Monkeys, apes, and our closest relatives.
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
How do gorillas support their weight on their hands when moving on all fours?
Gorillas place their weight on the third and fourth digits of their curled hands while knuckle-walking.
Modern taxonomy places tarsiers in which major primate branch?
The older "prosimian" label grouped tarsiers with lemurs, but modern evidence links them more closely to monkeys and apes.
Which primate group includes gibbons and siamangs?
Gibbons are smaller than great apes, but they share the ape hallmark of having no external tail.
Fruit-eating orangutans help forests regenerate mainly by:
A swallowed seed may land far from its parent tree, escaping the crowd of seedlings beneath the crown.
How do sifakas usually cross open ground when trees offer no route?
Long hind legs suit tree-to-tree leaps, so sifakas hold their arms up for balance during ground hops.
Wild capuchins pair hammerstones with what second tool to crack hard nuts?
Some capuchin groups use hammer-and-anvil stones while other populations never adopt the tradition.
How do sifakas usually cross open ground between trees?
Long, powerful hind legs that launch sifakas between trunks also drive their dance-like ground hops.
Which primate group includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans?
Orangutans live in Asia, while every other nonhuman great ape lives in Africa.
Which diet sets tarsiers apart from every other living primate?
Tarsiers eat no plant matter, making them the only entirely carnivorous primates.
Gibbons use which movement to travel quickly through a forest canopy?
Long arms, hook-like hands, and flexible shoulders make gibbons expert brachiators.