Adaption

How do we adapt ourself?


Orangutans spend almost all of their day in the tree canopy
so it is no surprise that they have adapted to live in the trees.

The arm length of an Orangutan is 7 feet
which allows them to hang on to branches and support themselves.

Although Orangutans are considered brachiators,
arm swinging with feet used as support, they are very cautious climbers and use any combination of their four grasping extremities. The term Brachiator is used loosely with Orangutans since they never jump or drop from tree limb to limb.

Orangutans suspend their weight
from their arms and tree sway using trees like a pole vault.

Orangutans possess a more fully opposable big toe and a highly mobile hip.
This adaptation is a consequence of their primary Arboreal, spend time in the tree canopy lifestyle.

"Fist Walking" method
of walking Quadrupedally is done by curling the thumb around their fist and as the name implies, walking on their fists.

The replacement of sharp claws
by flattened nails. Biologists believe that this adaptation led to the development of highly sensitive tactile pads on the phalanges.

Orangutans can also use separate power & precision grips,
and possess separate control of all their fingers.

Orangutans have been observed
manufacturing and using tools, acquiring basic language skills such as sign language, and solving problems using insight and reasoning

Orangutans living in the wild have been seen using sticks
to extract termites from trees and use large leaves as umbrellas when it is raining heavily.




How do adult male adapt?

The adult male Orangutan possess cheek pads and a drooping laryngeal throat pouch. These characteristics are not only intimidating to other Orangutans, but they also help the male Orangutan with his long call. Male Orangutans give off "long calls" that will notify other Orangutans of the male's location in the forest and keep other competing males from approaching the area .The cheek pads of adult males are believed to increase the distance of their long call and the massive size creates a convincing threat to their challengers. These pads are made up of subcutaneous collections of fibrous tissue between the eyes and ears.


Thanks to : bioweb