A Tale of Tails
We are primates, one and all
And our heritage is not from the fall.
The primate group is where we’re from
And no matter how far we’ve come
We owe our past through ties of time
And that’s the purpose of this rhyme.
We are a great ape, just like the rest
While some people think we are the best
We share certain traits with others like us
And shows the relationship without a fuss.
With tailless primates, the great apes all
Four Genera of Hominids, but only we stand tall.
But interestingly enough, other Genera are less succinct
Each have two species, reproductively distinct.
Of the chimps, Pan, bonobos in a seemingly fright
Use sex to settle things rather than fight.
The common chimp will settle things
With a stick in hand, that it brings.
Of the Gorilla group, peaceful eaters of fruit, leaf and seed
Just look somewhat different although they can all breed.
There are also some differences in the sounds that they make
As well as the chest beating of which both species partake.
Then Pongo, we have, the oddest of all
On Borneo, sometimes, they descend and stand tall.
But mostly alike with some minor differences in hair
The fascinating thing is the flange that some males bear.
We’re not really sure what the flange is for
But it seems to play a role in sex, we’re almost sure.
One male in an area will develop this trait
And it will seal other males’ reproductive fate.
But given the circumstances, if the situation has need
Any male can develop this structure and breed.
And then we have us, of *****descent
The only naked ape, fully walking not bent.
No others survived, it’s rather quite grim
We are the end of our evolutionary tree limb.
But what separates the monkey from the ape line
Is that monkeys have tails but apes lack this vine.
And in general apes have a bit of the size
In spite of the fact that we lack that tail prize.
The only naked ape, fully walking not bent.
No others survived, it’s rather quite grim
We are the end of our evolutionary tree limb.
But what separates the monkey from the ape line
Is that monkeys have tails but apes lack this vine.
And in general apes have a bit of the size
In spite of the fact that we lack that tail prize.
Copyright © LR Waldman | Year Posted 2016
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