Facts About Ape

The term ‘ape’ refers to the large group of Homioidea superfamily of pirates. Apes consist of gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans and gibbons. Though all these varieties belong to the same group of apes, they have several differences among them. For instance, gibbons are monogamous and territorial pair-bonders, while orangutans mainly live alone. Gorillas wander in small troops, under a single male leader and the chimpanzees generally live in larger troops. Gorillas and chimpanzees inhabit the tropical Africa, whereas orangutans are generally found in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo. Apes, in general, are the most intelligent of all the animals found on earth. They resemble human beings in most of their features and even in their behavior. Certain species of apes have been declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as 'Endangered' or 'Critically Endangered. In this article we bring you some really interesting facts and amazing information on apes.

Facts About Ape

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Suborder: Haplorrhini

Parvorder: Catarrhini

Superfamily: Hominoidea

Families: Six

Diet: Omnivorous

Interesting & Amazing Information On Apes

Apes are basically of two types - anthropoid apes or great apes and hylobatinae or lesser apes. Gorillas, chimpanzees, pygmy chimpanzees and orangutans belong to the group of great apes, whereas gibbons (with several different species) are referred to as the lesser apes.
Apes are often referred to as the “humanlike” creatures, which share a lot of similarities with the human beings.
Though apes mostly feed on the plant vegetation, they also consume eggs, insects, small mammals and birds.
While, female monkeys go through the estrous cycle, great apes, go through a menstrual cycle like human beings.
Apes have a skeletal structure similar to that of humans and also lots of similarities with regard to their organs and muscles.
The pelvis of is similar to that of monkeys, which allows them to walk on all four legs. Hence, they use knuckle-walking for ground locomotion.
Apes have broad and flat chests. They can move their shoulders up and backward from their shoulders.
Gibbons are the only apes that have buttock callosities, which is the characteristic trait in old world monkeys.
Apes keep their bodies in both semi-upright and upright position, when they are resting as well as during their locomotion.
The arms of apes are longer than their legs. Their hands are similar to human hands, only the fingers and thumb are of equal length.
Apes do not have tails and the cheek pouches commonly found in the monkeys are also absent.
The eyes of apes are highly developed, with stereoscopic color vision.
Apes have large brains, which make them the most intelligent animals on earth. The brain of a gorilla weighs around 600 grams and chimpanzees and orangutans have their brain weighing around 400 grams.
Among the apes, chimpanzees are the most intelligent and can be easily be taught certain man tasks, even to communicate.
Except for gorillas, all true apes are extremely efficient in climbing trees.
Gorilla is the largest ape and an adult male one weighs around 275 kilograms. It can be almost six feet tall, when it stands up.
Gibbon is the smallest ape, which has a weight of around 10 kilograms and height of around 3 feet.
Adult male apes inflate their throat pouch and produce a characteristic sound that can be heard from over a kilometer.
The reproduction rates of apes are very slow and the females give birth every 6 to 7 years.
Apes can be found in tropical rainforests throughout the western and central Africa and also Southeast Asia. The Orangutans can only be found in Asia, where as the chimpanzees are found mostly in west and central Africa. The gorillas inhabit central Africa, and gibbons are the inhabitants of Southeast Asia.

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