Geographical Distribution and Habitats
With just a couple of exceptions, nonhuman primates are found in tropical or semitropical areas of the New and Old Worlds. In the New World, these areas include southern Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America. Old World primates are found in Africa, India, Southeast Asia (including numerous islands), and Japan . Even though most nonhuman primates are arboreal and live in forest or woodland habitats, some Old World monkeys (for example, baboons) spend much of the day on the ground. The same is true for the African apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos). Nevertheless, all nonhuman primates spend some time in the trees, especially when sleeping.
The great apes include the orangutans (Pongo) from Asia and Gorillas (Gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan) from Africa. The The prosimians are subdivided into three major groups: the lemuroids, which are restricted to Madagascar (more than 30 species are represented, belonging to five different families); the lorisoids, which are found throughout tropical Africa and Asia; and the tarsioids (tiny primates) (weighing only about 120 g), which inhabit the islands of Southeast Asia (all belong to a single genus, Tarsius). The platyrrhines from South and Central America are a diverse group of primates comprising more than 50 species and 16 genera. All members of the suborder Ceboidea (NWM/platyrrhines) are arboreal. They are widely distributed throughout tropical forests extending from Mexico to northern Argentina. The catarrhines include all anthropoid primates from Africa, Asia, and Europe. The Old World monkeys are widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia. They also occur in the extreme southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, northwest Africa, Gibraltar (their only European record), and East Asia.
Apes
The gibbons and siamang (Hylobates) are the smallest of the pongids (4–11 kg or 9–24 lb), and for this reason they are sometimes referred to as the lesser apes. The nine or so species are common throughout the tropical rain forests, and the semi deciduous mountain forests of Southeast Asia. They are known for their remarkably longer arms than in any other primates, which are 30–50% longer than their legs. This is related to their highly specialised mode of locomotion called brachiation by which they swing below the tree branches using only their forelimbs. Gibbons are fruit eaters, while the diet of larger siamangs incorporates a higher proportion of leaves. orangutan is restricted to the tropical rainforests of Borneo and northern Sumatra. They are large, arboreal primates and climb cautiously through the trees using all four limbs for support. Orangutans subsist mainly on fruits .
The Gorillas are the largest of the hominoids found in tropical Africa. Because of their huge size, gorillas are almost completely terrestrial, although females and young individuals frequently climb trees. They often build nests on the ground. Gorillas move quadrupedally. Like the chimpanzees, their hands are specialised for knuckle-walking when the weight of the animal is borne on the upper surface of the middle joints of the fingers. They are of two types: mountain Gorillas and lowland Gorillas. Mountain Gorillas eat a variety of leaves, stems, and roots, while the lowland gorillas eats a larger proportion of fruits. They live in groups which consists of a dominant male, several adult females, sub adults, and infants. There are two species of Chimpanzees, the common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee (Pan panicus). The common chimpanzee is far and wide distributed in the forests and woodlands stretching across equatorial Africa. The pygmy chimpanzee is limited to the tropical rainforests of the Congo. Both species make nests and feed in trees, but they by and large travel on the ground. Common chimpanzees have eclectic diets, including meat, which they get hold of by hunting small to medium-sized mammals. Tool-using behaviours are common among them and more than a dozen simple tool types have been recognised. Chimpanzees are gregarious and sociable animals. They live in communities where there are many males that divide into smaller subgroups for foraging.