ANTH 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Astroid, Ecological Niche, Prosimian
Document Summary
Fossil primates: fossilization is an incredibly rare process, especially for apes. Not monkeys/prosimians: our ability to effectively survey and excavate these fossils is limited. Today - earliest prosimians (strepsirrhines and tarsiers), earliest haplorrhine monkeys (old and new world), and earliest haplorrhine apes (hominoids) Earliest primates and proto-primates were all entirely arboreal, all lived in trees. Lifestyle of arboreal facilitated by evolution of angiosperm around 100 and. Appearance of these flowering vegetations (flowers that grew fruit with seeds) allow more animals to go into trees and make a life there. Safe from predators and abundant food to eat. Contrasted with evergreens, seeds that are cases - gymnosperms. Rely on gravity, wind, to spread seeds around. Angiosperms evolve symbiotic relationship with insects, animals. Earliest primates that were arboreal took advantage of ecological niche. Astroid or comet strike, kick out tremendous amount of dust. Wiped out three quarters of all known species on earth.