Bilaterally symmetrical animals
GENUS: Orangutans
Pongo is the extant genus of orangutans which reside in Borneo and Sumatra.
They are distinguishable from other great apes by their reddish brown hair and they are the largest animal which lives in trees.
All other great apes (apart from humans) live in Africa, but there is a definite Eurasian connection between the ponginae ancestors.
Extinct pongines have been found in Turkey, Pakistan, India and Thailand which may help to explain the distance between orangutans and the African great apes, as the African continent had most likely attached to the Asian continent by this time.
The orangutan has an opposable digit on their hands and feet, which on humans is equivalent to the thumb and the big toe. They have the ability to grab with hands and with feet because of this and their arms are significantly long and strong.
Orangutans have a more solitary nature than other great apes which prefer to live in families and groups.
Orangutans are fist walkers and their legs are much more versatile than other great apes due to them not having a hip joint ligament.
Orangutans are currently split into two species. The two species are the bornean orangutan and the sumatran orangutan which as you would expect, are resident to Borneo and Sumatra respectively. Mitochondrial DNA has proven these two species to have separated around 1.5 million years ago, however the islands of Borneo and Sumatra would have been attached to one another when this happened.
The bornean orangutan is the larger of the two species.
The sumatran orangutan shows more of an insectivorous diet than the bornean orangutan.
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Bornean Orangutan |
Sumatran Orangutan |
