Monkey business: taxidermy of endangered primates in pictures | Science

 Posted on March 22, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  869 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Monkey business: taxidermy of endangered primates – in pictures

More than 60 spectacular specimens of monkeys, apes, lemurs, lorises and bushbabies will go on show at the National Museum of Scotland from 9 December. The taxidermy was specially commissioned for the exhibition and is the first to show primates behaving as if they were in the wild

Main image: Ring-tailed lemurs defend their home range against neighbouring groups. Males rub their stripy tails against large wrist glands, leaving a distinctive scent on their tails. Stink fights occur when rivals waft their fragrant tails at each other. Photograph: Courtesy of National Museums Scotland

Fri 2 Dec 2016 03.00 EST Last modified on Fri 29 Oct 2021 07.48 EDT

  • Lion-tailed macaque – endangered

    Macaques have large cheek pouches which they can stuff with food. Dominant animals may take advantage by stealing food from the cheeks of those lower in the ranks.

  • Grey-legged douroucouli – vulnerable

    Nocturnal douroucoulis have big eyes to trap maximum light, but can’t see colour. The retina of their eyes have only rod receptor cells that detect dim black-and-white light.

  • Slender loris – endangered

    Slender lorises wash their hands and feet in their own urine so that as they travel along branches they leave a smelly trail to help them find their way in the dark.

  • Mandrill – vulnerable

    The male mandrill has a brightly coloured blue and red face and bottom that change colour depending on mood or when they are ready to mate. They bare their large canine teeth to warn off rivals and attract female attention.

  • Chimpanzees – endangered

    Chimps use rocks to crack open nuts and seeds and also make other tools for different specialised tasks, including fishing for termites in mounds and using leaves as sponges to get drinking water from nooks in trees.

  • Goeldi’s monkey – vulnerable

    The diet of Goeldi’s monkeys consists of more than 70% fungi.

  • Hamlyn’s monkey – vulnerable

    Hamlyn’s monkeys live in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda and have been threatened due to intense conflict in these regions.

  • Ring-tailed lemur – endangered

    Ring-tailed lemurs defend their home range against neighbouring groups. Males rub their stripy tails against large wrist glands, leaving a distinctive scent on their tails.

  • Ring-tailed lemur

    Stink fights occur when rivals waft their fragrant tails at each other.

  • The aye-aye from Madagascar – endangered

    The aye-aye hunts for insect larvae at night in rotting wood. It has several adaptations for finding prey: it taps its fingers up to ten times per second on a tree; listens for grubs with its huge flexible ears; uses its large rodent-like teeth to gnaw a hole in the tree and, finally, uses its slender middle finger with its curved claw to reach in and fish out the grub.

  • Hamadryas baboon – least concern

    Baboons spend much of their time on the ground to find food. They have long legs, but short fingers and toes for sprinting. A narrow chest and long rectangular shoulder blades on the side of the body allow their arms to swing back and forth, helping them dash quickly to safety.

  • Gorilla – endangered

    Gorillas are the biggest primates. They weigh up to 181kg. They use knuckle-walking when moving on all fours, using their hands to extend their arm length. Their arms are much longer than their legs so that they can also swing when climbing.

  • Potto – least concern

    Pottos use a distinctive head-down posture when threatened by predators such as genets, and use long sensitive hairs on their napes to detect when threatening jaws are closing in.

  • Sumatran orangutan – critically endangered

    The orangutan’s natural habitat on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, is seriously threatened by logging, mining and agricultural plantations.

  • Senegal galago – least concern

    Senegal galago tend to live in dry woodlands and savannahs. They have large eyes and good nocturnal vision for hunting at night.

  • Bengal slow loris – vulnerable

    An arboreal, nocturnal species that inhabits tropical evergreen rainforest and moist deciduous forest. Vulnerable due to loss of habitat and severe pressures from hunting.
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