Journal of Abnormal Primatology (1990), 29(2):31-44. |
Comparative Plummeting Rates in Ten Species
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Introduction As long as men have watched
primates and primates have peered obtusely back, there have been many
unasked questions in the murky field of behavioral science, and one of
the most persistent has always been "Which monkey species plummets
the fastest?" Ever since Plato's Why Falls the Simian?,
curious minds have wondered whether the lesser primates actually do plummet
more slowly than the great apes, and whether this is due to lesser weight,
greater surface area-to-volume ratio, both, or something else entirely.
Plato spent several years pursuing primate studies, and was a great
fan of monkeys in general. It has never been clear whether he actually
ever saw an ape, but it seems certain that either a giant pygmy chimpanzee
or a gorilla of some sort or other was the animal he referred to as Primator
impericus, the 'royal monkey.' |
The Study It is not always clear just what ambition any given primate is attempting to realize by plummeting in this fashion, what inhuman emotion drives him to risk his life and limb this way, or what warped evolutionary pressure created this odd behavioral pattern in the first place, but there seems little question that it is widespread across the primate order, and possibly present also in species that are now extinct, such as Robertson's pink-nosed guenon and the Alpine wheezing macaque (Shaw, 1979; Axelrod-Abernathy, 1982; Winklehurter, 1990). While it is true that there may be specific non-evolutionary reasons for plummeting, such as escaping predation by upper canopy hunters, trying to beat an opponent to a terrestrial food source, or simply losing one's balance and plummeting inadvertantly, the ubiquitous nature of primate plummeting in most forest environments in both the Old and New Worlds demonstrates that it is a behavioral pattern that has been around for a long time. |
Species we were able to research thoroughly. |
New World:
Old World: |
Ateles olympica(jumping spider monkey) Cercopithecus subterraneus (bluetail guenon) |
Once
the species choices had been made, we still had to arrange hotel reservations
and flight plans, update our passports, cancel the mail and turn off the
electricity, notify our next of kin, and get all our shots. We each
had to close down the work we were doing at our respective institutions
(for me it was the spitting behavior of bluetail guenons, and for Dr. Knuckleberry
it was camouflage adaptions of the Alaska snow mouse), all the while faxing
itineraries back and forth like frisbees. Once in the field it was
not always easy to collect the kind of data we wanted. The study began
somewhat intermittently and then months of luckless searching would sometimes
go by before we would suddenly see a flurry of plummeting activity, and
limping primates could be seen from morning till night. Except for the Callitrichidae, most primates apparently preferred not to plummet on weekends, so this left us free to enjoy ourselves without fear of losing valuable observation time, and by Friday afternoon we were usually all too willing to pile into whatever kind of transportation we could get and head for the nearest place that sold hot Madagascar toddies or oilberry beer. We also established to our satisfaction that most primates rarely plummet on purpose in bad weather (although bad weather does increase the rate of inadvertent plummeting), so whenever the rainy season started in one place, we would immediately move on to another. This kept us on the go quite a bit, but the result was a lot of really terrific data on primate plummeting rates, and measurably lower laundry bills. Even in good weather, plummeting is an on-again-off-again type of behavior. Besides which, there are many specific and sub-specific differences in the rates at which females engage in plummeting as opposed to males, infants as opposed to adults, and residents as opposed to migrants. Primates are often hesitant to jump when they know they are being observed, and occasionally will refuse to plummet altogether. My co-author once actually had to climb a tree to push a reluctant primate out of its nest so that we could time its descent and finish off a block of data, but thankfully that was not something that we had to resort to very often (Knuckleberry, 1989). Of the plummet as a whole, it was the jump-off that was most difficult to observe, since it usually took place high in the upper canopy, and better observations are usually only made when the animal in question comes crashing through the mid-story about 10-15 meters from the ground. On certain occasions, the first warning that the observer has of a plummeting primate is the characteristic shrill screech that many primates make as they approach the ground. While there are species that have been seen jumping from the lower branches, it is perhaps not surprising that primates as a rule typically seek to maximize their plummeting efforts by reaching terminal velocity as early in the descent as possible. What little information is known of pre-plummet postures and the actual jump-off itself has been assiduously gathered by natives who are able to climb high enough to observe it. |
The jump-off Before we can discuss
actual plummeting rates and the reasons why those rates vary so widely,
we need to look at the jump-off, because the jump-off is usually the most
crucial phase of the plummet. I have defined the jump-off in my
textbook Primate Pesematology as the first 1.5 seconds of the plummet.
