First Day Of Spring 2012 Semester

Things are going to get hectic again as I start another semester towards my Masters degree. I'm taking 3 classes this semester. While it doesn't seem to be a lot, there will be quite a number of readings and assignments needed to be done for these classes so I am perfectly happy graduating a year or one semester later if it means I get to keep my sanity in the process. Two classes that I look forward to this semester is Ethology, and Animal Welfare. Obviously, if you know me, you know I hate Math so having to take Statistics classes for 4 semester is absolute torture for me. I'm taking my 3rd Statistic class this semester (Blergh!).

I had my first class today in the Animal Welfare class. My professor asked us to draw an animal that represents  us, and why. So, I drew a hamadryas baboon (of course!). I like them because they are adaptable and they have a luxurious mane (only in males). Yes, I said luxurious mane. How gay is THAT?

Miller's Grizzled Langurs, thought to be extinct, have been rediscovered

More good news heading our way. Another primate who was thought to be extinct has now been rediscovered in the jungles of Borneo. Published in the latest edition of American Journal of Primatology, the Miller's Grizzled Langur (Presbytis hosei carnicrus) was rediscovered in Wehea Forest, an area outside of its known range. Thought to have gone extinct as early as 2004, subsequent expedition in 2008 in search of P.h. carnicrus was to no avail, supporting the hypothesis that this species had went extinct.

There was virtually no photographs of Miller's Grizzled Langurs except from museum sketches.
Illustration by Stephen Nash, from Mammals' Planet.

Call it the luck of the draw. The scientific team who photographed these langurs initially set up camera traps to take pictures of clouded leopards, orangutans and other critter that congregate on salt licks. Then they discovered that the camera traps had taken photos of langurs that they have never seen before. Until now, there was no photograph of this species ever in existence; only images from museum sketches. Based on these museum sketches, the team later confirmed that the langurs from the photos are indeed P. h. carnicrus.

Brent Loken, one of the lead researchers, was excited about this rediscovery, "We were all pretty ecstatic. The fact that, wow, this monkey still lives, and also that it's in Wehea ... While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world's most endangered primates".

A Miller's Grizzled Langur. Photo by Eric Fell, from EurekAlert!

A Miller's Grizzled Langur. Photo by Eric Fell, from EurekAlert!

 A video from Scientific American shows time-lapse photos of these langurs at the salt licks.

 For more, read:

'Extinct' monkey rediscovered in Borneo by new expedition on EurekAlert!

'Extinct' monkey rediscovered in Indonesia jungle on The Guardian

Extremely Rare Primate, Believed Nearly Extinct, Discovered in Remote Borneo Forest on Planet Save.
Nearly Extinct Primate Rediscovered in Borneo [Video] on Scientific American

The paper, titled "Discovery of Miller’s Grizzled Langur (Presbytis hosei canicrus) in Wehea Forest confirms the continued existence and extends known geographical range of an endangered primate" is supposed to have went live but I couldn't find it. I will update this page with a URL for the paper once it's available.

Meat-Eating in Sumatran Orangutans

Caught in the act. Mother and infant Sumatran Orangutan sharing their kill, a slow loris.
Photo from NewScientist.

Well, well, well ... it seems like we have another great ape species who can't stay on a vegetarian diet. I mean, who in their right mind would want be an obligate herbivore right? Right? Actually ... contrary to popular belief, orangutans are not strictly frugivores (fruit eater). They also subsist on plant parts (leaves, buds, flowers, bark, sap, etc) and the occasional bird eggs and insects. Thus it came as to no surprise for me that some orangutans have acquired taste for meat. A varied diet is a good diet. A flexible diet in response to scarce food resources is an even better diet! Yes, I'm looking at you Giant Panda. Eat something else will ya? Edit: A rep from Giant Pandas did confirm that they do eat something else.

