Primates are found in Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. The largest number of primates live in Africa, including the pottos, bushbabies, guenons, mangabeys, colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, and baboons. Tarsiers, macaques, lorises, and most of the leaf monkeys live in Asia. Lemurs and aye-ayes are found only on the island of Madagascar. The New World monkeys, such as the mar…
The slow lorises live throughout tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia. The slender lorises are found in the tropical forests of India and Sri Lanka. Pottos occur only in the tropical and subtropical forests of West and Central Africa. Lorises and pottos live only in thickly forested areas. Most often, they live in the trees of tropical rainforests, forests where the trees are evergreen and …
Bushbabies are found in many parts of Africa, from sea level to 6,000 feet (1,800 meters). Bushbabies live in many areas, from dry, thorny scrub to evergreen tropical rainforests. Depending on the species, bushbabies usually eat fruit, gum or plant fluids, and insects. They can find insects by sound alone and snatch them from the air as they fly past. Bushbabies are often captured by local pe…
Dwarf and mouse lemurs live in Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. Dwarf and mouse lemurs live in a variety of forested habitats, including evergreen rainforest, deciduous forest where trees lose their leaves each year, and semiarid forest, which doesn't get rain part of the year. Mouse lemurs are also found in patches of scrub vegetation where there are small bush…
Lemurs are found in Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. Lemurs live in tropical forests, or warm damp forested areas, plus subtropical areas located near tropical areas. These include dry scrub, dry tropical deciduous forests where leaves fall off during winter months, and occasionally grassy areas. Lemurs eat plant foods, including flowers, plant juices, fruits, leaves, seeds, and seedpods. …
Indriids are found in Madagascar. Indriids live in a wide range of environments, including original forests, disturbed forest fragments, and desert areas with spiny plants. Indriids feed on fruit, leaves, bark, and flowers. Six indriids are considered threatened due to loss of habitat occurring from deforestation (tree removal), fire, poaching, and encroaching human populations. The golden-cr…
Sportive lemurs live only on the island of Madagascar, which is off the east coast of Africa. Evergreen forests, where the trees stay green all year, and hot, dry forests. Most sportive lemurs live in forested areas, ranging from evergreen rainforests to hot dry forests. Sportive lemurs are hunted for food. All seven species of sportive lemur are listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) …
Aye-ayes are found in Madagascar. Aye-ayes live in several habitats, including rainforests where the weather is damp or wet throughout the year, dry forests that get little rain, mangroves or riverbank tree areas, and bamboo thickets or groups. In many unprotected areas, aye-ayes are destroyed by the local people, either due to superstition, or because of aye-aye crop raiding on coconut plant…
Tarsiers are found in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Borneo. Tarsiers live in a variety of habitats. They occupy mainly secondary forests with enough canopies that provide vertical branches for clinging, usually about 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) above the ground. Tarsiers also inhabit shrublands, bamboo thickets, mangroves, grasslands, and plantations. They also live in primary forests w…
Squirrel monkeys are found in most of South America and in Central America (just Costa Rica and Panama). Capuchins are found in most of South America and Central America and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Cebids are found in the spreading forest canopy and in smaller understory trees. Squirrel monkeys also inhabit swamps, while capuchins thrive in dry forests. Squirrel monkeys …
Callitrichids are found in most of South America and in Central America (Panama and Costa Rica). Callitrichids occupy various habitats, including primary forests with well-developed canopies and secondary forests with dense understories. They live in open woodlands, bamboo thickets, and scrub forests, as well as forests along rivers. Fruits, insects, and gum (a sticky substance from tree bark…
Night monkeys are found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and Venezuela. Night monkeys inhabit evergreen tropical rainforests and deciduous scrub forests. They also occupy forests along rivers. They prefer dense middle-level canopies and understories with tangled vines that provide cover for sleeping sites. They also like hollows in old trees. Night monkeys…
Pitheciids are found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname. Pitheciids inhabit a variety of rainforest habitats. Sakis prefer the middle and lower layers of the canopy, as well as the understory. They are found in savanna forests, mountain forests, swamps, and forests along rivers, but not flooded forests. Uakaris choose forests that get flooded from…
Atelids are found in Mexico, all of Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama), and South America (including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela). Howler monkeys and muriquis inhabit secondary forests with open canopies. Spider and woolly monkeys prefer full-canopied primary fore…
