Orangutans[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Hominidae Subfamily: Ponginae Elliot, 1912 Genus: Pongo Lacépède, 1799
Type species
Pongo pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760
Orangutan distribution
Species
Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii

The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence, long arms and reddish-brown hair. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye Daniel Giraud Elliot ( March 7, 1835 - December 22, 1915) was an American Zoologist. Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon comte de Lacépède or La Cépède ( December 26, 1756 &ndash October 6, 1825) was In biology a type is that which fixes a name to a Taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question a type may be a specimen The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of Orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as, May 23 new style (13 May old style 1707 who laid the foundations for In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of Orangutan native to the island of Borneo. The Sumatran Orangutan ( Pongo abelii) is the rarer of the two species of Orangutans Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, though fossils have been found in Java, Vietnam and China. The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. For the biogeographical region see Malesia Malaysia (məˈleɪʒə or /məˈleɪziə/ is a country that consists of thirteen states and Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470000 km² and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two FOSSIL is a standard protocol for allowing serial communication for Telecommunications programs under the DOS Operating system. Java (Jawa is an Island of Indonesia and the site of its Capital city Jakarta. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National They are the only surviving species in the genus Pongo and the subfamily Ponginae (which also includes the extinct genera Gigantopithecus and Sivapithecus). Gigantopithecus is an extinct Genus of Ape that existed from roughly one million years to as recently as three-hundred thousand years ago Sivapithecus is a Genus of Extinct Primates Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus dated from 12 Their name derives from the Malay and Indonesian phrase orang hutan, meaning "man of the forest". The Malay language ( ISO 639-1 code MS is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people and people of other ethnic groups who reside in the Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia, based on the Riau version of Malay language, was declared the official language with the declaration of ^[2][3] The orangutan is an official state animal of Sabah in Malaysia. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo.

Etymology

The word orangutan (also written orang-utan, orang utan and orangutang) is derived from the Malay and Indonesian words orang meaning "man" and hutan meaning "forest",^[4] thus "person of the forest". The Malay language ( ISO 639-1 code MS is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people and people of other ethnic groups who reside in the Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia, based on the Riau version of Malay language, was declared the official language with the declaration of Orang Hutan is the common term in these two national languages, although local peoples may also refer to them by local languages. Maias and mawas are also used in Malay, but it is unclear if those words refer only to orangutans, or to all apes in general.

The word was first attested in English in 1691 in the form orang-outang, and variants with -ng instead of -n as in the Malay original are found in many languages. This spelling (and pronunciation) has remained in use in English up to the present, but has come to be regarded as incorrect by some. In Linguistics, prescription can refer both to the codification and the enforcement of rules governing how a language is to be used ^[5]

The name of the genus, Pongo, comes from a 16th century account by Andrew Battell, an English sailor held prisoner by the Portuguese in Angola, which describes two anthropoid "monsters" named Pongo and Engeco. Angola, officially the Republic of Angola (República de Angola Pronounced ʁɛˈpublikɐ dɨ ɐ̃ˈgɔlɐ Repubilika ya Ngola is a country in south-central It is now believed that he was describing gorillas, but in the late 18th century it was believed that all great apes were orangutans; hence Lacépède's use of Pongo for the genus. Gorillas, the largest of the living Primates are ground-dwelling Herbivores that inhabit the Forests of Africa. ^[6]

Ecology and appearance

Adult female orangutan

Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes, spending nearly all of their time in the trees. Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees" Every night they fashion nests, in which they sleep, from branches and foliage. They are more solitary than the other apes, with males and females generally coming together only to mate. Mothers stay with their babies until the offspring reach an age of six or seven years. There is significant sexual dimorphism between females and males: females can grow to around 4 ft 2 in or 127 centimetres and weigh around 100 lbs or 45 kg, while flanged adult males can reach 5 ft 9 in or 175 centimetres in height and weigh over 260 lbs or 118 kg. Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different Sex in the same Species. ^[7]

