Non Human Primates Essay

There are many different species of non-human primates. Each primate has its own characteristics, traits, and behaviors that establish its identity. Throughout history, however, primate species have evolved over time and there have been different research studies to see how primates have evolved. Northern white-cheeked gibbons are one of the closest relatives to human beings. White cheeked gibbon’s characteristics, traits, and behaviors explain the complexity of their species and how they are closely related to other non-human primates as well as human beings. Northern white cheeked gibbons are a species in the genus Nomascus with the scientific name Nomascus leucogenys. Gibbons are classified as apes but known as smaller apes because of …show more content…
They are found swinging in trees or hanging from tree limbs. Gibbons use a system of brachiating in which they swing from branch to branch in trees (Lang). Gibbons have a generalized body plan and their arboreal body makes it well adaptable for them in the canopy of trees (Stanford, et al. 184). Their body size range anywhere from ten to twenty-five pounds and they are under three feet in length (184). They have a flat face, enlarged brain, grasping hands and feet, longer arms than legs, very long fingers, short thumbs, a broad chest, a suspensory shoulder, and no tail (“Gibbons” and Stanford, et al. 184). Their long fingers act like hooks to make them great arm singers in the trees (Lang). They propel themselves into trees with their lower limbs and then swing hand over hand (“Gibbons”). They have the longest arms relative to body size of all species of primates (“Gibbons”). The World Wildlife Fund explains that, “Gibbons are found swinging from tree to tree in distances of up to fifty feet at speeds up to thirty-five miles per hour in trees two hundred feet or higher above the ground” (“Gibbons”). They are small, slender and more acrobatic than other monkeys