Orangutan

1) Structural and Behavioral Adaptations 

Orangutans are specialist mammals, their habitats are limited to forests and areas with many trees because they are arboreal(animals that live in trees). They have adapted in many different ways to be able to survive in the forest and make their day to day life easier. 

Adaptations-

• Their arms are unbelievably long-7 feet- to help them swing from one tree to another easily. Suspending their weight from their arms they sway, using the branch like a pole vault. 

• Their mobile hip, is another adaptation that helps them with transportation between trees. While holding onto a branch they can swing the lower half of their body to the next. They rarely come to the ground, moving between trees is a vital part of their life.

• The male orangutan has thick cheek pads and a drooping laryngeal throat pouch. The long throat pouch lets him make his 'long call'- a sound the males make to mark their territory by letting the other males know. The forest is big and is also home to many other loud sounds, the males cheek pads are an important adaptation that amplify the long call so that it can reach other orangutans around the forest.

• Replacement of their sharp claws with flattened nails.

• Like mentioned above, moving through the trees plays and important part in their life. To make this process easier their feet, are shaped like their hands including opposable thumbs. While their hands help them swing their feet have to be able to catch onto the next branch, having this adaptation helps with the grip and ability to climb. Unlike most animals, orangutans prepare their food with their own hands(and feet) this action would be extremely difficult without their hand-like feet and opposable thumbs.