04x07 - Hanging with the Monkeys

[bunniefuu]

We're in the rain forest
of central america

To learn all we can
about a great bunch
of creatures--the monkeys.

Monkeys are in
a group of animals
called primates,

And humans
are primates, too.

We're related
to monkeys,

And now we're
going to find out

All of the great
things that monkeys do
that we do, too.

And you never know
what else is going
to happen

In the central american
rain forest--

Boas, monkeys,
and a lot more.

Coming up on...

Iarriba!

Iandale, andale!

There are all sorts
of animals

In the central american
tropical forest,

But what we're looking
for now are monkeys.

And the great thing
about a tropical forest

Is there are
so many different kinds
of monkeys

Swinging and scrambling
through the trees.

Wait a minute.
Sure, there are
all kinds of monkeys

Swinging and scrambling
through the trees,

But do you know how many
trees there are

In a central american
rain forest?

Just how many different types
of rain forests there are?

It's not as simple as it seems.
Accessing tropical forests.

First things first--
there's no such thing
rain forest.

[Allison]
there are three kinds
of tropical forests--

The cloud forest,
the dry forest,

And the lowland
rain forest.

And every one of them
is like its own little world,

But from the forest floor
to the highest treetop,

These tropical forests
are packed

With cool
and exotic creatures.

It's not going to be
easy finding monkeys
in all that forest.

They have to cover
thousands of square miles,

And monkeys hang out
in the tops of trees.

[Martin]
all you have to do is know
what you're looking for.

What areyou
looking for?

Hit it, chris!

Monkey roll call!
Sound off!

Spider monkey!
Squirrel monkey!

Present.

Capuchin monkey!
Howler monkey!

[Ooo-ooo]

Grease monkey!

Yo! All monkeys present
and accounted for, sir!

O.k., I say we
give it a sh*t.

Only question--
where do we start?

The best way to find monkeys
is to do like the monkeys do.

After all,
we're all primates,

And if monkeys
can climb the trees,

So can we.

Believe it or not,

A monkey falls out of a tree
sometimes, too,

And that is the perfect moment
for a predator to grab it--

Predators like this cat,
the ocelot.

He's central america's
prince of the pounce.

Of all the cats, an ocelot
is a monkey's biggest worry.

They'll pounce on any monkey
they get close to.

I think this guy
spotted one.

[Monkey chattering]

[Chris]
hey, but the monkey
spotted him.

[Martin]
ocelots are
great climbers,

But monkeys
are better.

So this guy
is out of luck.

But ocelots
aren't the monkeys'
only predators.

Remember,
there's also...

Boa constrictors!

Behold the boa--

The slithery,
stealthy,
monkey strangler.

Boas are a kind of hunter
that sits and waits.

They'll coil around a monkey,
squeeze, and swallow him whole.

[Martin]
chris, check
this out!

A boa
on the hunt.

[Chris]
cool! He's feeling
the ground for vibrations.

That's how he
finds his prey.

See how
he's flicking his tongue?
He's tasting the air.

Another way he finds
something to eat.

What do you think
he's after--
the monkey?

Could be.

Snakes
can eat a lot of
different animals,

Like a paca.

Or a peccary.

Hey, or even
a deer.

Now, that's
a big lunch.

And when you eat
something that big,

You've got to rest.

But not long.
Only a couple
of weeks.

What is that?

[Martin]
it could be anything--
even a small monkey.

[Chris]
do you know how long

A boa can go
between meals?

Believe it or not,
a year and a half.

What was that?

It's hard to tell.
He moved so fast.

Wait. I think he's
coming this way.

A jaguarundi!

He looks
like a pumped-up
house cat,

And this guy is
a serious hunter

Of reptiles
and small mammals.

Hey, some monkeys
are small.

Yeah, but
thatmonkey isn't.

Let's check
this out.

[Monkey chattering]

Jaguars, ocelots, boas?

I had no idea there were
so many predators monkeys
had to watch out for.

No wonder they're
so hard to find.

If I were a monkey,
I'd make myself scarce, too.

[Martin]
yo, al,
check it out.

You guys found something?

Yeah. We found
what the jaguarundi
was after.

Spider monkeys!

Spider monkeys are
the acrobats of the forest,

And they're pretty good,

But I bet I can swing
with the spiders.

