Crossword clues for orangutan
orangutan
- Word derived from Malay for "jungle man"
- Literally, "man of the forest"
- Large long-armed ape of Borneo and Sumatra having arboreal habits
- Swinger at the zoo
- Sounded from belfry? Oscar climbs there with an ape
- Long-armed ape
- Run ragged with Tana, go ape
- Primate looked after corporation, one presided over by head of order
- Borneo ape
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Orang-outang \O*rang"-ou*tang`\, Orang-utan \O*rang"-u*tan`\, n. [Malayan [=o]rang [=u]tan, i. e., man of the woods; [=o]rang man + [=u]tan a forest, wood, wild, savage.] (Zo["o]l.) An arboreal anthropoid ape ( Pongo pygmaeus, formerly Simia satyrus), which inhabits Borneo and Sumatra. Often called simply orang. It is now an endangered species. [Written also orangutan, orangutang, orang-utan, ourang-utang, and oran-utan.]
Note: It is over four feet high, when full grown, and has very long arms, which reach nearly or quite to the ground when the body is erect. Its color is reddish brown. In structure, it closely resembles man in many respects.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1690s, from Dutch orang-outang (1631), from Malay orang utan, literally "man of the woods," from orang "man" + utan, hutan "forest, wild." It is possible that the word originally was used by town-dwellers on Java to describe savage forest tribes of the Sunda Islands and that Europeans misunderstood it to mean the ape. The name is not now applied in Malay to the animal, but there is evidence that it was used so in 17c. [OED]
Wiktionary
n. An arboreal anthropoid ape genus ''Pongo'' consisting of two species, ''Pongo pygmaeus'' of Borneo and ''Pongo abelii'' of Sumatra, having a shaggy reddish-brown coat, very long arms, and no tail.
WordNet
n. large long-armed ape of Borneo and Sumatra having arboreal habits [syn: orang, orangutang, Pongo pygmaeus]
Wikipedia
The orangutans (also spelled orang-utan, orangutang, or orang-utang) are the two exclusively Asian species of extant great apes. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently found in only the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were considered to be one species. Since 1996, they have been divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan (P. pygmaeus) and the Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii). In addition, the Bornean species is divided into three subspecies.
Based on genome sequencing, the two extant orangutan species evidently diverged around 400,000 years ago. The orangutans are also the only surviving species of the subfamily Ponginae, which also included several other species, such as the three extinct species of the genus Gigantopithecus, including the largest known primate Gigantopithecus blacki. The ancestors of the Ponginae subfamily split from the main ape line in Africa 16 to 19 million years ago ( mya) and spread into Asia.
Orangutans are the most arboreal of the great apes and spend most of their time in trees. Their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of chimpanzees and gorillas. Males and females differ in size and appearance. Dominant adult males have distinctive cheek pads and produce long calls that attract females and intimidate rivals. Younger males do not have these characteristics and resemble adult females. Orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes, with social bonds occurring primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring, who stay together for the first two years. Fruit is the most important component of an orangutan's diet; however, the apes will also eat vegetation, bark, honey, insects and even bird eggs. They can live over 30 years in both the wild and captivity.
Orangutans are among the most intelligent primates; they use a variety of sophisticated tools and construct elaborate sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage. The apes have been extensively studied for their learning abilities. There may even be distinctive cultures within populations. Field studies of the apes were pioneered by primatologist Birutė Galdikas. Both orangutan species are considered to be endangered, with the Sumatran orangutan being critically endangered. Human activities have caused severe declines in the populations and ranges of both species. Threats to wild orangutan populations include poaching, habitat destruction, and the illegal pet trade. Several conservation and rehabilitation organisations are dedicated to the survival of orangutans in the wild.
Usage examples of "orangutan".
In return the Blooms had received bottles of homemade chokecherry wine, a leg of mutton, Hal-loween pumpkins, even hay bales for their two Shetland ponies, Orangutan and Sunflower.
Chimps, gorillas, and orangutans are classified as members of the Pongidae family, while humans are the only existing members of the Hominidae family.
She smiled at the memory, and at a framed picture of Mina and Maj at the zoo, in front of the orangutan enclosure.
But today most scientists regard Ramapithecus not as a human ancestor but as the ancestor of the living orangutans.
In some cages there were several of a species, whether it was rat, frog, iguana, you name it, and in two different cases, chimps and orangutans, they were almost like small zoo exhibits, with the animals able to run free and play on ropes and tires and such.
One of the orangutans, a big orange character that also looked strong as an ox, ambled over to the glass and shaded his eyes as if looking up and down the corridor.
Starting from a 1/4-inch ancestral ape penis similar to the penis of a modern gorilla or orangutan, the human penis increased in length by a runaway process, conveying an advantage to its owner as an increasingly conspicuous signal of virility, until its length became limited by counterselection as difficulties fitting into a woman's vagina became imminent.
Our ancestors diverged "only" about seven million years ago from the ancestors of chimpanzees and bonobos, nine million years ago from the ancestors of gorillas, and fourteen million years ago from the ancestors of orangutans.
The dodo, the blue whale, the passenger pigeon, the quagga, the gorilla, orangutan, polar bear, cougar, lion, tiger, grizzly bear, California condor, kangaroo, wombat, rhinoceros, bald eagle.
The whole planet is administered by a council of ministers, at the head of which is a triumvirate consisting of one gorilla, one orangutan, and one chimpanzee.
Her legs, instead of leaping her forward into us, sprung out in front of her and she thrashed as she was effectively hanging by the neck, held by the twin handlike feet of a great orange orangutan.
Dinny said unresponsively, and began studying the papers like an orangutan inspecting the Magna Charta.
My attention is caught instead by these young women who'd sooner live in the jungle with the chimpanzees or the orangutans or the great mountain gorillas.
It might have a real basis in fact, too, but the real reason is that we feel that a world with tigers and orangutans and rainforests and even small unobtrusive snails in it is a more healthy and interesting world for humans (and, of course, the tigers and orangutans and snails) and that a world without them would be dangerous territory.
We could, for example, have pointed out that Darwin's theory of evolution explains how lower lifeforms can evolve into higher ones, which in turn makes it entirely reasonable that a human should evolve into an orangutan (while remaining a librarian, since there is no higher life form than a librarian).