I said I would put the paper I wrote about primates online, but I can’t because last year some kids cheated by copying their reports right off the internet. (Not me and not Georgie!) So when I asked for permission to put my report here, my teacher told me, “Sorry, no can do.”
But I did convince Ms. Higgins to allow me to put my notes (not my whole report) online. And she agreed you could use them to write your own report…if you put me in your bibliography and do your own research as well.
I got an A+ on my primate paper, but Ms. Higgins wrote:
“This is a very well-done and interesting report, but your bibliography is inadequate. You must list all the sources you researched. And it’s a good idea to use at least three sources.”
So here are my notes. If you use them in school, please let me know.
Kingdom: Animalia (animals, not plants)
Phylum: Chordata (has a backbone, not like a spider or jellyfish)
Class: Mammalia (warm-blooded, has hair, and gives milk to babies)
Order: Primates (that’s what this report is about!)
Two groups of primates:
- Prosimians (mostly lemurs…which live only in Madagascar and which I have another page about)
- Simians (monkeys, apes, my sister Goon, and humans)
Habitat: Except for humans who live everywhere, primates are mostly tropical or subtropical. Most live in trees. (I have slept in a tree house.)
- Smallest—Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur = 1 ounce!
- Largest—Eastern lowland gorilla = 440 pounds!
- Best—Cheesie Mack, who weighs 78 pounds.
Brains: Very large compared to their bodies (especially Glenn Philips!)
Vision: More important than sense of smell, although some primates wear glasses. (Georgie made me write this!)
Toes: All primates have a flat toenail on their big toes. (weird, huh?)
Thumbs and Tails: Most have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails.
Males vs. Females: In most species the male is larger than the female. (An exception is Mrs. Jergensen, one of the lunch ladies at Rocky Neck Elementary School. She is about three times bigger than her husband.)
Pets: Some people keep monkeys as pets, but they are not easy to care for. They are very strong, can get really upset and fierce, and can live a long time. (I read about a chimpanzee that went crazy and bit the nose off his owner…and ate it! Ewww!)
Language: Although primates can communicate with others in their species, only humans have language. (I do not know of a single non-human primate with his own website like me.)
Please comment below and tell me what you know about primates…and especially if you have first-hand experience. And more especially if you write a report for school.