape, do to their small frame, the gibbons are found in the sub-tropical and tropical rain forests of South, East and Southeast Asia. They enjoy anything from birds and their eggs to spiders and flowers and fruits. They live solely in the treetops and are quick in transport and to avoid predators.

b. Gibbons locomotor patterns appears more advanced than those of his primate cousins in their ability to walk upright (using their arms like a tightrope walker to keep balance) on branches. But majority of the time they brachiate or swing under branches with a hand over hand motion.

c. The gibbons adapted to their environment by having strong, long arms to keep them traveling through the treetops to find food and shelter. There is really no necessity to go to the ground for any reason but their ability to walk upright helps them avoid predators when they are lower to the ground.

5. Chimpanzee
a. They can be found in the woodlands, grasslands, and rain forests of Africa. Chimps mostly feast on fruits and plants in true vegetarian form. They live their lives very nonchalant and peaceful, roaming their territories day in and day out.

b. The locomotor patterns of a chimpanzee is mostly walking around. Walking upright or walking on all fours (called knuckle walkers, same as gorillas). With their long and strong arms they can also swing from branches to travel, find food, or to sleep in trees.

c. They adapted to their environment by being able to swing from trees as well as being able to walk both upright and quadrupedally, which helps them in both the grasslands and the forests and for both leisure and survival.


Each primate has distinctive but very similar traits but do to their completely different environments, they have adapted or enhanced certain traits to work in their favor. Which leads me to believe that environment has drastic influence on traits of a certain species. We see in each of these primates how hands and feet are used in different ways depending on location and tail usage or lack there of. Its very interesting to see the differences and similarities in traits in such similar but opposite animals.