[Martin]
good luck! You're
good for a human,

But you
can't keep up
with these guys.

Oh, yeah? Watch
this climbing action.

Chris! Put more
shoulder in it!

I am!

But it's not like
I have the swiveling
shoulder joints

Of the spider monkey
or anything.

Hey, it's cool up here
hanging with the spiders.

I bet you can't
jump like them!

You want to bet?



That's no problem.

Aah!

For a monkey.

O.k., So here's my question
about spider monkeys--

Why do they call them
spider monkeys?
They don't build webs.

[Chris]
all right, I got
this one, martin.

With their long legs
and arms stretched out
like that,

What do they look like?

Spiders! Sort of.

These creatures are amazing.
They never stop moving.

But what I can't figure out

Is how they manage to find
enough food in those trees.

[Chris]
they don't have
any trouble finding food...

Because
rain forest trees
are filled

With what
the spider monkeys
love to eat--

Fruit!

Spider monkeys aren't
just fruit eaters.

They're picky
fruit eaters.

Mmm!

But if spider monkeys
are so picky about what
they eat,

What do they do with
stuff they don't eat?

Do they hit everyone
on the head with it?

Not exactly, al.

Whatever
the spider monkeys
throw away,

The pacas pick up
from the forest floor.

The spider monkey's
kind of picky,

But the paca isn't.

Pacas love
fallen fruit!

They're like
a cleanup crew.

But they are picky
about where
they eat.

They like to chow down
in a nice quiet spot

So they can hide
from predators.

It's cool how pacas
and spider monkeys
are interrelated,

But it's
hard to explain.

Give it a try.

All right.
Maybe this graphic
will help.

I'll put this
in as clear
a definitive

And scientific
manner as possible.

Paca eats the fruit,
spits out the seed,

Seed grows
into a tree where
the monkey hangs.

So all the creatures
of the rain forest
are intertwined.

The only thing about
the spider monkey

That might be confusing
is that prehensile-tail stuff.

If you're wondering what
a prehensile tail is,

Think of it as having
another arm.

[Chris]
exactly!
A prehensile tail

Is just a tail that can
grab onto things.

Spider monkeys
use this tail
to lean way out

And pick fruit
off of the branch.

Did you know,
in africa,

No monkeys have
prehensile tails?

Vervet monkeys
and baboons
both have tails,

But they can't
grab onto anything.
Weird, huh?

But back
in central america,

There's another
prehensile-tailed
creature--

Kinkajous.

[Chris]
martin, these guys
do look like monkeys.

They do, sort of.

They've got
the prehensile tail,
the face,

And it is
eating fruit
like a monkey,

But a kinkajou
is no monkey.

You want to check out
another creature
with a prehensile tail?

The tamandua!

Tamandua is
a pretty strange name,

But you know
what it is?

It's an anteater
that lives in trees.

We know what
he's looking for.

I didn't know
there were ants
and termites

Up there.

Me neither,
but the tamandua
knows what he's doing.

Look at him
ripping up that bark.

Now he's
slurping them up
with his tongue.

I don't think
ant-hunting in trees
would be so easy

If he didn't have
that prehensile tail.

So for
all these creatures,

Prehensile tails
sure come in handy.

These guys are awesome.

I've seen monkeys
before,

But these ones seem
so human.

Human? Human?

Presumptuous
people!

Monkeys aren't
like humans,

Humans are like
monkeys.

I know. Scientists
say that primitive
monkeys came first,

Then apes,
and then humans.

I remember it like
it was yesterday,

And, hey, it was only


Give or take a million.

First there were
the ancestral primates.

Then came--ooo-ahh-ahh...
Monkeys.

Then came dryopithecus,
and that was the first ape.

After dryo--that's what
we called them, anyway--

Came chimps--ooo-ooo-ooo...

Gorillas--ooh-ooh-ooh...

Orangutans--ahh-ahh-ahh...

And--eh-eh-eh-eh--humans.
Humans aftermonkeys, get it?

I stand corrected.

It's just that humans
always think monkeys
imitate them.

From a monkey's
point of view,

It's downright weird
how humans
imitate monkeys.

What do you mean
humans imitate monkeys?

What?
You've never heard
of monkey bars?

I never realized it before,
but we dodo a lot
of monkey things.

