Rene Estrada
Prof. Maria Cadena
Anth 101
04/07/15
Primate Observation
	We were assigned with a task to observe primates and choose one to be our focal non-human. The class was able to choose from multiple places to conduct the observation and my choice was the San Diego Zoo. I had never been there before and neither had my family so the trip there was too exciting to pass up. I also went because we had an amazing discount being given to Fullerton College students and the fact my mother was able to get that same discount was a sweet gesture (thank you professor). I had always heard stories about how amazing the zoo was and always saw the promotions for it all over Orange County, so I knew what kind of exhibits to expect. The only other zoo I had been to previously was the Los Angeles zoo in Griffith Park and the San Diego zoo was so much better. It was bigger, had more animals to see and the exhibits were more spacious. All those things made me and my family love that place.
	When I entered the zoo I didn’t know where to start, so I pulled out a map and attempted to make a general path. I tried my best to follow it but the zoo was so big, that I got lost and went in circles a few times. I think I was able to see most of the primates at the zoo because of this fortunate event. As I walked through the zoo I saw: silvered leaf langurs, orangutans, siamangs, western gorillas, wolf’s monkeys, lesser spot-nose monkeys, black mangapeys, angolan colobus monkeys, tufted capuchins, mandrills, schmidt’s red-tail monkeys, red-cheeked gibbons and bonobos. The amount of primates there was amazing!
	The three primates that I found the most interesting while I walked around the zoo and that I will be classifying are the western gorilla, red-cheeked gibbon and the black mangabey. I chose these three because I felt that they were all difference in the sense of how they lived and how they looked. They all had distinct features such as the gibbon having long arms for brachiating, the gorilla’s body, and the mangabey’s having the distinct crests of hair on their heads. These three primates were ones I saw at the zoo and wrote some information about them:
Common Name	Black Mangabey		Common Name	Red-Cheeked Gibbon
Scientific Name	Lophocebus Aterrimus		Scientific Name	Nomascus Gabriellae
Infraorder	Simiiformes		Infraorder	Simiiformes
Superfamily	Cercopithecoidea		Superfamily	Hominoidea
Family	Ceropithecidae		Family	Hylobatidae
Subfamily	Cercopithecinae		Subfamily	N. concolor & N.leucogenys
Genus	Lophocebus		Genus	Nomascus
Species	13		Species	14
Distribution	uncertain		Distribution	unclear
# of animals in exhibit	2		# of animals in exhibit	2
Tail?
Penhensile?	Yes / Yes		Tail?
Penhensile?	None
Relative length of forelimbs to hindlimbs	About the same		Relative length of forelimbs to hindlimbs	Long arms compared to legs
Hand grip used	Power grip		Hand grip used	Power grip
# of each gender in exhibit	1 male, 1 female		# of each gender in exhibit	1 male, 1 female
Age of members	N/A		Age of members	N/A
Sexual dimorphism	1 male many female		Sexual dimorphism	1 male to 1 female for life




Common Name	Gorilla
Scientific Name	Gorilla Gorilla
Infraorder	Simiiformes
Superfamily	Hominoidea
Family	Hominidae
Subfamily	Homininae
Genus	Gorilla
Species	5
Distribution	Continuous
# of animals in
exhibit	8
Tail?
Penhensile?	None
Relative length of
forelimbs to
hindlimbs	Fore limbs longer than hind
Hand grip used	Power Grip
# of each gender
 in exhibit	1 adult male, 4 adult female,
2 young male, 1 young female
Age of members	N/A
Sexual dimorphism	1 male many female

After I wrote down information about three non-focal primates, I focused on collecting data for my observation of my focal primate the mandrill. The mandrill has always been my favorite primate since I remember this is thanks to the film the Lion King. The mandrill (mandrillus) has two difference species and they are M. leucophaeus and M. sphinx with the latter being my choice. While I sat and the exhibit the weather was nearing the mid 80’s and was very sunny. In the exhibit, the number of individuals that the group composed of was four. There was one adult male and three adult females in the group. Their habitat was shared with Schmidt’s red-tail monkeys that stood in the trees. The exhibit itself was very open and very wide. There were a mixture of low trees with thick roots and tall medium sized trees. There were very thick ropes that were improvised vines for the primates that were inside so they could enrich themselves. There were also big boxes inside that were ripped from previous play sessions. The distinctive feature of the male mandrill I observed was an orange beard, a bright sky blue and red nose and thick dark gray hair. In comparison to the females of his group, he had more bright colors to stand out than the general dark colors of the females. From what I saw the mandrills were fed treats that were grinded into a powder and packed into bamboo sticks but I did not see any actual feeding. The mood of the monkey I was observing was very relaxed and calm. It was as if they wanted to be left alone or were being anti-social. Overall, body shape and size I would say fell into the medium-large area. The male was about three times the size of the females which would be indicative of sexual dimorphism by body weight within this species. I was not sure of the age but the zoo said males reach maturity at the age of nine, so the mandrill I observed had to be over nine years old. The only relation there was that I could see within this group was that the three females were mating partners.
During my observation I also tallied how many times the monkey displayed a certain behavior. The time I got there was at 10:45am with the sun directly above and it was about to be lunch time. As I observed the monkey walked a total of six times, sat 12 times, slept six times, climbed once, played once, covered it’s body with the tree trunk ten times, 11 times is scratched itself, it picked at some food twice, self-groomed 5 times, and stood once. As I observed I got the feeling that the mandrill was entering the napping time of its day and was waiting until its next feeding. The first two intervals I recorded were the most active and then third and fourth were when things slowed down. From the fifth up until the eighth is where the monkey rested with some movement and some scratching. The ninth is where it was a bit more alert but that is where I ended my observation at.
The observation and the assignment was very fun. I was able to understand the concepts such as social behaviors, the sexual dimorphism and traits of the primates at the site. I was able to see some of the things from the book and lectures first hand and that really enforced the learning process. I really loved the zoo and the experience was awesome. I liked how many exhibits there were, I liked the atmosphere and I enjoyed being with friends and family at the zoo. The only issue I had was that I saw a dead bird in one of the aviaries and that the gibbon habitat felt a bit small for them. Overall, the trip was a success and I absolutely loved it.