It is during the jump-off that the primate customarily chooses its
plummeting orientation, thereby setting the stage for the plummet to follow.
Most primates lack the felid's easy ability to change its orientation
during a fall, thus they are quite keen on getting the right jump-off
angle at the start, and each primate species that engages in this behavior
has its own characteristic pre-plummet stance. |
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into the type of plummet utilized by the purple wannaby. Compare this to the very different pre-plummet posture of Procebus croesusii (Fig. 2), with its head thrust defiantly forward, its arms extended outward and upward, and its feet positioned uncomfortably close together. |
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especially true during periods when the moon
is full. It is not unusual that a plummet of five seconds is often
preceded by hours of pre-jump-off preening and posturing. Ateles
is the only primate studied thus far that plummets from a tail-hanging position,
while the hairy-nosed proboscis climbs out on the thinnest branch tips before
lunging precipitously just as the branch breaks under its weight. Unlike other tamarins, Saguinus rex has evolved the vine-swinging plummet, in which the animal uses a liana to swing back and forth, thus picking up speed and enabling it to reach terminal velocity more quickly. A rare sub-species, S. rex domesticus, has become adapted to living on the roofs of buildings, and has been seen making plummets of up to ten stories in height. Unfortunately, city pavement is less forgiving than forest soil, and after several years of difficult investigative work, our assistants have told us that many of the veterans of these higher suburban plummets are no longer around. |
The plummet For the purposes of the
immediate study, the plummet shall be defined as the period between the
jump-off and the landing. To begin with, the typical primate plummets
in one of only two possible modes. He or she either strikes or is
struck by intervening vegetation, or falls straight down unimpeded. It
should be obvious then even to pre-seventh graders that the bioarchitechtural
character of the forest has much to do with plummeting rates. Further,
different workers in the field have interpreted plummeting rates very
differently, choosing for instance to emphasize duration of fall rather
than velocity. Marshall et. al.'s classic monograph
on vegetational morphologies and plummeting rates in the first issue of
the Darwin Society Journal established clearly that hitting branches
and other biotic impediments both slowed the speed of the fall and increased
its duration. Striking intervening vegetative strata also has possible
medical consequences. |
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horizontally with its eyes closed like a crazed
skydiver. The gold leaf monkey, on the other hand, ties itself to
a network of green thread vines which sometimes acts to mitigate its headlong
plunge into the dim and uninviting waters of Bali-Bali's countless shrimp
lakes. The prosimians represented in our investigation, Tarsius irritatus and Saguinus rex, are of such diminutive size and weight and have such a high surface area-to-volume ratio to begin with, that they accelerate slowly to reach a moderately sedate terminal velocity, and they both seem content to accept their lot as the slowest of nature's plummeters studied thus far. Nycticebus slowpokeii steps uncertainly off its branch and falls hind-end first with a glazed expression on its face and its arms clasped tightly about its abdomen. |
The landing The landing is defined as the final second of the plummet. It is really not all that important to the subject of primate plummeting rates because, after all, at the point of landing the plummet is over, and at that point plummeting rates of all species tend be zero. The only exception to this is the great blue marmoset, an animal for which data was not sufficient to include in this study, which often chooses to land on a steep slope, prolonging the plummet as it rolls toe over toothcomb down through typical Amazonian hillside vegetation, and giving it by far the longest plummeting duration times recorded to date by western scientists. |
The analysis Having described in some detail several of the gross behavioral features of our sample of primate plummeters, we can now turn to a statistical analysis of the data so painfully gathered over the course of the last two hundred months. Appendix E shows rates of acceleration and terminal velocities for the ten species in our study. It seems clear to us at least that there is no apparent significant correlation between weights, body sizes, and plummeting rates, but of course we could be wrong. |
Conclusions After nine years of laborious planning and eight years of burdensome field work, we have determined almost categorically and without very much doubt that primates do not plummet at exactly the same rate. We tried to use quantum point analysis, and made a brief stab at differential time-distance equations, followed by a bit of isopropic calculus and game theorums (Shaw, 1982), and we utilized to somewhat good effect Professor Ashram Suleiman's fractional data scattering codes as proposed for jumping rates of Turkish viverrids. Our conjectures may be questioned by some, but no one can deny our heartfelt and unfeigned approach. We expect that there may be some negative reactions in the primatological journals, but we plan to press ahead and not allow the naysayers to deter us from our final goal, the publication of which we are planning to be coincident with the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. |
