What kinds of monkeys and other primates are naturally vegetarian? Which ones are omnivores? What other mammals are naturally vegetarian… for example, cows.
Any good links or articles would be appreciated.
hippos, giaraffes.
Naturally herbivorous mammals include Lagomorphs (rabbits), Sirenia (manatees and dugongs), Proboscidae (elephants), Perrisodactyla (horses, rhinos, tapirs), Artiodactyla (many critters here), Macripodidae (kangaroos, etc.), Castoridae (beavers), and most of the Cricetid rodents (mice and rats).
Among primates, all of the New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) are herbivorous, as well.
Oh, some omnivores: mongooses, many foxes, bears, badgers, several rodents, many Old World primates, racoons, swine.
Darwin’s Finch (or anyone else)- What are some examples of New World Primates and Old World Primates?
I think the Gorilla and the Lemur are both purely vegetarian. Are these both New World Primates?
Also… why are they called New World and Old World?
Thanks!
‘New World’ refers to the Americas whereas ‘Old World’ refers to pretty much everything else which people in Europe knew about. Gorillas are old world because they live in Africa. If there were a population of gorillas in the Andes that would be a different story.
Comparing new world and old world animals is crucial for researching speciation because these animals had a common ancestor at a known point in history (the last time when monkeys could get from the old world to the new one).
It’s in the dictionary:
New World: western hemisphere
Old World: eastern hemisphere, specifically: Europe
The New World monkeys are so-called because they are found only in the tropical forests of South America, Central America and Mexico. The Old World “monkeys” are those from Africa and Asia (and the island of Gibraltar), and include familiar apes (gorillas, orang-utans, chimpanzees, etc.) and humans. Other Old World monkeys include baboons, colobus monkeys (useful for re-enacting the Civil War 
) and langurs.
Some New World monkeys are marmosets and tamarins, howler monkeys, and capuchins.
Oh, and lemurs generally aren’t considered monkeys, though they are primates.
Has anyone definatively proven which Primate we as humans are closest to?
By ‘closest to’ I mean most similar to in bone structure and other bodily structures including the brain.
As you can see, I know absolutely nothing about Primates.
So thanks for your replies!
“Proven” is a rather absolute term. However, chimpanzees have been determined by most studies to be the closest relative to humans. Here is a good primer for human-ape relationships.
Quick hijack here…
Mr. Finch, my bunnies will eat meat if I give it to them. (Left over chicken and what not.)
Does this mean that I actually DO have Rare Carniverous Attack Rabbits[sup]TM[/sup]?
Alice-
I have a sad story about that, actually…
I wouldn’t feed your rabbits meat. I used to have rabbits. They ate anything, including newspaper. They also ate cabbage, which is very unhealthy for them to eat. I used to feed them cabbage (and meat and other table scraps).
But, according to our veterinarian, its why both of my rabbits died at around age 5 instead of living to be at least 8 or 10 years old. ):
Anyway, meat isn’t part of their natural diet, so it will eventually (not immediately) kill them.
Just feed them regular store-bought bunny food pellets, supplimented by carrots or lettuce.
OK…
back to my questions about Chimpanzees!!!
I read on several sites including this one
http://www.savethechimps.org/facts_eat.asp
that Chimpanzees eat approximately 68% fruit, 28% leaves and shoots, and 4% insects and small prey.
Do Chimpanzees ever hunt for and eat fish or birds?
Yes, indeedy. Apparently Chimpanzee diet varies quite a bit from one locale to another. Some populations are considerably more carnivorous than others, though I’m sure a majority of the diet in all populations is plant matter of one sort or another ( one might make a comparison with the Brown Bear in this regard ). They have been known to stalk and kill both ungulates of various sorts and other primates - Red Colubus monkeys in particular in the report linked below:
http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~stanford/chimphunt.html
- Tamerlane
One of those Time/Life books I had told about chimpanzees occasionally hunting small mammals – “small” including young antelope.
In his book Good to Eat anthropologist Marvin Harris notes that most monkeys eat insects, and claims that they throw away a lot of fruit in disgust because they don’t contain insects (“Waiter, there’s no fly in this soup!”). Such insects form a significant source of protein, and I wonder if evwen your “herbiverous” monkeys aren’t carnivorous insofar as insect-eating.
This is not strictly true. Many feed mainly on fruit, and a few such as howlers mainly feed on leaves. However, some species, such as Capuchins, do eat a lot of insects and even small vertebrates as well as fruit. (A colleague of mine once saw a Capuchin noshing on two baby squirrels it had pulled out of a nest - one in each hand.)
Yes, chimpanzees hunt cooperatively for small prey (including small monkeys). Jane Goodall first observed this behavior in the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream, Tanzania, in the 1960s. Since then it has been observed in other locations.
From her website:
http://www.janegoodall.org/chimps/hunting.html
Quite right…capuchins would probably be better placed with the omnivores. I seem to recall reading somewhere that just about all primate groups have an omnivore amongst them.
Another group to add to the “herbivore” list: sloths (although in captivity, they will also eat boiled eggs).