We even use monkeys
in the things we say,

Like "a barrel full
of monkeys."

Why put monkeys
in a barrel?

Monkey business,
a monkey suit.

I was talking about
humans behaving
like monkeys.

You know--how you
walk, act, eat.

That's right.
We eat fruit, bugs--

They eat bugs,
we don't eat bugs.

Who said anything
about bugs?
I'm talking about sap.

Sap? What's sap got
to do with anything?

You're talking about
the pygmy marmoset.

The pygmy marmoset
doesn't live in central america.

He's south american,

And he's the smallest monkey
in the world.

[Chris]
check out his face.

It looks like he's
got a lion's mane.

That must be why
locals call him
leoncito.

In english, that's
"little lion."

But this little lion
isn't little--
he's puny!

He's as small
as a hamster.

Look at him.
He looks like
a furry lizard

Running around
the tree.

And because
he's so small,

He's got to keep
his eyes peeled.

Yeah. That hawk
would eat him
in a heartbeat.

[Hawk screeches]

Those monkeys
are after him, too.

It's hard to believe
some monkeys
would eat this guy,

But brown capuchins would,
if they could catch him.

What does
the little lion eat?

He chews holes in trees
and eats what oozes out--

Sweet, sticky sap.

That's
totally weird.

It may seem weird

That pygmy marmosets
eat sap from a tree,

But syrup is sap
from a maple tree,

And every time you put
syrup on your pancakes,

You're eating the sap
from a maple tree.

There's sugar
in that sap,

And that's what
the pygmy marmoset's
going for.

It's a lot like
the flower nectar
the hummingbird eats.

Yum!

Hey, ttark's right.

We do play, eat, and act
a lot like monkeys.

I wonder what kind of monkey
martin would be--or chris or me.

That's a great question--

If we were monkeys,
what kind of monkey would we be?

It's easy
to figure out

What kind of monkey
chris would be.

Think of someone
deliberate, cautious,

And a little
funny-looking--
the howler monkey.

[Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo]

[Chris]
funny, martin.

Did you ever wonder
how howlers got
their name?

Yeah. It's that
crazy howler howl.

[Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo]

Ooo-ooo...

Ooo-ooo!

It would be great to be able to
hoot and holler like a howler,

But no matter how hard I try,
I can't get the same volume.

A howler monkey's howl
can be heard half a mile away,

And it can carry through
even the thickest forests.

Ooo-ooo-ooo...

[Howler monkey howling]

Ooo-ooo!

When a group
of howler monkeys howl,

They're letting the other groups
in the area know,

"We're here, this is our turf,
and you better not trespass."

Ooo-ooo-ooo!

[Howling]

I think you started
something, chris.

These howlers
are trying to tell us
this is their forest.

[Chris]
yeah. They're
claiming territory.

Ooo...

But there's
more to these guys
than howling.

Oh, yeah.
Howler monkeys
are steady eddies.

They're kind of
like the cows
of the rain forest--

Hanging around,
just chomping down
on leaves.

Man, look
at the chompers
on that guy!

Howlers spend
most of their time

In the canopy
of the rain forest...

So they need to be
good at moving
around.

Check out how
this howler crosses
the open space.

Hey, he hangs
with a whole troop
of great climbers.

You think it's weird for animals
to hang around in troops?

Think again.

[Chris]
good point, al.

Some fish swim
in schools. Why?

[Martin]
because the larger
the group,

The less chance
you'll get caught.

And how about
africa's impalas?

They hang around
together

Because
the more eyes and ears
on the lookout,

The better.

Which helps
protect them from...

Lions! Who also
live in groups.

A lion group
is called a pride.

A big pride can have


And they do
everything together,
including dinner.

One of the reasons
howlers live
in groups

Is so they can help
each other out.

And old-timers
know a lot about
living howler-style.

Stuff like
what leaves to eat

And where
to find them.

They pass on
that info
to younger howlers.

A baby hangs out
with mom for
about eight months.

Then she branches out
to join the troop.

And in a couple
of years,

She'll leave
the troop to join
another one.

Which isn't easy.

But you're right,
martin.

If I had a choice
of what monkey I'd be,

It would definitely
be a howler.

[Ttark]
come on!

Ttark,
what are you doing?

The question was,

What kind of primate
would we be

If we had a choice?

