Of the family tree of life, there is one branch that perhaps has the greatest fascination for us humans – and that’s the one on which apes and monkeys swing. This final installment of BBC Life explores the world of primates, some of the most intelligent, curious, social and quarrelsome in the animal kingdom. A troop of some 400 Hamadryas baboons encounter a rival troop in a violent clash on the Ethiopian plains, stealing females and settling old scores. Japanese Macaques, the most northerly living monkeys, have learned to evade the bitter winter cold by lounging in thermal springs of Yamanouchi Valley, a privilege held by females and their young. In the Congo, the silverback Gorilla warns off other males through vocalization and beating his chest, while spectral tarsiers, with their large eyes and large ears, communicate with piercing calls to warn against danger and to return stragglers. Ring-tailed Lemurs in Madagascar use scent not only to mark their territory but also to prepare for mating, as males approach a female in heat by waiving their furry tail rubbed with odor.
Female Phayre’s leaf monkeys help rear each other’s young as long as it retains its bright orange fur. A female orangutan will raise her young for nine years by passing on the skills to survive in the rainforest of Sumatra. The most southerly living non-human primates are the chacma baboons of the South African Cape Peninsula, who collect shark eggs among seaweed on the lowest tide. White-face capuchins hammer clams on mangrove roots along Costa Rica’s coast to exhaust the muscle and the shell opens, while their cousins, brown-tufted capuchins in Brazil, use hammer stones as tool to crack open palm nuts. However, our closest ancestor, the Chimpazees have improved their tool use even further. For, in West African Guinea, they dip twigs to gather ants, strip palm leaves as pestle to crack the nutritious palm heart, and use stone anvils on which to crack nuts without breaking the kernel. I hardly need to repeat that I adore this show. It’s a pity this was the last episode, but it certainly was a worthy end to one of the most excellent nature documentaries ever produced.
Female Phayre’s leaf monkeys help rear each other’s young as long as it retains its bright orange fur. A female orangutan will raise her young for nine years by passing on the skills to survive in the rainforest of Sumatra. The most southerly living non-human primates are the chacma baboons of the South African Cape Peninsula, who collect shark eggs among seaweed on the lowest tide. White-face capuchins hammer clams on mangrove roots along Costa Rica’s coast to exhaust the muscle and the shell opens, while their cousins, brown-tufted capuchins in Brazil, use hammer stones as tool to crack open palm nuts. However, our closest ancestor, the Chimpazees have improved their tool use even further. For, in West African Guinea, they dip twigs to gather ants, strip palm leaves as pestle to crack the nutritious palm heart, and use stone anvils on which to crack nuts without breaking the kernel. I hardly need to repeat that I adore this show. It’s a pity this was the last episode, but it certainly was a worthy end to one of the most excellent nature documentaries ever produced.
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