Chapter 5 The Primates Primatology the study of nonhuman primates fossil and living apes monkeys and prosimians including their behavior and social life helps anthropologistsmake inferences about the early social organization of hominids hominids are members of the zoological gamily that includes fossil and living humans two kinds of primates 1 those whose ecological adaptations are similar to our own terrestrial monkeys and apes that is primates that live on the ground rather than in trees 2 those that are most closely related to us The great apes specifically the chimpanzees and gorillas I Our Place Among Primates physical similarities btw humans and apes are recognized in zoological taxonomy assignment of organisms to categories according to relationship and resemblance similarities reflect their phylogeny their genetic relatedness based on common ancestry KPCOFGS humans and apes belong to the same taxonomic superfamily Hominoidea hominoids homologies similarities they have jointly inherited from a common ancestor humans are mammals that belong to the order primates others rodentia carnivora II Homologies and Analogies estimated that humans chimps and gorilla have more than 98 of DNA in common organisms should be assigned to the same taxon on the basis of homologies similar traits can arise if species experience similar selective forces and adapt to them in similar ways analogies convergent evolution process by which analogies are produced fish and porpoises share many analogies resulting from CE to living in water in theory only homologies should be used in taxonomy tribe hominin descrives all human species that ever existed between genus and species some scientists use tribes III Primate Tendencies primates are varied because they have adapted to diverse ecological niches because the earliest primates were tree dwellers modern primates share homologies reflecting their common arboreal heritage anthropoids anthropoidea monkeys apes and humans prosimians prosimii lemurs lorises and tarsiers primate trends 1 Grasping five digited feet and hands that are suited for grasping opposable thumbs thumb can touch all the other fingers in adapting to bipedal locomotion humans eliminated most of the foors grasping ability 2 Smell to Sight monkeys apes and humans have excellent stereoscopic able to see in depth and color vision the portion of the brain for vision expanded while smell shrank 3 Nose to Hand 4 Brain Complexity sensations of touch main organ is the hand proportion of brain tissue concerned with memory thought and association has increased in primates 5 Parental Investment most primates give birth o a single offspring rather than a litter growing primates recerive more attention learned behavior is an important part of primate adaptation 6 Sociality primates tend to be social animals that live with other of their species primate order has two sub orders prosimians and anthropoids managed to survive in Africa and Asia bc they were adapted to nocturnal life Madagascars lemurs with 33 species show adaptations to an array of environment or ecological niches tarsier confined to Indonesia Malaysia and the Philippines the one genus of tarsier that survived in North America is completely nocturnal don t directly compete with anthropoids that are active during the day IV Prosimians V Monkeys anthropoid suborder has two infraorders 1 platyrrhines new world monkeys flat nosed 2 cattarrhines old world monkeys apes and humans sharp nosed being placed in the same taxon makes humans and old world monkeys more closely related than to the new world monkeys all new world monkeys ans some old are arboreal monkeys move differently from apes and humns arms and legs move parallel to one another unlike orthograde posture straight and upright stance of apes and humans monkeys have arms and legs about the same length New World Monkeys live in the forests of central and south America have prehensile or grasping tails sometimes has tactile skin to use as skin owl monkeys are the only anthropoid new world nocturnal monkey Old World Monkeys have both terrestrial and arboreal species arboreal species tend to be smaller can reach a greater variety of foods arboreal monkeys typically are lithe and agile escape from predators large size is advantageous to ground apes bc of predators sexual dimorphism tends to be more marked in terrestrial species terrestrial monkeys have specializations in anatomy psychology and social behavior that enable them to cope with terrestrial life VI Apes Old world monkeys have their own separate superfamily while humans and the apes together compose the hominoid superfamily great apes are orangutans gorillas and chimps lesser smaller apes are gibbons and siamangs of Southeast Asia and Indonesia several tratis are shared by apes and humans as distinct from monkeys and other primate body size tends to be large life span longer longer interval between births no hominoid has a tail apes live in forests and woodlands light and agile gibbons which are great brachiators hand over hand movement through trees are completely arboreal terrestrial locomotion of chimps and gorillas is called knuckle walking long arms and callused knuckles to support the trunk Gibbons widespread in the forests of Southeast Asia especially in Malaysia smallest of the apes 3 ft height and weight have long arms and fingers with short thumbs most agile apes slender figure gibbons and siamangs slightly larger relatives tend to live in primary groups Orangutans Gorillas two existing species of orangutan Asiatic apes that belong to the genus Pongo highly endangered contemporary orangs are confined to two Indonesian islands sexual dimorphism is marked with the males weighing twice that of the females male orangs can be more arboreal than gorillas smaller size of females help difficult to study bc live in jungles and feed in trees males forage alone deforestation has been deadly to orangutans in sumatra and borneo in Indonesia Only one species but there are three subspecies of gorillas western lowland gorilla is the animal you normally see in zoos smallest lives mainly in forests in the CAR Congo Cameroon Gabon etc the eastern lowland gorilla only four in captivity slightly larger mountain gorillas are the largest and none are in captivity rarest gorillas no more than 650 survive in the wild avg adult female weighs half of male which is typically 400lbs 6ft spend very little time in trees most of day sepnt feeding