Apes, Lorises, Macaques and Langurs
Apes, Lorises, Macaques and Langurs seems to belong from same class.
Apes
Both in apes and monkeys, the cerebral hemisphere is well developed. These animals are diurnal in nature.
Gorilla is the largest primate and grows to a height of up to 1.8 meters and has a body weight of about 200 kg. In India, there are no greater apes.
They differ from monkeys in following features:
- Absence of tail
- Usage of their arms to swing through the trees
Great Apes
Great Apes group comprises chimpanzee, gorilla and orang-utan.
Lesser Apes
The Gibbon present in India is the example for this animal group. The only gibbon present in India is Hoolock gibbon (Hylobates hoolock). These are found in forests of Assam state and Chittagong.
Lesser Apes stand erect like man and walks erect many times, with stretched hands as balancing organs. These are also called as the white browed gibbons.
Lorises
There are two types of lorises in India:
- Slender loris (Loris tardigradus): These animals are present in south India.
- Slow loris ( Nycticebus coucang):These animals are present in northeastern parts of India. These lorises in general have large sized eyes. Hence, they are some times hunted and products from them are associated with the belief on improvement of eyesight.
Macaques
- Bonnet macaque (Macaca radiate): Present in south India
- Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta): Present in north India
- Lion tailed macaque (Macaca silenus): Present in Tamilnadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
- Assamese macaque (Macaca assamensis)
- Pig tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina)
- Stump tailed macaque (Macaca speciosa)
Langurs
