Cebids exhibit a range of social structures from monogamous pairs to large polygamous groups. The family Cebidae is an extremely diverse group comprising an enormous array of morphological types adapted to a wide range of arboreal, ecological niches in the tropical and subtropical evergreen forests of South America. Royal Zoological Society of Scotland FAMILY CEBIDAE They live mostly in groups comprising monogamous breeding pairs and their offspring.Ģ. The ability to eat and digest gum is useful in times when other food stuffs are in short supply and allows certain species to survive in harsh environments.Īll species of marmosets and tamarins are diurnal and strongly territorial. They then lick up the small droplets of gum and sap with their tongues. Marmosets are particularly well adapted for this: they anchor their upper incisors into the bark of the trees and make holes for the gum to seep out by gouging upwards with the lower incisors. Marmosets and tamarins have varied diets of fruit, leaves, buds, flowers, nectar, insects, spiders, frogs, snails and lizards. Callitrichids are highly adapted to an arboreal existence: their small size and sharp claws enable them to cling to vertical trunks and branches and run up the sheer sides of the trees in which they live. They are unusual monkeys in that they normally give birth to twins, all their digits end in a sharp claw with the exception of the first toe which has a nail and they are the only monkeys to have reduced their dentition by the loss of molar teeth. The colourful marmosets and tamarins are easily recognised by their diminutive size, diversely coloured coats and a wide range of tufts, manes and crests. Male howler monkeys have a greatly expanded larynx which is used to make the howling noises that give these monkeys their name. The difference between the skulls of males and females is not pronounced as in the skulls of Old World Monkeys with the exception of the skulls of male and female howler monkeys. The formula for marmosets is I2/2 C1/1 P3/3 M2/2 = 32 and for cebid monkeys is I2/2 C1/1 P3/3 M3/3 = 36. The dental formulae of the two families differ from each other and from the dental formulae of Old World monkeys and apes. The tendency for these monkeys to eat leaves is reflected in the deep lower jaw. The two halves of the lower jaw are fused together and the body of the jaw is typically deep. Their skulls, like those of other monkeys, have large and globular brain cases. SKULLS AND DENTITIONĪll platyrrhines have flat faces, their orbits face forward and there is a virtually complete plate behind the orbit. New World monkeys belong to two families: the family Callitrichidae, the very small marmosets and tamarins, and the family Cebidae, a diverse group of large monkeys. Their big toes are large and strongly opposable but their thumbs are imperfectly opposable and their fingers cannot grip well. In some groups, the tails are prehensile with a sensitive pad on the tip and serve as a fifth limb. SUBORDER HAPLORHINI INFRAORDER PLATYRRHINI NEW WORLD MONKEYSĬalled platyrrhines because their nostrils are far apart, wide open and face outwards, South American monkeys are also distinguished by long, well-developed tails.
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