Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
primates. The first two digits of their feet are webbed—they are the only primate
with webbed feet. Siamangs also have a goiter-like sac below their lower jaw,
which can echo and amplify sounds. Their diet consists primarily of leaves and
fruit, but they will also eat flowers, buds, and insects.
Only one great ape (Hominindae [Pongidae]), the orangutan, occurs in the
Asian-Pacific rainforest, on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Each island has its
own subspecies. Fossils and remains recovered in China, Vietnam, Laos, and Java
suggest orangutans had a much wider distribution in the past. An adult male orang-
utan is about 4-5 ft (1.25-1.5 m) tall, and can weigh 65-100 lbs (30-50 kg).
Females tend to be smaller. Their coat is rather shaggy, thin, and dark red or red-
dish-brown in color. Orangutans are primarily arboreal and active during the day.
Like other great apes, they build a new nest each night in the trees. They rarely visit
the forest floor. Their diet consists of mostly fruit, especially figs. They will also eat
other vegetation, insects, eggs, and small vertebrates. Males tend to travel alone,
while females travel and forage in small groups. The already limited range of the
orangutan continues to shrink, largely because of hunting and forest destruction.
In the past, many were taken for zoos worldwide. The species is highly
endangered.
Elephants are the largest mammals in the rainforests of West Malesia. Asian
elephants are smaller than African elephants with smaller ears and tusks. Unlike
African elephants, females do not have tusks. The Asian elephant's trunk is smooth
with only one terminal projection, compared with the African elephant whose
trunk is telescopic with two terminal projections. In the rainforest, Asian elephants
tend to be nocturnal and feed on bamboo, wild bananas, and other plants. They
spend their days resting deep inside the forest.
The West Malesian rainforest has two families and three species of odd-toed
ungulates—the Malaysian tapir and the Javan and Sumatran rhinoceros. The
MalayantapirisfoundinsouthernMyanmar,Thailand,theMalayPeninsula,
and Sumatra. This distribution represents the remnant of a once-larger, perhaps
prehistoric, worldwide distribution. It is easily distinguished from the Neotropi-
cal tapirs by its distinctive coat pattern: the front of the body and all four legs
are black, and the back and rump are white. This pattern serves as camouflage
and makes the defenseless tapir difficult to see in the shaded forest. Malayan
tapirs can weight 600-1,000 lbs (272-453 kg). They tend to rest in the forest dur-
ing the day, and come out at night to forage on grasses, leaves, shoots, and
small branches near water. They are endangered due to deforestation and
hunting.
Rhinoceroses were once widespread throughout Southeast Asia. Today, they
are restricted to two large islands, each having its own species, the Sumatran and
Javan rhino, respectively. The two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros probably still
exists in the rainforest, but it is rarely seen. Sumatran rhinoceros tend to be solitary
browsers, feeding on saplings, twigs, fruit and leaves at dawn and dusk. They have
a prehensile lip used to grab and pull vegetation. Only 300 Sumatran rhinoceros
