Diet

1. A) Lemurs (Prosimians/Strepsirhini): Today, Lemurs are only found on the isolated island of Madagascar in Africa and other small, nearby islands such as the Comoros, where there are no other contenders for the Lemurs to compete with. They spend their time either up in the trees at the top of the canopy or at mid-level, or down on the ground and have adapted to be able to live on both sides of

the island - one is wet and the other is dry. Lemurs are accustomed to all ecosystems in Madagascar.
    B) Spider Monkey (New World Monkey/Platyrrhini): Spider Monkeys live in the wet, tropical rain forests in Central and South America and some can even be found in Mexico. They live mostly in the trees so they have limbs and tails strong enough to grasp branches as they move. 

    C) Baboon (Old World Monkey/Cercopithecidae): There are five species of Baboons and they can all be found in Africa and Arabia. They prefer to live in areas that are semi-arid such as savannas however a few live in tropical forests. Most of their time is spent on the ground. One species of Baboons is found in the hills along the Red Sea. 

    D) Gibbon (Lesser ape/Hylobatidae): The Gibbon can be found in the dense jungle and rain forests in South-East Asia. A majority of their time is spent up in the trees because they are mainly arboreal.

    E) Chimpanzee (Great ape/Hominidae): The natural habitat of the chimpanzee is the rain forest however they have also been known to inhabit swamps, savannas, bamboo forests, and woodlands. They spend equal time on land and in the trees. 

2. A) Smaller species of Lemurs are usually omnivorous eating plants and small insects. The larger species of Lemurs mostly eat fruit and leaves, they are herbivorous. Ring-tailed Lemurs are called opportunistic omnivores because they sometimes will eat small vertebrates and insects when it is necessary. So, just like all primates, Lemurs will eat anything edible if there is a lack of food in their regular diet. The plants on Madagascar that are most frequented by Lemurs are woody plants such as trees and shrubs.
    B) Spider Monkeys forage in small groups and find most of their food in the trees early during the day. Their diet consists of nuts, fruits, bird eggs, leaves, and spiders so they are omnivorous. 
    C) Baboons are considered opportunistic eaters and often cause problems for African farmers because they are drawn to crops. They will also eat fruit, grass, seeds, bark and roots. Baboons also have a taste for meat and will eat rodents, birds, and babies of other species such as sheep. 
    D) The arboreal Gibbons find their food in the trees and they are omnivores. They will eat anything from fruit, eggs, insects, spiders, small birds, and small reptiles. 
    E) Chimpanzees are also omnivorous. A majority of their diet consists of fruit, seeds, flowers, nuts, and leaves. They will also eat insects and eat larger animals that they hunt and kill, however this only makes up about two percent of their diet. Chimps use clever ways to get their food such as using small sticks to get termites out of a termite mound. Chimps have also been documented skillfully hunting red colobus monkeys and eating every part of the body including the brain. 

3. A) Lemur's are arboreal so spending a majority of the time up high in the trees caused their diet to evolve to what they can find up in the trees. You can find fruit, insects, and leaves in the trees where the Lemurs live and these are what make up their diet. Over time, fruits evolved in order to taste better so primates that live in trees like the Lemurs will eat the fruit and ultimately spread the seed.
   B) The floors of the Central and Southern American rain forests are almost always wet so the Spider Monkeys spend their time in the trees where you can find most of their favorite foods. Insects such as spiders also thrive and live up in the trees to evade the damp forest floor so they become prey for the Spider Monkeys. Spider Monkeys live in the top canopies of the trees where the water first reaches the leaves and fruits making them perfect for the monkeys to eat. The monkeys use the trees as shelters and homes so they evolved to eat what the tree has to give.
   C) Baboon's usually live in humid desert climates so because of that they are opportunistic eaters. Living close to humans also shapes the Baboon's diet, Baboon's often like to eat the crops of farmers. Baboons spend most of their time on the ground so they find most of their food down there however they have been known to go into the trees to eat and sleep so they eat the fruit, seeds, bark, and roots of the trees. Baboons eat grass on the ground to get their vegetation in since they are mostly on the ground with the grass rather than in the trees with the leaves. Baboons are not natural carnivores however their large canines seem to tell a different story, but these teeth are mostly for male-male competition. Baboons still use these teeth to hunt and kill the young of other animals, when necessary, such as antelopes because they are on the ground.
   D) Gibbons are solely arboreal so they have evolved in order to survive in the trees for a majority of their lives and this includes becoming accustomed to eating what the trees have to offer. So, because of this, Gibbons mainly eat fruit from the trees however they will also eat the reptiles, birds, and insects that also inhabit the trees. 
  E) Chimpanzees spend half of their time in the trees and half of their time on the ground so their diet can have a wide array. Their teeth, like ours, are designed to eat both meat and plants. Chimps are social animals so when they hunt, it is often done in packs, over time they have developed advanced skills for hunting and killing prey. Chimps usually eat things like fruit and leaves though so they have adapted to eating from the trees. When they eat things like insects, they have adapted in a way that allows them to make tools such as stripping a stick of its leaves and using it to fish insects out of a tree.

4. The environment has a very strong influence on physical and behavioral traits. For instance, diet largely relies on what the environment has to offer and the diet of these five different types of monkeys is an excellent example of that. Most of these monkeys spend most of their lives up in the trees so their diet has evolved to incorporate the fruit, leaves, spiders, insects, and small birds or reptiles that inhabit the trees and also live in this environment. However, there are subtle differences due to the subtle differences in environment. The Baboon spends most of its time on the ground because of the semi-arid climate where trees are different and less abundant compared to trees in the wet rain forest. Therefore, the Baboon eats grass and young livestock because it's mostly on the ground whereas the Gibbon eats mostly fruit from the trees. Even though these monkeys are from the same families and what not, their diets slightly vary because of their varying environments.