May I present
ramapithecus!

Take a bow, rami!

Who's that?

Ram's a really
good friend of mine.


Doesn't look bad
for his age.

He is awesome!
What's his story?

Survival! This guy
could really take care
of himself.

He could find food
anywhere--

Bugs, berries,
seeds, fruit.

He was
mr. Resourceful.

[Tck]

Don't get me wrong,
I love the younger
generation,

But millions of years
of evolution haven't
produced a simian

Anywhere near
as sharp as this guy.

Hang on a sec.

I wouldn't be
too sure about that.

Let's see--
a real survivor,

Scavenges on bugs,
berries, seeds,
and fruit.

Ttark,
your friend's related
to the squirrel monkey.

You're kidding!

He told me
he was an only child.

The squirrel monkey
is next on our list.

[Martin]
and here they are!

Squirrel monkeys are
the clever, resourceful,

Little berry pickers
of the forest.

They're quick, and they
can catch a bug a minute.

Hey, guy.

[Martin]
of all the monkeys
down here,

Squirrel monkeys
are one of the best
bug hunters.

They love fruit, too.
They'll scramble all over
looking for food.

They don't
travel light.

They'll move
in troops so huge

That clouds of bugs
go flying
in their wake.

Hey,
if that magpie jay
sticks around,

He may catch
a free meal.

Ha! He got
a juicy cricket.

But there's one thing
that makes these guys

A little different
from the other
rain forest monkeys.

Squirrel monkeys don't
have a prehensile tail,

So they have to depend
on a great sense of balance.

[Chris]
squirrel monkeys are always
running along branches

And jumping
from limb to limb.

Kind of like
squirrels back home.

That must be how
he got his name.

If I were a monkey,
I'd be a squirrel monkey.

"The females form
the core of the group."

Who does that sound like?

Guys.

[Chris]
hey, al.

What's up?

We found
the last monkey
on the list.

The last monkey?

Yeah. Capuchins!

These guys are
worth saving for last.

They're cool,
like the rain forest
jack-of-all-trades.

They're flexible, fast,
and don't mess around

When it comes
to finding food.

This guy's
chewing fruit.

That guy's got a bug.

And now he's going
for more.

Wow! Look at how
they pick bugs

Out of all those
nooks and crannies.

Check it out.
This guy's
unrolling a leaf.

No bugs there.

Look at what I found.

Everybody else is eating
these rain forest bugs.

There are
tons of bugs
to choose from--

For the capuchin,
anyway.

But I wonder what
the capuchin likes best.
There's so many.

Do they like ants?

How about grasshoppers?

And there are so many
caterpillars around.

But he can't swallow
these brightly
colored ones

Because they're
poisonous.

Martin, do you think
he could handle
the hercules beetle?

I don't know.

The hercules beetle
is the king kong
of the insect world.

But we're talking
capuchins.

These guys know
how to handle bugs.

Hey, have you
ever seen
a capuchin jump?

Cool! And they're
great communicators,
too.

They use their lips,
tongue, eyebrows,
teeth, and ears.

Even touching,
hitting, biting,

And climbing
onto the other guy
means something.

You know,
just looking at them,

You can tell
they're really sharp.

When you put it
all together,

We're talking about
one smart monkey.

You know what?

Spider monkeys, howlers,
squirrels, capuchins--

They're all so cool.

[Ttark]
of course they're cool!

Leapin' lemurs,
all primates are cool--

Monkeys, gorillas,
chimps, lemurs,
orangutans...

Even humans--after all,
they came from monkeys.

Well, see you later, al.
Got to swing!

[Imitates monkey call]

When you consider
all of the creatures
we've seen,

You realize they each
have their own
creaturenality.

Just like
we have our own
personalities.

And there's
a little bit of monkey
in all of us.

We communicate like them,
climb like them,
eat like them...

And sometimes,
even swing like them!

[Tarzan yell]

[Splash]

[Raining and thundering]

"The similarities
between the monkeys

"In the tropical rain forests
and humans is no accident.

There's a real link between us
and the creature world."

It's always fun to do
a little exploring

And find out
what the creatures are all about

And what we're all about,
know what I mean?

[Chris]
sure do, al.

[Martin]
that's why we're
on the move again.

There's a lot more
monkeys in south america.