Sumatran orangutan
Sumatran orangutan[1] | |
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Male Sumatran orangutan | |
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Female Sumatran orangutan | |
Scientific classification | |
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Species: | P. abelii
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Binomial name | |
Pongo abelii Lesson, 1827
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Distribution in Indonesia |
The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer than the Bornean orangutan.
Physical description
The Sumatran orangutan grows to about 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall and 90 kg (200 lb) in males. Females are smaller, averaging 90 cm (3.0 ft) and 45 kg (99 lb). Compared to the Bornean species, Sumatran orangutans are thinner and have longer faces; their hair is longer with a paler red color.[3]
Behaviour and ecology
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Orang-utan_bukit_lawang_2006.jpg/220px-Orang-utan_bukit_lawang_2006.jpg)
Compared with the Bornean orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan tends to be more frugivorous and especially insectivorous.[4] Preferred fruits include figs and jackfruits. It will also eat bird eggs and small vertebrates.[5] Sumatran orangutans spend far less time feeding on the inner bark of trees.
Wild Sumatran orangutans in the Suaq Balimbing swamp have been observed using tools.[6] An orangutan will break off a tree branch that is about a foot long, snap off the twigs and fray one end. It then will use the stick to dig in tree holes for termites. They will also use the stick to poke a bee's nest wall, move it around and catch the honey. In addition, orangutans use tools to eat fruit. When the fruit of the Neesia tree ripens, its hard, ridged husk softens until it falls open. Inside are seeds that the orangutans enjoy eating, but they are surrounded by fiberglass-like hairs that are painful if eaten. A Neesia-eating orangutan will select a five-inch stick, strip off its bark, and then carefully collect the hairs with it. Once the fruit is safe, the ape will eat the seeds using the stick or its fingers. Although similar swamps can be found in Borneo, wild Bornean orangutans have not been seen using these types of tools.
NHNZ filmed the Sumatran orangutan for its show Wild Asia: In the Realm of the Red Ape; it showed one of them using a simple tool, a twig, to pry food from difficult places. There is also a sequence of an animal using a large leaf as an umbrella in a tropical rainstorm.
The Sumatran orangutan is also more arboreal than its Bornean cousin; this could be because of the presence of large predators like the Sumatran Tiger. It moves through the trees by quadrumanous locomotion and semibrachiation.
Life cycle
The Sumatran orangutan is more social than its Bornean counterpart; groups gather to feed on the mass amounts of fruit on fig trees. However, adult males generally avoid contact with other adult males. Subadult males will try to mate with any female, though they probably mostly fail, since mature females are easily capable of fending them off. Mature females prefer to mate with mature males. Male Sumatran orangutans sometimes have a delay of many years in the development of secondary sexual characteristics, such as cheek flanges and muscle mass.[7]
The average interbirth rates for the Sumatran orangutan is 9.3 years, the longest reported among the great apes, including the Bornean orangutan. Infant orangutans will stay close to their mothers for up to three years. Even after that, the young will still associate with their mothers. Both orangutan species are likely to live several decades; estimated longevity is more than 50 years. The average of the first reproduction of P. abelii is around 15.4 years old. There is no indication of menopause.[4]
Nonja, thought to be the world's oldest in captivity or the wild at the time of her death, died at the Miami MetroZoo at the age of 55.[8]
Conservation status
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Orang_utan_and_man.jpg/220px-Orang_utan_and_man.jpg)
The Sumatran orangutan is endemic to Sumatra island and is particularly restricted to the north of the island. In the wild, Sumatran orangutans survive in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), the northernmost tip of Sumatra.[9] The primate was once more widespread, as they were found more to the south in the 19th century such as in Jambi and Padang.[10] There are small populations in the North Sumatra province along the border with NAD, particularly in the Lake Toba forests. A survey in the Lake Toba region found only two inhabited areas, Bukit Lawang (defined as the animal sanctuary) and Gunung Leuser National Park.[11] The species has been assessed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000.[2] It is considered one of "The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates."[12]
A survey in 2004 estimated that around 7,300 Sumatran orangutans still live in the wild.[9] Some of them are being protected in five areas in Gunung Leuser National Park; others live in unprotected areas: northwest and northeast Aceh block, West Batang Toru river, East Sarulla and Sidiangkat. A successful breeding program has been established in Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park in Jambi and Riau provinces.
