Primate - Habitat and Distribution

Habitat and Distribution

Primates evolved from arboreal animals, and many species live most of their lives in trees. Most primate species live in tropical rain forests. The number of primate species within tropical areas has been shown to be positively correlated to the amount of rainfall and the amount of rain forest area. Accounting for 25% to 40% of the fruit-eating animals (by weight) within tropical rainforests, primates play an important ecological role by dispersing seeds of many tree species.

Some species are partially terrestrial, such as baboons and patas monkeys, and a few species are fully terrestrial, such as geladas and humans. Non-human primates live in a diverse number of forested habitats in the tropical latitudes of Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and South America, including rainforests, mangrove forests, and montane forests. There are some examples of non-human primates that live outside of the tropics; the mountain-dwelling Japanese macaque lives in the north of Honshū where there is snow-cover eight months of the year; the Barbary macaque lives in the Atlas Mountains of Algeria and Morocco. Primate habitats span a range of altitudes: the black snub-nosed monkey has been found living in the Hengduan Mountains at altitudes of 4,700 meters (15,400 ft), the mountain gorilla can be found at 4,200 meters (13,200 ft) crossing the Virunga Mountains, and the gelada has been found at elevations of up to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands. Although most species are generally shy of water, a few are good swimmers and are comfortable in swamps and watery areas, including the proboscis monkey, De Brazza's monkey and Allen's swamp monkey, which has developed small webbing between its fingers. Some primates, such as the rhesus macaque and gray langurs, can exploit human-modified environments and even live in cities.