My best Term Paper in terms of amusement factor

I did this paper for my Introduction to Anthropology Class, because my fantastic Professor was amused and I accomplished all that was required, I received an A for this.

Homo sapiens sapiens to Hylobatidae

 

For the purpose of this assignment and my own amusement I will be comparing the Gibbon to my good friend Mikey Resendez. The observations in this paper are all perceptual and derive from both the November, 11 field trip to the zoo, and my own experiences with Mikey.

First we will start with the Gibbon (Hylobatidae), which is the smallest of the greater apes. They are perhaps the most active primate during the middle of the day at the Zoo. This makes them the obvious choice for worthy subjects for this paper.

The Gibbon, being the smallest of the great apes, primarily lives in the tree tops, and spends as little time as possible on the ground for good reason. But these specimens have been raised and bred in captivity for multiple generations; this makes them quiet interesting because they engaged in knuckle walking, the preferred method of locomotion or many of the greater apes such as the Gorilla (Troglodytes gorilla) and they spent an unusually large amount of time on the ground.

Like almost all primates, they are social animals. This means that interaction with other Gibbons is not only important but crucial to their health. The Fort Worth Zoo is fortunate that in the exhibit lives an entire family. The mother can be identified due to her apparent red coat, apart from her I will not get into the sexes of any of the other animals in that exhibit. She has several young the oldest being age equivalent to an eight to twelve year old human.

Much of the social activity I observed revolved around a jungle Jim set up to simulate  tree tops of their natural habitat. The activities on this artificial platform included climbing and hanging suspended from it by the use of their incredibly strong arms. Some of them seemed to be playing with each other. One that stood out in my mind hung suspended using only one arm for grip the other dropped lazily and casually to the side.

Grooming also seems to be important both on an individual and collective level. The mother, I observed grooming what I can only assume as one of her young or perhaps another unrelated member of the troop. They seemed to groom both themselves and others. When voluntarily grooming a peer, I couldn’t help but see the resemblance to the human interaction of shoe shining.

Professor Lockett pointed out that in her own words “If they can’t eat it, or have sex with it, they will throw it away”. This was in reference to and individual Gibbon inspecting a leaf with clear intrigue. It licked and smelled the leaf before throwing it away due to disappointment and loss of intrigue in the object.

After playing on the platform and some social mingling, many of the Gibbons retreated to a great rock enclosure where they took a nice little power nap. It seemed that throughout the time I spent at that exhibit, there was always a group sleeping in the enclosure, as well as another group on and around the Jungle Jim.

Now to take a look at my good friend Mikey Resendez (Homo sapiens sapiens), who I have gone to many concerts with and has been a close friend of mine since High School. Mikey is almost always seen with one headphone in, most of the time he is listening to Radiohead, although these days more often than not it is Sonic Youth. His two loves in life are his I-phone and his all white Semi-Hollow guitar. Often seen with his hair long and shaggy wairing his favorite Cold War Kids jacket, Mikey seems not to care what anyone else thinks and has sense superiority to the rest of the world.

Mikey’s stature and physique is shockingly similar to that of the Gibbon. Standing at the height of five foot three inches tall, as well as being rather skinny with squinty eyes and a childish face, he is a sight to see. His method of locomotion is bipedal, yet he walks with a certain arrogant swagger.

When Mikey is around it’s a party, he can bring out the inner child in everyone. Whether it is joy riding around town or playing with silly string in the wall mart parking lot, when he’s not sleeping or in an anti-social mood, Mikey is guaranteed to be in some sort of mischief.

It is not unlike Mikey to sleep eighteen hours in a day, only getting up to eat, listen to music, play his guitar, and maybe watch a movie.

The conclusion I have reached is that there are more similarities than differences between Mikey (Homo sapiens sapiens) and the Gibbon (Hylobatidae). Like the Gibbon Mikey has an almost childlike appearance The Gibbon is the smallest of the greater apes and Mikey is the smallest of my greater friends.

Both the Gibbon and Mikey share similar social behaviors, they both engage in public displays of horseplay, they also both partake in public grooming. Mikey will often randomly take off somebody’s sunglasses and put them on or vice versa just out of general curiosity. Another interesting similarity is that Mikey and the Gibbon still have roughly about the same amount of ambition in life that only lasts about five minutes into the future. They also both have a general sense of innocence about them. Both are immensely entertaining and fun to be around.

When I told Mikey about this paper, he thought it was a great idea. Now that last statement completely reinforces my conclusion for this paper. Who else would not be insulted by such a comparison and personal examination, but someone who has a very similar Homer Simpson like life style?

Reviews

[Jocelyn_wonders]

Hey, what an interesting comparison! Good thinking.
Jocelyn wonders.