August 17, Toledo Zoo, part 5

.

On the 17th, we paid visits to the cousins shortly before leaving the zoo.   (Sighing over the glare between us and her hands and feet.)

I moved a bit, and was able to get a better shot with less glare.

I know this is her left hand and left foot, but I'm not sure if that's her right hand, or right foot, at the top.  We have really short toes, compared to orangutans......

I was interested in this individual because of her covering.  It was only when I saw her on the big screen that I realized she was napping.  This position does not look comfy to me, but what do I know?

A grooming session.

At top is the right foot of the groomer, and at bottom, the two feet of the groomee.

Periodically, the groomee's left foot would open like this, and then close back up.  I wonder if the groomer hit a particularly sensitive spot, or what........

Our feet are made for walking.  Orang feet are made for grasping. 

In Emergence of Life, most of the penultimate week was about mammals.  When we got to primates, we were told about Ardipithecus ramidus, which is believed to be one of our ancestors.  A. ramidus dates to 4.5 million years ago.  This is not long (geologically speaking) after the time of our last common ancestor with the great apes.  The closeness in time between the last common ancestor and A. ramidus indicates that the last common ancestor was probably quite similar to A. ramidus.

A. ramidus had feet that looked a lot like orang feet.  These are the feet of tree dwellers, not the feet of someone who spends a lot of time walking on the savannah.  (Our discovery of A. ramidus's feet is when/why our thinking about us evolving away from other apes on the treeless African savannah was revised.)

A. ramidus's hands, however, look more like our hands than like the hands of other great apes.  Other great apes are mostly quadrupedal.  They can take steps on two feet, but if they are going about their day, and especially if they are in a hurry, they go on all fours.  This requires very sturdy hands.  A. ramidus's long slender hands could not have been used for constant body-weight-bearing activity.

(Digression:  I'm remembering my lessons from Dino 101 about obligate vs facultative characteristics.   "Obligate" means there is no choice about the matter.  Birds, are obligately bipedal.  "Facultative" means they might or they might not.  Non-human great apes are facultatively bipedal.  They can choose to walk on two feet, but it's not their main method of locomotion.  End of digression.)



The conclusion drawn in Emergence of Life was that our last ancestor in common with orangutans, and gorillas, and chimps, and bonobos looked a lot like A. ramidus, and that we, and they, have all evolved a good long distance away from that last common ancestor, all in our own different directions.

We did not evolve *from* extant apes, but we and other extant apes all evolved from a common ancestor, which probably looked a lot like Ardipithecus ramidus.



Back to the zoo.  Here is another cousin whose feet are much better at grasping than ours are.  I suspect his feet are also better for ground travel than those of orangs.  Stubbier toes......

When one sees representations of Budhas or Bhodisatvas in museums, they often are making specific gestures with their hands.  Gestures that are meaningful, if you know the code.

I am pretty sure I know what this silverback thinks of gawping humans, and I am amused to imagine a meaning for this gesture....

He maintained this position for a long time....................



And now for something completely different -- this is a cassowary.  These are from Oz.  Australia's Crocodile Hunter talked about them on his tv show.  Very big, potentially quite aggressive.  I remember Steve-o, who regularly got very close to huge salt-water crocs (and to all manner of poisonous snakes), saying a person needed to be very careful around cassowarys....

Looking at this bird, I'm thinking about much older critters than A. ramidus........

Lots of dinos had crests on their heads.  I'm wondering what this crest is used for, and I'm speculating that dinos may have used theirs for the same purpose?  Note also "hairy" feathers -- this, also, seems like a primitive feature......

Aren't these colors amazing?  The dark blue on the neck is feathers, and I'm thinking there is blue skin, too?  In addition to the red/pink skin? 



Looking closer.  This image isn't as clear as I wish it were -- it was taken through plexiglas -- but I think the paler blue is bare skin.  Now I'm wondering about dino colors...........

This next image is not mine.  It was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, who took the picture.  Here you can see the whole bird, including its very large feet......  And very large crest.

"Jurong Southern Cassowary" by Bjørn Christian Tørrissen - Own work, http://bjornfree.com/galleries.html. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons



Moving on, from Australia to the Arctic, and then to Africa....

The 17th wasn't a terribly hot day, but it was hot enough to leave polar bears drowsily dreaming of endless sheets of ice.

Wait a minute, I smell something interesting.....

Nevermind.

The largest wide open space at the Toledo Zoo is for African critters.  I always think that if there is still grass (rather than only dirt) it's an indication that a space is big enough for the animals who hang out there.

This is the space where we once saw a giraffe run.  A grassy space that's big enough for a giraffe to run is a good space......

Mostly the animals here are mammals.  Zebras.

Wildebeest.

I saw a crowned crane, from a distance (but my only pic of the crane is of the "see that white speck over there?" sort).



The giraffes were busy elsewhere.  I know the zoo allows people to sign up in advance to get to feed the giraffes.  As this one was clearly chewing the whole time I watched, my speculation is that giraffe-feeding was going on. 

And thus endeth our August 17 visit to the Toledo Zoo.

Sometimes I walk away from a zoo feeling creepy about the condition of the animals, or the spaces they live in.  I don't feel that way when I leave the Toledo Zoo. 

It would be great if all of these critters could safely live in the wild, but so many of them cannot, for one reason or another.  While I'm sure zoo living can be boring at times, I am very sure boredom is much better than being hunted and killed by voracious humans who care for nothing but their own immediate want...............

As we trash more and more and more of our beautiful planet, not only leaving less and less space for anyone else, but thoughtlessly poisoning everything for all of us, I am glad there is a safe place where all of these creatures can live.  Safe and cared for and provided with enrichment........

Thank you, citizens of Toledo, Ohio, for voting to tax yourselves to support this wonderful zoo.

.