Original subtitles

All primates, including humans, share a common ancestor.

Our stories diverged millions of years ago,

but we still have lots in common.

Physical traits, social bonds, smarts, raising cute babies.

From primitive lemurs to the more highly evolved orangutan,

each member of our primate family can shed light

on how we got to be human.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)

Off the coast of Africa, on the island of Madagascar,

lemurs bound from tree to tree.

Even though they're now native to just one island

on the planet, they're related to every human on earth.

Lemurs are the most distant living primates

from humans on the primate family tree.

Just think of them as cousins a million times removed.

When we look at lemurs we can see common characteristics

we share with our earliest primate ancestors,

like physical traits

and the origins of our social behavior.

This baby crowned lemur is Sischen.

She's a natural born leader.

She's the first one running out into the forest.

She's not shy about that.

She is not an animal that sort of

sits in the background and waits.

It's the crest, or crown, on her head

that gives her the name crowned lemur.

Like all females, Sischen and her mom are mostly grey,

while the males, her brother and dad, are more rust colored.

These crowned lemurs are one of more than 20 species of lemurs

at the Duke Lemur Center, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

It's a sanctuary and living laboratory.

Scientists there are studying lemurs.

The first lemurs lived in the forests of Africa.

But they ended up in Madagascar.

There are no lemurs on that island

more than 60 million years ago and right around

60 million years ago they popped up and the lemur

that came out of the fossil records

sort of looked like a fat-tailed dwarf lemur.

How they ended up on Madagascar is still a bit of a mystery,

but here's one theory: some species of lemurs

can go to sleep for days on end, almost like hibernating bears.

It's called torpor.

Tree trunk hollows make good nests, so picture some

very sleepy lemurs, millions of years ago, in a tree in Africa.

Now imagine a big storm that sweeps the tree out to sea.

With these lemurs inside-- it's called a rafting theory,

and they actually floated to Madagascar

while they were torporing.

The tree lands on the coast of Madagascar

and the lemurs wake up to a forested paradise.

So they've evolved on the island all by themselves

and they have not left the island.

So that's why we can only find prosimian lemurs on Madagascar.

So the theory goes.

We do know the lemurs that remained in Africa died out,

while the group in Madagascar thrived,

producing descendants like Sischen.

These crowned lemurs are perfectly adapted to the trees,

like our common ancestors.

Their long tails may look showy,

but they're essential for balance.

Many common primate traits are seen in lemurs.

Their shoulders are flexible, so they can climb and swing,

their hands can grasp branches.

Those are abilities that all primates share, including us.

Lemurs use vocal communication, also common to all primates.

Scientists believe that lemur calls have several roles,

including helping to improve social bonds

between members of a clan.

So it's possible that gossip among humans

came from our primate ancestors

as a means of improving our social connections.

The lemurs' vocalizing is also useful

across vast distances in the forest.

Crowned lemurs have a throaty alarm call.

And they go "bwa bwee";

that's another one that's a crowned lemur sound.

So it's very different than all the other lemurs.

Many of their calls simply mean "come here".

For lemurs, there's safety in numbers.

Like all primates, lemur babies take a long time to raise.

So living in a social group provides protection,

and maximizes their chance of survival.

There's more eyes to look out for an aerial predator

or for a ground predator.

It also helps take care of the infants.

Infants learn from their siblings, so if you leave

the youngest member far behind or mom's way off ahead

there's no learning, there's no protection in the group.

Lemur social groups, however,

have evolved differently than many other primate groups.

Female crowned lemurs have all the power.

That's very much important part of a young female learning

from her mother how to be dominant, how to be in charge

and don't be afraid to take that piece of food from your brother.

The females are willing to fight for food.

They need it more, to sustain pregnancy.

So males back off.

It's got to be a tough life being a male lemur

'cause you're at the bottom of that pecking order.

Sischen is already learning she can get away with a lot.

Sischen's ancestors are our ancestors.

They set up camp in Madagascar at least 60 million years ago.

But the primate party didn't stop there.

Moving closer to humans on the primate family tree: monkeys.

Primates can be found all over the world.

But which primates made it to the Americas first?

It was these guys: monkeys.

All the other guys claimed to have been first:

Columbus, Vespucci,

the Vikings, the Chinese,

even the Native Americans,

who were definitely here before the Europeans.

All latecomers!

Exactly how monkeys arrived here from Africa

is still up for debate.

But the fossil record doesn't lie.

Monkeys flourished in the Americas

roughly 30 million years ago.

Long before humans popped up.

And they're a valuable chapter in the story of

primate evolution, on the journey toward humans.

Squirrel monkeys are evolved from those early pioneers.

Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys and that means

they're from South America so they're found quite widely

throughout South America in the kind of central and

northern parts so you know in the big countries like Brazil.

This isn't the rainforest, or the streets of Brazil.

This is Edinburgh zoo.