The arms of an orangutan are twice as long as their legs. Much of the arm's length has to do with the length of the radius and the ulna rather than the humerus. Remote Authentication Dial In User Service ( RADIUS) is a networking protocol that provides centralized access authorization and accounting management for people or computers The ulna ( elbow bone) is a long bone prismatic in form placed at the medial side of the Forearm, parallel with the radius. The humerus is a Long bone in the Arm or Forelimb that runs from the Shoulder to the Elbow. Their fingers and toes are curved, allowing them to better grip onto branches. Orangutans have less restriction in the movements of their legs unlike humans and other primates, due to the lack of a hip joint ligament which keeps the femur held into the pelvis. The femur is the thigh bone In Humans, it is the longest, most voluminous and strongest Bone. Unlike gorillas and chimpanzees, orangutans are not true knuckle-walkers, and walk on the ground by shuffling on their palms with their fingers curved inwards. ^[8]

Flanged adult male

Bimodal male development

Adult male orangutans exhibit two modes of physical development, flanged and unflanged. Flanged adult males have a variety of secondary sexual characteristics, including cheek pads (called "flanges"), throat pouch, and long fur, that are absent from both adult females and from unflanged males. Secondary sex characteristics are traits that distinguish the two Sexes of a species but that are not directly part of the Reproductive system. Flanged males establish and protect territories that do not overlap with other flanged males' territories. Adult females, juveniles, and unflanged males do not have established territories. A flanged male's mating strategy involves establishing and protecting a territory, advertising his presence, and waiting for receptive females to find him. Unflanged males are also able to reproduce; their mating strategy involving finding females in estrus and forcing copulation. Oestrus is also the biological genus name of the gadfly. The estrous cycle (also oestrous cycle; derived from Latin Males appear to remain in the unflanged state until they are able to establish and defend a territory, at which point they can make the transition from unflanged to flanged within a few months. ^[9] The two reproductive strategies, referred to as "call-and-wait" for flanged male and "sneak-and-rape" for the unflanged male, were found to be approximately equally effective in one study group in Sumatra,^[10] though this observation did occur during a period of instability in flanged male rank and unflanged male mating success may be lower in Borneo. ^[11]

Diet

Fruit makes up 65% of the orangutan diet. Fruits with sugary or fatty pulp are favored. The fruit of fig trees are also commonly eaten since it is easy to both harvest and digest. Ficus is a Genus of about 850 Species of woody Trees Shrubs Vines Epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes in the family Other food items include: young leaves, shoots, seeds and bark. Insects and bird eggs are also included. ^[12]

Orangutans are thought to be the sole fruit disperser for some plant species including the climber species Strychnos ignatii which contains the toxic alkaloid strychnine. This article is about the chemical compounds alkaloids For the Pharmaceutical company in the Republic of Macedonia see Alkaloid (company. Strychnine (ˈstrɪkniːn (British US /-naɪn/ or /-nɪn/ (US ^[13] It does not appear to have any effect on orangutans except for excessive saliva production. For the band see Saliva (band; for the village in Azerbaijan see Səliva.

Behaviour and language

Orangutans at Singapore Zoo

Like the other great apes, orangutans are remarkably intelligent. The Singapore Zoo ( Chinese: 新加坡动物园 formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens and commonly known locally as the Mandai Zoo, occupies Although tool use among chimpanzees was documented by Jane Goodall in the 1960s, it was not until the mid-1990s that one population of orangutans was found to use feeding tools regularly. Chimpanzee (often shortened to chimp) is the common name for the two extant Species of Apes in the Genus Pan. Dame Jane Goodall, DBE (born Valerie Jane Morris Goodall on 3 April 1934) is an English UN Messenger of Peace primatologist A 2003 paper in the journal Science described the evidence for distinct orangutan cultures. ^[14]

According to recent research by the psychologist Robert Deaner and his colleagues, orangutans are the world's most intelligent animal other than humans, with higher learning and problem solving ability than chimpanzees, which were previously considered to have greater abilities. A study of orangutans by Carel van Schaik, a Dutch primatologist at Duke University, found them capable of tasks well beyond chimpanzees’ abilities — such as using leaves to make rain hats and leakproof roofs over their sleeping nests. Duke University is a private Research University located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. He also found that, in some food-rich areas, the creatures had developed a complex culture in which adults would teach youngsters how to make tools and find food.

