Red Howler Monkey

This young red howler, Alouatta seniculus, has not yet grown the long black beard its elders wear and may not live long enough to do so. A new male that moves in to dominate a troop often kills young members already present. Despite this seemingly counterproductive breeding strategy, the howler monkey is one of the most widely distributed New World primates. It is successful largely because of its ability to survive on nutrient- and sugar-poor leaves, a diet more abundant than that of other species.

Aldo Brando Leon/Oxford Scientific Films/BBC Natural History Sound Library. All rights reserved.

Gibbon

This one-month-old gibbon will not be self-sufficient for three or four years and will remain with its family group even after that. Gibbons spend most of their lives in the treetops, sleeping unsheltered but invisible among the leaves. They are noted for their fear of water. Habitat destruction and the capture of their young for food and pets have placed two species, Kloss’s gibbon and the pileated gibbon, on the endangered species list.

Jerry Young/Dorling Kindersley/BBC Natural History Sound Library. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Modern Primates

The order Primata consists of two suborders, prosimians and anthropoids. Anthropoids arose from the descendants of early prosimians, but prosimians themselves have changed very little in 50 million years. Characteristics shared by primates include opposable thumbs (and usually big toes), frontally directed eyes with binocular vision, large and convoluted brains, and complex social behaviour.

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