Monkeys

[Shawchert Menue]

Ok so i was thinking with one of my posts... as i always do... Monkeys, are they still alive of have they been pretty much whiped due to the fact they have about 98% human genetics, I didn't read anything about them in the rp guide though they aren't technically numerous, but was just wondering out of curiousity

[Kaena Lykoi]

DNA is kind of irrelevant! I read somewhere that you share something like 50% of your DNA with a banana -- doesn't make you closely related to a banana, does it? XD

But anyway, I think it's safe to say that monkeys weren't affected -- we share only a family with a few of the great apes (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees) and we're definitely not of the same genus. As the virus didn't affect the entire Canidae family, which the Canis genus is a part of, in the same way, I'd think it's safe to say ape/monkey-like animals are still around and unaffected?

PLEASE NOTE, I am not a sciency person and I may be very wrong because of this. :3 Feel free to correct~

[Arkham Lykoi]

I don't think monkeys would necessarily be affected negatively by the virus the same way humans were. However, at least for Nova Scotia, I don't think many would have survived without the care of humans at zoos/etc because the environment isn't temperate enough for them.

[Gabriel de le Poer]

You're not far off Sie. :] DNA is made up of four unique "bases", which are strung together in a huge order to made a genetic code. So yes, we'd probably share similar DNA sequences with some things, but scientists still have no idea why the 1% between humans and apes makes us walk upright and them not. It's a complicated thing!

Monkeys would not survive in the wild this far north. They are not generally acclimated to such cold temperatures--the Japanese Macaque is one of the few species who can do so. I would also imagine that zoo monkeys who would escape would probably die because they wouldn't know how to survive. Same with pet monkeys. You might find a few in the south who had managed to survive, but I doubt they would do so well, considering their diet.

The Central Park Zoo has Japanese Macaques, but because we play as if NYC is still controlled by humans, they would probably have been killed during riots or whatever panned out there.

Realistically, a monkey might also be killed by wolves because they're easy prey. Sure, they can climb trees, but Luperci can too. ^^

[Theodoric Martin]

Since we're talking science, two slightly nitpicky things:

First, the term "monkeys" is very ambiguous. (Not that it matters all that much in terms of this discussion, but generally speaking, monkeys have tails and apes do not.) What we're discussing, I think, is the order primates, which is further divided to include everything from lemurs to the great apes. Again, this also isn't that important in terms of the discussion, but I wanted to point out that we're talking about a huge and varied class of animals -- much bigger (in terms of numbers of species) than we see in the canine family, canidae. Also, with each new study done, the "correct" primate family tree (or any other taxonomic tree, for that matter) is subject to change.


Secondly, bacteria and viruses are known to jump between monkeys, apes, and humans. HIV and the ebola virus are two examples of viruses today that originated in a primate species. Granted, the viruses mutated along the way, but viruses tend to do that. There are no clear-cut rules for disease. Some effect a single species, some will go for anything with a heartbeat (I could, for example give my rats pneumonia, if I handled them while sick. Turtles and other reptiles can give humans salmonella, but are unaffected by it themselves).

I guess what I'm saying is that there isn't a right or wrong answer here. The virus may have mutated to infect apes and monkeys, or it might not have. And, if it did, was the population of the infected species large and diverse enough to have immune survivors? Would the mutated virus have stayed on one continent, in one area? Dozens of little factors.


I think Mel has the right of it: regardless, primates would be hard-pressed to survive this far north. I think the only way you'd see a primate is if someone brought one in as a pet.

[Shawchert Menue]

i was just curious in general, hehe i didn't expect them to actually survive in NS straight from the zoos <3 it was a curious question and well i'm a do do when it comes to all the science stuff heh, i've just got a lil bit of common sense, thanks guys for the answers!