Acknowledgements The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions, unstinting support, and just darn good cheer and unquenchable high spirits of the following individuals and institutions: Mrs. J. Muffet Gloverhouse, the Icelandic Primate Rehabilitation Project, everyone at the Mahatutu Injured Leaf Monkey Shelter, Dr. Heckelen Jeckel, the Tremblay-Waxenhauser National Center for Primate Disorders, the Russian national primatology newspaper Primatsiya Primatsiya, the Alaska School of Orthopedic Veterinary Medicine, the Antigua and Barbuda College of Caribbean Primatology, Dr. Jerry Archbibble and the Hellmouth Municipal Zoo and Exotic Animal Crematorium, the Natural Geographic Society, the Cheesequake Municipal Man and Mammal Museum, the National Primate Bowel Clinic, Dr. Oondóué M. Boué, Dr. Watanabe Kibombo, Dr. Ambato Ambilobe, and Dr. Miedzyrzecz von Czechowice-Dziedzice. We especially want to recognize the work of the Free Fall Club of Jujube and Togobogo, the French Monkey Academy Precision Flag Plummeting Team, Senhor Teófilo Afonso Rosario Sobradinho, Piet Mons Apeldoorn, the Rochefort-Chateauroux Institute for Simian Science, Drs. P. Rudyard Kiplinger and Buffy Rockefeller, the Hellmouth Human Diseases and Primate Testing Facility, Sir Ian Spotswood Allenby Crofford-Wiggles, the Bluetail Foundation and the Udon Sawan Lesser Ape Sanctuary. We also wish to recognize the contributions to our work of the International Plummeting Recovery Center and the Arizona Science Foundation. We are forever in the debt of Dr. Francois Quimper Bonnetable Rochefort-Chateauroux, Dr. Mawbanna Waddamana, Dr. Oscar Simon Bolivar Bolivar-Fuentes, Mr. George Jefferson, and Dr. Poon Sandandtundra. Finally, we must thank Professor Rolf Sigurd Vanhammerfest, the Baseball Commission, Sigsbee Junior Night College, Primate Nooz and PRIMATE LIFE, the Society for the Prevention of Falling Mammals, the Swedish Primatological Association, the Antique Sulky Tarsier League, Professor Mitsuo Ohhohoho (wherever he is), the people of Afghanistan, and Mr. Chris Shaw. |
Appendix A Comparative weights of selected species: |
Species |
No.##
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Grams
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No.##
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Grams
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Ateles olympica Cajuru imperator Procebus croesusii Andradus blanca Saguinus rex C. subterraneus Nasalis nasalis Nycticebus slowpokeii Tarsius irritatus Presbytis oro |
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Appendix B Comparative dimensions of selected species: |
Species |
No.##
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Head/Body
Length (mm) |
No.##
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Tail
Length (mm) |
Ateles olympica Cajuru imperator Procebus croesusii Andradus blanca Saguinus rex C. subterraneus Nasalis nasalis Nycticebus slowpokeii Tarsius irritatus Presbytis oro |
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Appendix C Locations where each species was studied: |
Ateles olympica.......................... Cajuru imperator......................... Procebus croesuii........................ Andradus blanca......................... Saguinus rex............................... Cercopithecus subterraneus........ Nasalis nasalis............................ Nycticebus slowpokeii................ Tarsius irritatus........................... Presbytis oro.............................. |
Urubupunga Research Station, Brazil Santa Rubia Island Purple Wannaby Refuge, Gorgonzola Urubupunga Research Station, Brazil Gurupi-Matapao Higher Mammal Preserve, Peru Quiriquiri National Primate Park, Venezuela Makokou Study Area, Gabon Kualakurun Primate Reserve, Borneo Udon Sawan Lesser Ape Sanctuary, Thailand Atapao Monkey Park, Bali-Bali Mahatutu Injured Leaf Monkey Shelter, Malaysia |
Appendix D Coefficients of drag (M and L) and mean frequency parameters |
Species |
M
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L
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P1
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X2
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Ateles olympica |
0.032 |
1.68 2.72 3.40 2.97 4.20 2.68 0.99 5.21 4.39 2.22 |
121.5 124.3 98.2 159.2 140.0 101.6 117.8 109.1 125.4 119.7 |
2.2+1 |
Appendix E Mean weights (MW) and terminal velocities (TV) of selected species: |
Species
Tarsius irritatus Homo * |
MW:
135 |
Speed at TV:
176 |
Reach TV at: 63 300 |
Tangential acceleration is a function of locomotor mechanics, and all figures are means. |
* For comparative purposes |
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Nose-Picking in the Pongidae and Its Implication for Human Evolution |
Zoological Bromides: Right or Wrong? |
The Primate Nooz |
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