Sumatran Orangutans (Pongo abelii) are not the first great ape to have a taste for meat. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) from Gombe Stream National Park were observed hunting and eating red colobus monkeys (Colobus badius tephrosceles) by Dr. Jane Goodall while savannah chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Fongoli have been observed hunting and eating lesser bushbabies (Galago senegalensis) by Dr. Jill Pruetz.






A new paper published in International Journal of Primatology, Behavioral, Ecological, and Evolutionary Aspects of Meat-Eating by Sumatran Orangutans (Pongo abelii), by Hardus et al. (2012) describes 3 rare cases of meat-eating by a mother and infant dyad Sumatran Orangutans. This pair was observed eating slow lorises (Nycticebus coucang), which the authors posit that meat-eating is a fallback strategy when food source (ripe fruits) are scarce. 
The authors also touched on very fundamental yet intriguing questions about meat-eating and hominid evolution in this paper. What are the minimum time on chewing is necessary for an adult female Australopithecus africanus to reach its daily energy requirement when subsisting partially on raw meat?  How did meat became a substantial component of hominid diet?

A. africanus needs 1202–1507 calories per day for their daily energy requirement. By using the chewing rate of P. abelii as a model, the authors estimate that A. africanus have to chew about 2 hours on raw meat to achieve 25% of their caloric needs while the remaining 75% were subsisted from easier to chew food sources such as leaves and insects.  Raw meat does not seem to be an efficient way to satisfy caloric needs but seemed to be a "fallback" resource when other food source are scarce. As to when meat became a substantial component of hominid diet, it is probably after the "discovery" of fire by Homo erectus. Cooked meat are easier to chew and provides more nutrient than from raw meat. The rate of mastication also decreases because most fibers within raw meat are broken down after it's cooked.

This post is under SOPA/PIPA lockdown

Images of Live Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey Finally Revealed

Two years ago, a new species of snub nosed monkey was described by scientists and was named Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri). When it was first described, there were no image of living specimen of this species in existence. The team who described this new species illustrated the new species based on field sightings and a dead carcass retrieved from a local village before it goes to the dinner table.

Myanmar snub-nosed monkeys. Illustrated based on field sightings and a dead carcass.
 Image from Martin Aveling/Fauna & Flora International.

Recently, researchers from Fauna & Flora International (FFI), Biodiversity And Nature Conservation Association (BANCA) and People Resources and Conservation Foundation (PRCF) were able to use camera traps to capture photos of these elusive monkeys from the mountains of Kachin State in Burma., near China.

The pelage of R. strykeri is entirely black except for a white tuft on their ears, chin beard and the perineal end. It has a relatively long tail, about 140% of its body. R. strykeri is the first species of the Rhinopithecus genus to be found in Myanmar. The other four species (R. roxellana, R. bieti, R. brelichi and R. avunculus) are found in China and Vietnam. R. strykeri's range is limited only to the Maw River area. There are estimated about 260 to 330 individuals of R. strykeri left in the wild, making them Critically Endangered according to IUCN.

Not much else is known about this elusive species besides some field sightings and knowledge from the locals. According to the locals, the upturned nose of these monkeys caused them to sneeze when it rains. This is a fatal giveaway because hunters are able to find the location of these elusive monkeys. To avoid getting rain water into their nose, R. strykeri would sit with their heads tucked in between their legs.

One of the images of Myanmar snub-nosed monkey captured by camera traps.
Photo credit: FFI/BANCA/PRCF

These images are surprisingly eerie especially since they are in black and white, and that these monkeys just seem so ... out of this world given that they have little to no nose (hence named snub nosed). Some have nicknamed these monkeys "Michael Jackson" monkeys, for obvious reason.

One of the images of Myanmar snub-nosed monkey captured by camera traps. Image shows what appears to be two adults and two offspring. Are these two adults mothers carrying their offspring?  
Photo credit: FFI/BANCA/PRCF

There are more images of P. strykeri on the Huffington Post site:  Myanmar Snub-Nosed Monkey Photos Reveal Recently Discovered Primate