ANTH 1001 Unit 2 Primates 09 28 2015 Different Kinds of Primates Lemuriforms Tarsiers New world monkeys Old world monkeys Apes Primate Studies Descriptive o Researchers described the variations of the animals The different types The different habitats Observational o The main difference is the length of time that was spent in the field descriptive was smaller scale study but observational was longer scale study LIKE DECADES o Studying the apes o Jane Goodall is the most well known primatologist She is known for her work studying chimpanzees o Dian Fossey Long term observational study primatologist She studied mountain gorillas Had run ins with poachers and was eventually murdered by them technically it s an unsolved murder Theoretical The fact that they re gentle creatures came from her Had a gorilla BFF and was buried next to him her o Heavy emphasis on theoretical now in modern times o Behavior Ecology Looks at relationship between the environment and The study of the relationship between genetics and Primate Characteristics Relative to Other Mammals A general mammal is a cat dog horse etc so that s something to behavior o Sociobiology behavior compare primates to Limbs and Locomotion o Erect posture Upright posture Referring to upper body Slightly hunched over but in general they sit up and eat sitting up o Hands and feet 5 digits on each limb hands and feet opposable thumb and an opposable big toe fancy term for thumb is an opposable pollex fancy term for big toe is an opposable hallux prehensile referring to the ability to grasp and manipulate things with hands and feet primates have nails not claws primates have enhanced sensory nerves in the tips of their digits o flexible limb structure Primate Locomotion quadrupedalism leaping brachiation bipedalism Quadrupedalism knucklewalking slow climbing o Moving around on all four limbs o Knucklewalking especially in apes chimps gorillas means literally they are walking knuckles Part of the skeletal adaptation is a ridge on their radius by adding support on the wrist which helps them to walk Leaping Jumping o Literally leaping and jumping o Tarsiers have a primary locomotion of leaping and jumping They can leap up to 10ft Brachiation o Standing on their forelimbs moving by using your forearms and the rest of your body is just hanging Monkeys Gibbons ape o Semibrachiation This is when the primate uses their tail into the movement only ones who can do this are prehensile tails new world monkeys Bipedalism o Bi is referring to two o Pedal is referring to feet o Walking around on two limbs behind limbs primarily maybe exclusively These four different ways of getting around o None of them are exclusive o However bipedalism is the only way humans move Senses and Brain increased Reliance on vision o color vision o depth perception o manifested skeletally in the positioning in eyes decreased reliance on smell enhanced touch in fingertips encephalized o Size of the brain relative to the size of the body o Primates compared to the body size brains are very large o Brain size is really important in the fossil record Maturation Learning and Behavior K selected vs r selected o K selected means the individual only has one or a few o The offspring are born very immature unable to take care of offspring at a time themselves o Long maturation period a lot of parental investment o Relatively long gestation period o R selected is the complete opposite An example is fish Arboreal vs terrestrial o Means that they spend a lot of time in the trees o Terrestrial means spending a lot of time on land Diurnal vs nocturnal o Active during the daytime o Nocturnal is most active at night Flexible learned behavior o Flexible highly adaptable to whatever environment they are o Learned primates are k selected so there is a lot of learning in direct indirect going on Social o Primates in general are very social o They need want other individuals o They work and live in group settings Arboreal Hypothesis o The suite all of the characteristics given characteristics that differentiate primates from other mammals is a result of adapting to an arboreal environment Dental Characteristics in anth particularly physical anth teeth are very important Heterodont different teeth o incisor blade shaped teeth in front inside mouth used for biting things o canine o premolar o molar next in jaw used for grinding chewing food larger teeth 4 or 5 cusps cusps is little bumps used for grinding chewing food o Diastema Dental formula o NWM 2 1 3 3 maxilla 2 1 3 3 mandible Maxilla is upper jaw Mandible lower jaw Each number is a different tooth type Whole dental formula itself is the number of different tooth types in ONE HALF OF THE MOUTH 1st column Number of incisors in of maxilla and bottom is of mandible 2nd column Canine 3rd column pre molar 4th column molars o OWM Apes Humans Diet Foragers 2 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 ONLY OF THE MOUTH What does the first two in lower set of numbers Stands for number of incisors in of the mandible o Daily search for food o Some species will spend 5 7hrs per day just to get their food o Omnivores Eat a little bit of everything Primates aren t specialized in a particular type of food o Frugivore The bulk of the diet comes from fruit Some of lesser apes They can eat other things but their preferred food source is fruit o Insectivore A lot of insects o Folivore o Carnivore A lot of foliage leaves Eat a lot of meat Humans are most carnivores of the primates Primate Terms Sexual dimorphism o Word structure Whether an individual is male or female Di refers to two Morph is referring to shapes Two shapes structures in male female o Differences between males and females of the same species Size Shape Color group Peacocks one is more colorful than the other o Correlation between sexual dimorphism and competition in a Social Structure Residence patterns o Social behaviors group makeup of different primate groups o Size and demography of a group Demography is age and sex patterns o 1 solitary rare solitary species adult males will live their lives basically alone offspring adult females live their lives alone except their males and females reproduced and then they separate again females offspring stays with the female great apes orangutans o 2 pair bonded another type of residence pattern but it is also rare one male and one female will form a unit and they will have dependent offspring not a family strange but does exist o 3 polyandry SUPER RARE Poly is many Literally