A colony of common squirrel monkeys and their counterparts,

the capuchins, hang out at the Living Links Center.

The main point of research here at the Living Links Center

is to look at the behavior of the monkeys,

how their brains work, and how that can link

into looking how humans might have evolved.

In squirrel monkeys, we can see shared characteristics

in vision and social behavior.

There's lots of opportunity to learn about

this species' development from a young age.

That's because two boys and two girls were recently born here.

The babies share the same dad, but have different moms.

Female squirrel monkeys can only have one baby at a time.

And It's hard to tell the difference

between adults and babies.

That's because they're all small,

standing about a foot high fully grown.

Their tails are longer than their bodies!

Babies look like mini-adults as soon as they're born.

They're fully furred and can open their eyes,

although they're a third of the size.

Researchers know that, like humans,

female squirrel squirrel monkeys can see in full color.

Some males can see only two colors.

One theory is that color vision evolved

so that primates could find fruit more easily.

It's led to a greater understanding of human vision.

For the squirrel monkeys,

being able to see each other in color is also handy.

It could be to attract a mate.

It's basically showing off how fit and healthy they are

by having a nice glossy, colorful coats.

Here, zookeepers attached brightly colored necklaces

to identify female adults.

And if you want to know who's a baby,

it's the one riding a slightly bigger monkey.

The littler ones do a lot of that,

but they're getting braver.

They're spending a lot of time off their moms,

exploring their enclosure,

they're really agile and nimble animals

so they're really good at climbing about on the branches.

Like humans, squirrel monkey moms

want their children to learn to do things for themselves.

Moms discourage clinginess as their babies grow,

especially in baby boys.

By four years old, the boys will be mature and will be given to

other zoos to mate with other squirrel monkeys.

The females really want to encourage the youngsters

to start getting more independent

and fending for themselves a little bit.

In the wild, a dad's contribution

is to protect the colony.

Other members of a social group have human-like roles.

For example, there are built-in nannies.

Childless female adults help raise the young.

Siblings help too.

Some of our females in there, these aren't their first babies

so they'll have an older sister or brother in the group

and they still have that bond with their mom so they will

come over and groom the baby or groom the mother and it's

all about reinforcing the social bonds with each other.

Play is also a big part of the way a squirrel monkey

connects with his or her social group.

Like it is for humans.

It's a really good way of learning all of the behaviors

they need to learn for adult life.

It's all about keeping on the move and looking for food

and looking for opportunities to play with each other

or groom each other.

Squirrel monkeys are agile and they're smart.

They stick together to protect one another,

and to help raise their young.

Traits we can see in ourselves.

On the journey to becoming human,

squirrel monkeys bring us one step closer.

Another monkey is even closer to humans

on the primate family tree.

On a wintry day, a mother's embrace

gives her baby warmth and protection.

But snow monkeys are already well prepared for the cold.

Thick fur coats cover even the smallest baby.

Adaptability is key in the story of primate evolution.

It has made primates one of the most successful animal families

on the planet.

Snow monkeys live in a wide range of climates:

cold, hot and everything in between, just like humans.

Snow monkeys are found in most islands in Japan.

There is a big variation between the islands.

The most northerly is almost alpine and subarctic

and the most southerly are subtropical.

Snow monkeys, also known as Japanese macaques,

are even more adaptable than most primates.

There are very few primate species that have

such a diverse habitat, ecology, diet in the wild.

They're considered old world monkeys.

40 million years ago, these monkeys

spread through Europe, Africa and Asia.

They evolved to spend more time on the ground

rather than climbing in trees, a trait that brings them

closer to humans in their physical development.

This troop lives at Highland Wildlife Park,

near Aviemore, Scotland.

Babies Gaichi, Goku and Jen were born to three different moms.

They're six months old and dependent on them.

But 4 months earlier, during their first summer,

they were absolutely tiny.

Newborn macaques cling to their moms.

But soon enough they're off and running.

They're also picking up essential social skills.

They'll start to learn a bit

about what being in their troop is all about.

So movement, body language, vocalizations,

and little things like that.

Like all primates, they must master the art of giving

and reading social cues.

The facial expressions are important

because their hierarchy is very important.

If they don't show the right facial expression,

like a submissive grin, they could end up being in a fight

for that reason.

They can make peace, or avoid conflict altogether,

by grooming.

Keeping the females happy is a particularly good idea.

There's a strict hierarchy within Japanese macaques,

and it's matriarchal.

So females tend to form the main body of the family group.

One mother holds most of the power.

In this group it's Angara.

Her baby is a male, but she is the most dominant in the troop.

She's the top-ranking female and so her baby will become

quite a dominant individual.

Social status dictates everything for these primates.

Snow monkeys are mature around the age of five.

At that point they'll only hang out with monkeys

of the same rank.

But until then they have a few more options.