A two-week old orangutan

A two year study of orangutan symbolic capability was conducted from 1973-1975 by Gary L. Shapiro with Aazk, a juvenile female orangutan at the Fresno City Zoo (now Chaffee Zoo) in Fresno, California. The study employed the techniques of David Premack who used plastic tokens to teach the chimpanzee, Sarah, linguistic skills. David Premack is currently emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania Sarah (; Arabic: سارة, Sārah; "a woman of high rank" is the wife of Abraham as described in the Hebrew Bible Shapiro continued to examine the linguistic and learning abilities of ex-captive orangutans in Tanjung Puting National Park, in Indonesian Borneo, between 1978 and 1980. During that time, Shapiro instructed ex-captive orangutans in the acquisition and use of signs following the techniques of R. Allen and Beatrix Gardner who taught the chimpanzee, Washoe, in the late-1960s. In the only signing study ever conducted in a great ape's natural environment, Shapiro home-reared Princess, a juvenile female who learned nearly 40 signs (according to the criteria of sign acquisition used by Francine Patterson with Koko, the gorilla) and trained Rinnie, a free-ranging adult female orangutan who learned nearly 30 signs over a two year period. Princess is the feminine form of Prince (from Latin Princeps, meaning principal citizen For his dissertation study, Shapiro examined the factors influencing sign learning by four juvenile orangutans over a 15-month period. ^[15]

The first orangutan language study program, directed by Dr. Francine Neago, was listed by Encyclopedia Britannica in 1988. Dr Francine Neago is a primatologist and conservationist specializing in Orangutans In addition to her internationally televised films about orangutans The Orangutan language project at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., uses a computer system originally developed at UCLA by Neago in conjunction with IBM. The Smithsonian National Zoological Park, commonly known as the National Zoo, is a Zoo located in Washington D Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United ^[16] .

Orangutan "laughing"

Zoo Atlanta has a touch screen computer where their two Sumatran Orangutans play games. Scientists hope that the data they collect from this will help researchers learn about socializing patterns, such as whether they mimic others or learn behavior from trial and error, and hope the data can point to new conservation strategies. ^[17]

Although orangutans are generally passive, aggression toward other orangutans is very common; they are solitary animals and can be fiercely territorial. Immature males will try to mate with any female, and may succeed in forcibly copulating with her if she is also immature and not strong enough to fend him off. Mature females easily fend off their immature suitors, preferring to mate with a mature male.

Orangutans have even shown laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as wrestling, play chasing, or tickling.

Species

• Genus Pongo ^[1]
  • Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
    • Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus - northwest populations
    • Pongo pygmaeus morio - east populations
    • Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii - southwest populations
  • Sumatran Orangutan (P. The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of Orangutan native to the island of Borneo. The Sumatran Orangutan ( Pongo abelii) is the rarer of the two species of Orangutans Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are abelii)

The populations on the two isolated islands were classified as subspecies until recently, when they were elevated to full specific level, and the three distinct populations on Borneo were elevated to subspecies. Some suggest that the subspecies wurmbii is conspecific with the Sumatra population (P. abelii). In that case, the resulting species, which would be distributed in Sumatra and southwestern Borneo, would be known as Pongo wurmbii, as that is the older name.

In addition, a fossil species, P. hooijeri, is known from Vietnam, and multiple fossil subspecies have been described from several parts of southeastern Asia. It is unclear if these belong to P. pygmaeus or P. abeli or, in fact, represent distinct species.

Conservation status

Sumatran Orangutan at the orangutan rehabilitation center in Bukit Lawang

The Sumatran species is critically endangered^[18] and the Bornean species of orangutans is endangered^[19] according to the IUCN Red List of mammals, and both are listed on Appendix I of CITES. The Sumatran Orangutan ( Pongo abelii) is the rarer of the two species of Orangutans Living and endemic to Sumatra island of Indonesia, they are Bukit Lawang As of April 2006 the orangutan rehabilitation centre along with many hotels are open for business Organisms with a conservation status of critically endangered have an extremely high risk of becoming extinct An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands CITES (the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments drafted The total number of Bornean orangutans is estimated to be less than 14% of what it was in the recent past (from around 10,000 years ago until the middle of the twentieth century) and this sharp decline has occurred mostly over the past few decades due to human activities and development. ^[19] Species distribution is now highly patchy throughout Borneo: it is apparently absent or uncommon in the south-east of the island, as well as in the forests between the Rejang River in central Sarawak and the Padas River in western Sabah (including the Sultanate of Brunei). The Rajang River is a river in Sarawak, Malaysia. The river is located in northwest of Borneo and it originates in the Iran Mountains Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the Island of Borneo. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. Brunei Darussalam, (bruːˈnaɪ in English officially the State of Brunei Abode of Peace (Negara Brunei Darussalam Jawi: برني دارالسلام ^[19] A similar development have been observed for the Sumatran orangutans. ^[18]

