Monkey Lip

Interactive Java Tutorial
ATTENTION
Our servers have detected that your web browser does not have the Java Virtual Machine installed or it is not functioning properly. Please install this software in order to view our interactive Java tutorials. Visitors using the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers can download the appropriate software from the websites where the browsers are distributed. Please do not contact us for information about specific URLs where this software can be obtained.

Lips form the muscular opening of the mouth and contain numerous tiny capillaries and nerve endings just beneath the thin membrane surface. The center of the lip is comprised of a muscle termed obicularis oris, which helps to hold food in the mouth and form facial expression such as smiling and frowning. Primates extensively use their lips to communicate a wide variety of emotional states and intentions. Expressions include drawing their lips upward in order to expose teeth, which may communicate a threat or warning. However, the same conduct may express submission in other situations. Monkeys and other members of the primate family are also known to engage in lip smacking behavior. Although they purse or pucker their thin lips, primates do not typically make direct contact with one another.