Great Apes

You never know when we will pop up with cool primate info!
Currently the Twitter account for Colorado College's Primate Behavior, Ecology, & Conservation class

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Hello, Twitterverse! This is primatologist Emmie Weprin. Over the course of the next week, I will be taking you on a journey with me as we observe and learn more about the exciting world of primates #primateparty

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

This difference could be due to many variables. It may be disorientation due to captivity but it also may be that, like humans, there is not a constant schedule. This behavior also informs a lot about group behavior and how uniform it is in their lives.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

I wanted to hop back on and share a little more about my observations. After being removed by a few days I wanted to share more about the sleeping behaviors of the ring-tailed lemurs.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Ring-Tailed Lemurs are largely well known because they are diurnal. It was interesting that I when I last observed them, every single on was sleeping while on the same time a few days prior this was not the behavior.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

But I still had a great week talking with everyone about Ring-Tailed Lemurs. Until next time.... #primateparty

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

#sleepinglemurs Though it was my goal today to be able to confirm my observations from Wednesday, most of the Lemurs were sleeping. I was able to see some play behavior which was continuous with my previous findings! My observations today were not what I would have hoped

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

#primatepartyfinale today is the final day of observations. I will be searching for conclusions about the social behavior of the Ring-Tailed Lemurs. Do my observations hold up, are there social behaviors I missed, and what conclusions can be made? Let's find out!

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

The Ring-Tail Lemurs had one of the most open enclosers both among primates and all animals at the zoo. There were many trees and easy movement between an indoor and outdoor encloser. There are many Lemurs who shared this space it makes sense that they had less apparent distress.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

In addition to the other behavioral traits that I observed yesterday, it is also necessary to discuss the implications of being in a zoo. Many of the animals and primates at the zoo were clearly in distress, but that was not the case with the Ring-Tailed Lemurs.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

It was clear that the animals were distressed based on their behavior. They were pacing and making alarm calls were some of the most common of these behaviors. This was true among other primates like Gorillas and the Gibbons at the zoo.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

The locomotion among the Ring Tailed Lemurs was fascinating. There was quadrupedal arboreal movement nearly the entire time that I was observing the group. Though I a large part of this could be the minimal terrestrial space in the encloser.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

#todayistheday We are at the zoo! Typically when primatologists observe behavior they use an ethogram which is a chart that includes a number of behavioral traits. When I recorded my data I use instantaneous sampling

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Today when looking at the Ring Tailed Lemurs and observing their behavior one of the key traits on the ethogram is leaping as a form of locomotion. This was a trait that I recorded happening

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

One of the fascinating observations I had while watching this relationship was the independence of juveniles. In primates, the relationship between mother and child is important in social life. There was much more play among juveniles, which was a behavior added to the ethogram.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

The group of Ring Tailed Lemurs that was at the zoo included many infants so understanding both play behavior and mother-infant relationships are also a key part of the ethogram. Every time that there was an interaction I would record that data.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Teacher Emmie back at it with the postorbital bar! The postorbital bar is the little bone above your eye, strepsirrhines don't have that helps to protect the eye. Strepsirrhines have a greater reliance on smell which is why they don't have this trait that many other primates have

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Teacher Emmie here to explain what a toothcomb is! It is located on the lower incisor. Typically it’s used for grooming but it can also be used to help get gum from trees. Plus it gets even cooler because there is a second tongue that is solely for cleaning this tooth comb.

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

The Lemurs have a few unique physical characteristics: they have a wet noise just like a dog, they have a tooth comb on their lower incisor, they don’t have a postorbital closer, and they make their own vitamin C which is so COOL! #toocoolforschool

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

Strepsirrhines 101: Strepsirrhines are the category of primate that includes Lemurs and Lorises. Lemurs are located exclusively on Madagascar (in the primate world we call them Malagasy lemurs) and Lorises live in South East Asia. #lemursandlorises

[Great Apes @GreatApeTweets]

We are getting even closer to going into the field. We will be focusing on the strepsirrhines in captivity!! What does this mean for their behavior and social interactions? Let’s find out together! #zooday