Bornean Orangutan
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| Bornean Orangutan | ||||||||||||||||
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| Pongo pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 | ||||||||||||||||
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Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus |
The Bornean Orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Together with the slightly smaller Sumatran Orangutan, it belongs to the only genus of great apes found in Asia.
The Bornean Orangutan has a life span of about 35 to 40 years in the wild; in captivity it can live to be 60.
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[edit] Taxonomy
There is evidence that there was gene flow between the geographically isolated Bornean Orangutan populations until recently. The Bornean and Sumatran Orangutan species diverged 1.5 – 1.7 million years ago. This occurred well before the two islands (Borneo and Sumatra) separated. The two species of orangutan are more distantly related than the Common Chimpanzee and the Bonobo. Despite the difference, the two orangutan species were only considered subspecies until as recently as 1996, following sequencing of mtDNA.
The Bornean Orangutan has three subspecies:
- Northwest Bornean Orangutan P. p. pygmaeus - Sarawak (Malaysia) & northern west Kalimantan (Indonesia)
- Central Bornean Orangutan P. p. wurmbii - Southern west Kalimantan & Central Kalimantan (Indonesia)
- Northeast Bornean Orangutan P. p. morio - East Kalimantan (Indonesia)& Sabah (Malaysia)
[edit] Behavior
The Bornean Orangutan is more solitary than the Sumatran Orangutan. Two or three orangs that have overlapping territories may interact for small periods of time. Babies stay with their mothers until they are about 8 or 9 years old and have a long childhood compared to other apes.
The Bornean Orangutan travels on the ground more than its Sumatran counterparts. It is theorized this may be in part because there is no need to avoid the large predators which only exist in Sumatra such as the Sumatran Tiger.
[edit] Diet
The Bornean Orangutan's diet consists of fruit as well as shoots, bark, mineral rich soil and bird eggs. It also eats insects but to a lesser extent than the Sumatran Orangutan.
[edit] Status
The Bornean Orangutan is more common than the Sumatran, with about 45,000 individuals existing in the wild; there are only about 7,500 of the Sumatran species left in the wild. Orangutans are becoming increasingly endangered due to habitat destruction, and the bushmeat trade, and young orangutans are captured to be sold as pets, usually entailing the killing of its mother.
[edit] References
- ^ Ancrenaz, M., Marshall, A., Goossens, B., van Schaik, C., Sugardjito, J., Gumal, M. & Wich, S. (2007). Pongo pygmaeus. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-13.
[edit] External links
- The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS)
- ARKive - images and movies of the Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)
Apes | ||
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| Extant family | Hylobatidae · Hominidae | Image:Primatenskelett-drawing.jpg |
| Extant genera | Hylobates · Hoolock · Nomascus · Symphalangus · Pongo · Gorilla · Pan · Homo | |
| Extant species | Lar Gibbon · Agile Gibbon · Müller's Bornean Gibbon · Silvery Gibbon · Pileated Gibbon · Kloss's Gibbon · Western Hoolock Gibbon · Eastern Hoolock Gibbon · Siamang · Black Crested Gibbon · Eastern Black Crested Gibbon · White-cheeked Crested Gibbon · Yellow-cheeked Crested Gibbon · Bornean Orangutan · Sumatran Orangutan · Western Gorilla · Eastern Gorilla · Common Chimpanzee · Bonobo · Human | |
| Ape study | Aquatic ape hypothesis · Ape language · Ape Trust · Dian Fossey · Birutė Galdikas · Jane Goodall · Chimpanzee genome project · Human genome project | |
| Legal status | Personhood · Research ban · Declaration · Kinshasa Declaration · Great Ape Project · Survival Project | |
| See also... | Bushmeat · Ape extinction · List of notable apes · List of fictional apes · Human evolution · Mythic Humanoids · Hominid · Planet of the Apes | |
es:Pongo pygmaeus ko:보르네오오랑우탄 id:Orangutan Kalimantan it:Pongo pygmaeus lt:Borneo orangutanas nl:Borneose orang-oetan fi:Borneonoranki tl:Orangutan ng Borneo zh-yue:婆羅洲紅毛猩猩
