both A. kadabba and A. ramidus lived in "a mosaic of woodland and grasslands with lakes, swamps and springs nearby," but further research is needed to determine which habitat Ardipithecus at Gona preferred. Anatomically, Ardi is closer to the orangutan than to the chimpanzee, bonobo or gorilla. All three are adapted for knuckle walking on the forest floor and climbling trees. The orangutan spends virtually its entire life in the forest canopy. Its anatomy allows for maximum reach by its upper limbs for overhead branches while its lower limbs have a narrow stance that enables it to balance while walking "foot over foot" on lower branches and vines. Although not as closely related genetically as the knuckle walking apes, this would indicate that Ardi was behaviourly more similar to the orangutan than to the other three great apes. In nature, the orangutan is widely dispersed. There is one dominant male in a territory with wide cheek flaps who maintains contact with others in his territory by vocalizations. The female raises offspring one at a time with a maturation period of about eight years. This is the longest maturation period of any of the apes. During this period, the offspring learns the intricate task of weaving a sleeping platform. Rescue centers are now raising young orangutans that have lost their mother typically from deforestation. They are raised in age cohorts by these centers to learn the necessary skills to be able to be released into the forest. While in these cohorts, they show social behavior reminiscent of age appropriate behavior of human children. This suggests that Ardi was physically preadapted for bipedal locomotion as well as social behavior. See also Australopithecus Paranthropus Graecopithecus List of human evolution fossils Orrorin Sahelanthropus References External links Science Magazine: Ardipithecus special (requires free registration) The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program: Ardipithecus kadabba Ardipithecus ramidus Ardipithecus ramidus at Archaeology info Explore Ardipithecus at NationalGeographic.com Ardipithecus ramidus - Science Journal Article Discovering Ardi - Discovery Channel Human Timeline (Interactive) – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016). Hominini Prehistoric primate genera Pliocene primates Transitional fossils Fossil taxa described in 1995 Prehistoric Ethiopia Miocene genus first appearances Zanclean extinctions