Trivia question for Aug-26-2011

Carter was amazed at some of the facts he learned about these primates.  Check out his trivia and see if you learn anything new.  Their blood-red patches of naked skin on the throat and chest single out this particular type of baboon from its relatives.

These guys are large and robust. It is covered with buff to dark brown coarse hair and has a dark face with pale eyelids. Its arms and feet are nearly black. Its tail is shorter than its body and has a tuft of hair at the end. Adult males have a long, heavy cape of hair on their back. They have a hairless face that is shorter and higher than in most baboons and its snout is more like that of a chimpanzee.

Adults have a diverse repertoire of vocalizations. There are vocalizations for contact, reassurance, appeasement, solicitation, ambivalence, aggression and defense. Vocalizations are often combined into sequences. Contact calls may provide social functions. They sit around and chatter at each other, signifying to those around that they matter, in a way, to the individual “speaking”.

So here are Carter’s questions:  Tell us what type of baboon this is and where they can be found?  Also, the diet of these guys is unique to all other types of primates.  Tell us what makes up 90 to 95% of their diet?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Carter is all smiles because no one was able to figure out what type of Baboon we featured. The ferocious looking primate is called a Gelada Baboon. The gelada, sometimes called the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, with large populations in the Semien Mountains. Theropithecus is derived from the Greek root words for “beast-ape.” Like its close relatives the baboons, it is largely terrestrial, spending much of its time foraging in grasslands.

Geladas are the only primates that are primarily graminivores and grazers – grass blades make up to 90% of their diet. They eat both the blades and the seeds of grasses. When both blades and seeds are available, geladas prefer the seeds. They also eat flowers, rhizomes and roots when available, using their hands to dig for the latter two. They also consume herbs, small plants, fruits, creepers, bushes and thistles. Insects can be eaten, but only rarely and only if they can easily be obtained. During the dry season, grasses are eaten less and herbs are preferred. Geladas consume their food more like ungulates than primates and can chew their food as effectively as zebras.  Here is more on these primates: Gelada Baboon

Thanks for playing along 😉