Genomics
Orangutans have 48 chromosomes.[13] The Sumatran orangutan genome was sequenced in January 2011, based on a captive female named Susie.[14] Following humans and chimpanzees, the Sumatran orangutan has become the third extant hominid[15] species to have its genome sequenced.[14][16]
The researchers also published less complete copies from 10 wild orangutans, five from Borneo and five from Sumatra. The genetic diversity was found to be lower in Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) than in Sumatran ones (Pongo abelii), despite the fact that Borneo is home to six or seven times as many orangutans as Sumatra. The comparison has shown these two species diverged around 400,000 years ago, more recently than was previously thought. The orangutan genome also has fewer rearrangements than the chimpanzee/human lineage.[14]
See also
References
- ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ a b Template:IUCN2008
- ^ Primate Info Net: Orangutan Pongo
- ^ a b S. A. Wich; S. S. Utami-Atmoko; T. M. Setia; H. D. Rijksen; C. Schürmann, J.A.R.A.M. van Hooff and C. P. van Schaik (2004). "Life history of wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)". Journal of Human Evolution. 47 (6): 385–398. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.08.006. PMID 15566945.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Science & Nature - Wildfacts - Sumatran orangutan". BBC. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
- ^ Zimmer, Carl. "Tooling through the trees - tool use by wild orangutans" Discover Magazine, November 1995.
- ^ Pradhan, Maria A. van Noordwijk1, Carel van Schaik1, 2012A model for the evolution of developmental arrest in male orangutans
- ^ "'World's oldest' orang-utan dies". BBC News. 31 December 2007.
- ^ a b Singleton, I., S. Wich, S. Husson, S. Stephens, S. Utami Atmoko, M. Leighton, N. Rosen, K. Traylor-Holzer, R. Lacy, O. Byers (2004). "Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Assessment". Final Report. IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CSG). IUCN.
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: Unknown parameter|booktitle=
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Rijksen, H. D. (1978). "A Field Study on Sumatran Orang utans (Pongo pygmaeus abelli, Lesson 1827)". Ecology, Behavior and Conservation. Wageningen: Veenaman and Zonen.
- ^ S. A. Wich; I. Singleton; S. S. Utami-Atmoko; M. L. Geurts; H. D. Rijksen; and C. P. van Schaik (2003). "The status of the Sumatran orang-utan Pongo abelii: an update". Flora & Fauna International. 37 (1): 49. doi:10.1017/S0030605303000115.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Oates, R.A.; Wallis, J.; Rylands, A.B.; Ganzhorn, J.U.; Schwitzer, J.F.; Supriatna, E.A.; Palacios, E.; Heymann, E.W.; Kierulff, M.C.M.; Roos, C.; Walker, S.; Cortés-Ortiz, L., eds. (2009). "Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates 2008–2010" (PDF). Illustrated by S.D. Nash. Arlington, VA.: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), and Conservation International (CI): 1–92. ISBN 978-1-934151-34-1.
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and|editor-last=
specified (help); More than one of|editor1-link=
and|editor-link=
specified (help) - ^ Sharshov, Alexander. "New Page 1". SB RAS Novobrisk. Institute of Cytology and Genetics. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^ a b c Singh, Ranjeet (26 January 2011). "Orang-utans join the genome gang". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2011.50. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
- ^ Spencer, Geoff (26 January 2011). "NIH-funded scientists publish orangutan genome sequence". National Institutes of Health News. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^ Cohen, Jon (26 January 2011). "Orangutan Genome Full of Surprises". Science Now. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
External links
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