The relationships that they form generally are older siblings,

but also the same age group of babies that maybe would've been

born the same year that they were,

and they'll form those friendships

for a long period of time.

They sure do make the most of their play time,

particularly in the water.

They're really strong swimmers but because there's no need

for them to swim in captivity so much,

we tend to see it as a playful behavior.

So the babies particularly like jumping around and splashing

in the water and that's really funny in the summer months.

As summer ends the babies are still near their moms.

The females will protect their babies

for the first two years of life.

After that, the whole troop keeps watch on the young,

for both discipline and protection.

Like human babies,

young macaques can develop at a more leisurely pace.

These guys are preyed on by few species,

so probably wild dogs and maybe even birds of prey,

so these guys can develop more slowly.

Just as well they have time.

There's still a lot to master.

Because mastery, of environment,

of social life,

of expression,

is something Japanese macaques must do to survive.

And it signals a step forward in primate evolution.

Finally, the branch on the family tree that includes us:

great apes.

This exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo is a big draw.

Jiwa has something to do with that.

He's a Bornean orangutan.

Orangutan is Malaysian for "person of the forest."

The name suits these primates.

Their expressions, the way they look and act,

seems all too familiar to the people watching.

Did you see?

Mama was curled up in a blanket saying leave me alone.

What other Mama does that?

Um, you?

Yeah.

In the story of primate evolution,

orangutans appear in the last chapter: the great apes.

Humans are in there too.

Jiwa is a recent entry: he's almost two, and he's a handful.

He's still in his terrible twos

but he definitely is being more adventurous.

He's moving around more.

No wonder Bess, his mom, wants downtime.

She has two children in the family:

Jiwa, and his older, much more mature sister, Kasih.

Similar to humans, bringing up orangutan babies

takes a lot of time and a lot of energy.

It's one of the things that separate great apes

from other primates.

Female orangutans have 4 babies or less in their lifetimes,

and they spend the most time rearing those children.

Orangutans in general have one of the longest mother-infant

bonds, and so they actually will care for the infant and

explore that relationship for upwards the first seven years.

Mothers teach their children a lot in those first seven years,

both in the wild and in captivity.

They have to learn boundaries.

They have to learn their environment, what to eat,

what is not acceptable, what can go into your mouth,

what shouldn't go into your mouth.

Did you really have to get pink chalk on your lips today?

Did you?

Maybe red chalk is one of those things

that shouldn't go in Jiwa's mouth.

Bess uses it to draw, but Jiwa sees it as a tasty snack.

And he sees his sister, Kasih, as built-in entertainment.

He's looking at her as more of a playmate

maybe not necessarily than like a mother figure.

So he is batting her a lot.

He is, you know, hanging on her.

He does also seek comfort in her.

If he is unsure of something and she comes to take care of him

he does allow her to, which is wonderful.

It's Kasih's job to watch Jiwa.

In the wild, young females like her help mom with childrearing.

Bess sometimes looks at Kasih as like a babysitter.

It's like her break.

There is one way this family is different from orangutans

in the wild.

Dad, Mike, is around a lot more.

Mom, Bess, lets him hang out with Jiwa.

He's a very laid-back father.

His tell-tale fatty cheek pads

set him apart as the dominant male.

If this family lived in the wild,

Mike would be off roaming a much wider territory.

Male orangutans, unlike male chimps and gorillas,

tend to be loners.

It's out of necessity.

Orangutans eat fruit, and it can be scarce.

Not so in the zoo.

They have unlimited resources for food.

They have unlimited veterinary care.

They have unlimited water and shelter and all those things

that allow them to be able to interact with each other

that they wouldn't normally in the wild.

Like other primates,

orangutans have long arms to swing in the branches,

and long fingers and toes to climb trees.

Like all other great apes, they have no tails.

Size and strength sets the great apes apart, too.

Even little Jiwa.

When he was born his grip on Bess' body, on her hair,

to be able to hold his whole weight, which was only

probably around five pounds or so, but to think five pounds

and being able to hold it

from the moment you're born basically is incredible.

The other thing that makes great apes stand out?

Intelligence.

Like bonobos, chimps, gorillas and humans,

orangutans use tools.

These ones use them to get their food.

They use blankets as shelter in the sun.

And they communicate.

It's incredible. It's scary at times.

I think there's times I even joke around about Bess,

Jiwa's mom, how she can basically understand English.

The important thing is that Bess understands Jiwa.

The bond between them is obvious.

You can see the bond, too, when you look at other great apes,

like gorillas with their offspring,

and chimpanzee babies that cling to their moms.

The mother-child bond is unmistakable.

These orangutans, and all great apes,

have amazing stories to tell.

Our primate family includes monkeys, apes, lemurs.

Some are more primitive, others are highly evolved.

There are things we still have in common:

raising babies, social connections, intelligence.

In their stories we can see ourselves.

(♪♪♪)

(♪♪♪)