Leaf monkeys are found in Asia and Southeast Asia, except for the colobus monkeys. Cheek-pouched monkeys are found in Africa, including the Barbary macaque. All other macaques are found in Southeast Asia. Old World monkeys live in virtually all land habitats, including grasslands, open dry forests, dense evergreen forests, mangroves, swamps, and forests along rivers. Some live near humans. Le…
Gibbons are found in Southeast Asia, including China, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Gibbons prefer the upper forest canopy, where fruits are abundant and spreading branches allow for continuous travel. They also thrive in surviving areas of forests that have been logged. Ripe fruits are gibbons' main diet. Figs are their favorit…
Gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos are dark-colored, while orangutans are reddish brown. All have arms that are longer than their legs. Gorilla and orangutan males are twice as big as females. Great apes have forward-facing eyes for three-dimensional (height, width, and depth) viewing. They have powerful fingers and toes for gripping branches. They have no tails. Orangutans are the only great…
Carnivores are found throughout the world. Some, however, are not naturally occurring but have been introduced to some areas. Carnivores are found both on land and sea. Although most terrestrial carnivores live on land, the polar bear spends most of its time on sea ice, while the palm civet is arboreal (a tree-dweller). The sea otter lives exclusively in the water, as opposed to other marine …
Canids live on every continent except Antarctica. Most canids favor areas where forests meet open country. Some live in deserts. The Arctic fox and some gray wolves occupy the tundra. The bush dog and raccoon dog prefer thick forests near water. Canids have also adapted to human environments. Canids primarily prey on other mammals. Large prey include elk and caribou, and small animals include…
Spectacled bears are found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Brown bears live in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. American black bears inhabit the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Malayan sun bears, sloth bears, and Asiatic black bears thrive in Asia. Giant pandas live in China, while polar bears occupy the Arctic regions. Bears live in a variety of habitats. F…
Except for red pandas, procyonids are found throughout Central America (including Costa Rica and Panama), South America (including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela), the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Russia. Red pandas live in Asia, including China, India, Nepal, and Tibet. Some procyonids prefer forested areas close to streams and rivers where …
Mustelids, members of the family Mustelidae, may either have a slim, elongated body and long tail like weasels, mink, martens, and otters, or a stocky body and short tail like badgers and wolverines. Some have webbed feet for swimming. Their fur may be uniform in color, striped, or spotted. They may be white, silver, brown, or black in color. The smallest mustelid, the least weasel, is also t…
Viverrids are found in western Europe (including France, Portugal, and Spain), Southeast Asia (including Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia), and most of Africa. Viverrids occupy tropical deciduous forests that provide canopies (uppermost layer of a forest consisting of spreading branches). They also inhabit tall grasses and thick brush for cover. Some prefer wetlands, while others live near r…
Mongooses live in mainland Africa, southern Europe, Madagascar, southern Asia including India, the Malay Peninsula as far as and including Sumatra, Borneo and Java; also the islands of Hainan and Taiwan. …
Hyenas and aardwolves are found in the Middle East (including Turkey, Israel, and Saudi Arabia), Pakistan, India, and in Africa south of the Sahara Desert (except the rainforests of The Democratic Republic of the Congo). Hyenas and aardwolves occupy grasslands, bush country (wild, uncultivated land), and open woodlands. They dig burrows (holes) underground or live in burrows abandoned by othe…
Cats naturally occur in most areas of the world, except Australia, the polar regions, and some oceanic islands. Cats inhabit all types of habitats with the exception of tundra and polar ice. Most species occupy more than one type of habitat. Large cats prey on ungulates (hoofed animals) such as deer, zebras, and wildebeests, but also eat other meat. Small cats eat rabbits, hares, rodents, sna…
Otariids haul out on land near the waters they inhabit, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. When breeding or molting, shedding fur, otariids gather on rocky coastlines, sandy and gravel beaches, and caves. They also breed in mainland areas in Africa, Argentina, and Peru. Otariids feed on krill, a small shrimp-like an…
Walruses live mainly in the sea, occupying pack ice, large pieces of ice frozen together, that floats on the continental shelf, the shallow part of the ocean floor that starts at the shoreline. Males haul out on sandy, cobble, or boulder beaches. Though not considered Threatened, the walrus is protected by the governments of the countries in which it lives. Only native people are allowed …
True seals inhabit all oceans, except the Indian Ocean. Some species live in inland lakes in Siberia, Russia, and Finland. True seals forage, search for food, at sea, but haul out (get out of the water) to land to breed, molt, or shed fur, and rest. They prefer ice floes, large sheets of floating ice, or fast ice, ice attached to a land mass. They also inhabit sand, cobble, and boulder beache…
