ALL THE HERBIVOROUS ADAPTED TO THEIR HERBIVORES DIET OR THEY WOULD NOT SURVIVE.

Herbivorous animals eat vegetation; they eat only the plants materials (3). It seems as majority of the herbivorous animals live in the grasslands environments however some also live in the water (3). These types of animals are found to be living in groups (3).


The herbivores are divided into two groups, namely the ruminants, which includes giraffe, camel, antelopes and the non – ruminants, which includes zebra, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros (4). The ruminant herbivores are found to have four chambers in their stomachs, namely rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasums (4), the diet they eat go through all these chambers. According to (Antelopes, 2001), there is no need for the ruminant herbivores to drink a lot of water, because their food are mixed with saliva in the rumen (Findlay, 1998).

(Bob, 1999) mentioned that the non ruminants assimilate fat, carbohydrates and protein by means of enzymatic action. These herbivores need to eat lots of food so that they can have enough nutrition (4). Most of the foods they excrete are not digested (4).

According to (Antelopes, 2001), grasses are not easily digested, so the herbivores animals must have bacteria in their bodies. The bacteria split the grass in order to release energy (4). (Findlay, 1998) mentioned that couples of bacteria and protozoa are found in the first chamber of the ruminants herbivores. Findlay, 1998 further explained the responsibility of the protozoa and the bacteria, which is to crash cellulose. Ruminants seems to be coping with the cellulose available in their diets (Findlay, 1998)


Only the ruminant herbivorous animal seems to reduce the problems of digestion or they are not experiencing this problem of digestion only because they are having four parts in their stomachs (Findlay, 1998).

The ruminants chew their food like the sheep during the day (3). When a ruminant swallows, “the food goes into the first stomach, called the rumen. During the night, the animal brings food back into its mouth from its first stomach. This is called regurgitating the food. The food is chewed well again before it is swallowed into the second stomach, called the cud” (2).

The ruminant herbivores are unlikely to experience the digestion problems and this helps them to maintain their bodies or gain more. The problems of digestion take place in non ruminant’s animals. The herbivores animals have less energy compared to the carnivore’s animals because the plants materials are lower than meat in energy content. So they need large quantity of food so that they can meet the energy required for their bodies” (Findlay, 1998).

In conclusion, indeed some of the herbivorous really suffered the digestion problem. They suffered because they had small intestine, except the ruminant’s animals which had four chambers in their stomachs. The ruminant’s animals became larger as compared to other animals because they were able to deal with the process of digestion and getting their energy required.


References:

[1]. Findlay A.L.R. The Gastrointestinal System: an introduction Carnivores, Omnivores and Herbivores [Internet] 1998, [http://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/~ALRF/giintro.htm, accessed on 12/05/2006, 08:30].


[2]. Melissa Kaplan. Herp Care Collection [Internet] A very brief overview of digestion in green iguanas and other herbivorous lizard species, 1995. [Cited 2006 May 12, 09:00]. Available from: http://www.anapsid.org/tracydigestion.html.


[3]. Paul Billiet and Shirley Burchill. The Open Door Web Site [http://www.saburchill.com/chapters/chap0015.html, accessed on 12/05/2006, 10:00].

[4]. Antelopes (2001). [Online], available from: http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/anidigestion.htm

[5]. Dr. Bob Wright, 1999. [Internet]. Equine Digestive Tract Structure and Function. Available from: http://www.hullhorsehaven.com/EquineDigestion.html.



Ms Evelyn Maleka
CILLA CSIR
P.O. Box 395
Pretoria, 0001
Tel: (012) 841 2133
Fax: 012 842 7024.
Email:emalek@csir.aco.za
http://malekaevelyn.blogspot.com/

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NEW WORLD AND THE OLD WORLD MONKEY

In general monkeys are of the animal species of the suborder Anthropoidea. These suborders have two separate infraoder that “evolved depending on each other for 30,000,000 years” (1), namely the Platyrrhini and the Catarrhini. The Platyrrhini is the scientific name for the new world monkey and catarrhini is for the old world monkey (1). The old world monkeys are from the super family Cercopithecidea, they were found on the continents of Africa and Asia (5).

The new world monkeys are found in Central and South America (5). There are about four families of primates namely, the Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae and these families are called the Platyrrhini parvorder (5).

These two groups of species can be differentiated from each other by their physical appearance (1). The new world monkeys are recognized of their long tails, which are often prehensile (2). Their tails can not be seen from a long distance nor can they be easily seen (2). The new world monkeys are able to use their tails as their third hand (2).

The tails of the old monkeys are easily observed; “they never had prehensile tails” (2). Another difference between the two monkeys is their body; the old world monkeys have a “large body size as compared to the new world monkeys” (5).

The noses of the Platyrrhines are flat as compared to the ones of the catarrhines, their nostrils are separated by a “wide septum, while those of the catarrhines are separated by a small septum” (1). The molars of the platyrrhines consist of three and are larger than those of the catarrhines which have two and these are sharply connected cusps (4).

Besides the physical characteristics of this species, they can also be differentiated by their behaviours. The males of the platyrrhines are involved in the infant care, most of the time the male platyrrhines care for the infants and “they give them to the females for nursing” (3). The old world monkey male does not take care of the infants. (3).


The platyrrhines are confined to arboreal habitats and are herbivorous; they only eat “leaves, fruits, nuts, gums and occasional small prey such as insects (3). While the catarrhines tolerate wider habitats, couples of them spend most or some of their day on the ground (3). These monkeys have hairless callous pads, “on their rumps which may be adaptations for sitting or sleeping for long periods on rough branches and stones’ and the new world monkeys do not have these callouses” (3).


The old world monkeys have bright colourful colours especially on their faces; whereas the new world monkeys have dark colours (3).


In conclusion, it is easy to differentiate the old world from the new world monkeys simply by their appearance, when you are distanced from them you can see the differences in their colours, and body weight and when you are closer you can see that their facial appearances are also different.


References:


1. Wikipedia contributors. Monkeys. [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2006 May 12, 08:30 UTC [cited 2006 May 12, 15:15]. Available from: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkeys].

2. “New World Monkey.” WordNet 1.7.1. Princeton University, 2001. Answers.com 24 May 2006.http://www.answers.com/topic/new-world-monkey-2.


3. Anon, Introduction to Physical Anthropology [Internet]. The new and old world monkeys, UD [cited 2006 May 12]. Available from: http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/monkeycomparisons.html.

4. Wikipedia contributors. Monkeys. [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2006 May 12, 10:40 UTC [cited 2006 May 12, 15:15]. Available from, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_monkey].


5. Wikipedia contributors. Monkeys. [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2006 May 12, 11:00 UTC [cited 2006 May 12, 15:15]. Available from, [http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Old_World_monkey].

Ms Evelyn Maleka
CILLA CSIR
P.O. Box 395
Pretoria, 0001
Tel: (012) 841 2133
Fax: 012 842 7024.
email: emaleka@csir.co.za

http://malekaevelyn.blogspot.com/