The most recent estimate for the Sumatran Orangutan is around 7,300 individuals in the wild^[18] while the Bornean Orangutan population is estimated at between 45,000 and 69,000. ^[19] These estimates were obtained between 2000 and 2003. Since recent trends are steeply down in most places due to logging and burning, it is forecasted that the current numbers are below these figures. ^[19]

Orangutan habitat destruction due to logging, mining and forest fires, as well as fragmentation by roads, has been increasing rapidly in the last decade. Habitat destruction is the process in which natural Habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species originally present Logging is the process in which Trees are cut down for Forest management and Timber. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body A wildfire, also known as a wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, Peat fire, ^[20][19][18] A major factor in that period of time has been the conversion of vast areas of tropical forest to oil palm plantations in response to international demand (the palm oil is used for cooking, cosmetics, mechanics, and more recently as source of biodiesel). Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF also known as tropical moist forests, are a Tropical and Subtropical Forest The oil palms ( Elaeis) comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family Fundamentally a plantation is usually a large Farm or estate, especially in a tropical or semitropical country on which Cotton, Tobacco Palm oil is an edible plant oil derived from the Fruit of the Arecaceae Elaeis Oil palm. Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based Diesel fuel consisting of short chain Alkyl ( Methyl or ethyl) Esters made by ^[21][19][18] Some UN scientists believe that these plantations could lead to the extinction of the species by the year 2012. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security In Biology and Ecology, extinction is the cessation of existence of a Species or group of taxa. ^[22][23] Some of this activity is illegal, occurring in national parks that are officially off limits to loggers, miners and plantation development. ^[19][18] There is also a major problem with hunting^[19][18] and illegal pet trade. ^[19][18] In early 2004 about 100 individuals of Bornean origin were confiscated in Thailand and 50 of them were returned to Kalimantan in 2006. The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj In most languages in the world the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while for Indonesians the name "Kalimantan" Several hundred Bornean orangutan orphans who were confiscated by local authorities have been entrusted to different orphanages in both Malaysia and Indonesia. They are in the process of being rehabilitated into the wild. ^[19]

Major conservation centres in Indonesia include those at Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, Kutai in East Kalimantan, Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, and Bukit Lawang in the Gunung Leuser National Park on the border of Aceh and North Sumatra. The Kumai District is an administrative region of Indonesia. The word Kumai comes from the phrase "kembali ke pangkuanku Central Kalimantan ( Indonesian: Kalimantan Tengah often abbreviated to Kalteng) is a province of Indonesia, one of four in Kalimantan East Kalimantan ( Indonesian: Kalimantan Timur abbrv Kaltim) is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan Gunung Palung National Park lies in the Kabupaten of Kayong Utara in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, north of Ketapang and east West Kalimantan ( Indonesian: Kalimantan Barat often abbreviated to Kalbar) is a province of Indonesia. Bukit Lawang As of April 2006 the orangutan rehabilitation centre along with many hotels are open for business Gunung Leuser National Park is a National park covering 7927 km² in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, straddling the border of North Sumatra See also Sultanate of Aceh Aceh (ʔaˈtɕɛh generally anglicized as ˈɑːtʃeɪ is a special territory ( daerah istimewa) of Indonesia North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara is a province of Indonesia. Its capital is Medan. In Malaysia, conservation areas include Semenggoh Wildlife Centre in Sarawak and Matang Wildlife Centre also in Sarawak, and the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary near Sandakan in Sabah. Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the Island of Borneo. Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the Island of Borneo. Sepilok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre is located about 25 kilometers west of Sandakan, in eastern Malaysia on the island of Borneo in the state of Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo. Sabah is a Malaysian state located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo.

See also

• Ah Meng – celebrity orangutan of the Singapore Zoo
• Birutė Galdikas
• Chantek
• Human evolutionary genetics – more information on the speciation of humans and great apes
• Jeffrey H. Schwartz
• List of apes
• List of fictional apes
• Orangutans in popular culture

References

External links

• Information from Grungy Ape on the difference between the two Orangutan species
• Orangutan Language Project
• World's first eye cataract operation on an great male orangutan named Aman
• Orangutan Foundation International
• Borneo Orangutan Survival International