ANTA01H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Ape, Retina, Gibbon
157 views5 pages
Published on 2 Oct 2015
School
Department
Course
Professor
ANTA01 – Lecture 5 – Survey of the Primates
Objectives of today’s lecture
•How primates differ from other mammals
•Learn about our extant primate cousins
•Review features of Strepsirhines
•Learn features of Haplorrhines
•Examine features of other Haplorrhines
The primate pattern
•Primates is an order
•Primates is where we belong
•There is no one particular feature that an animal has
•What animals show is a primate pattern (a number of features)
•Difference from animals (4 kinds of suites of features primates have)
oGrasping hands and feet
Pentactyly (5 fingers on both hand and feet) an ancient trait
Opposable thumb & big toe (allows us to grasp things very well; humans
have extra opposable thumb)
Have nails instead of claws
oVisual system
Forward-facing eyes (known as binocular or stereoscopic vision) (means
you have a three dimensional vision because it is forward facing)
Reduction in olfaction (our ability to see; the concentration and
importance of colour vision)
oLarge, complex brains
Our group developed large brains
We now have an enlarged neocortex (part in the brain that has to do with
memory and consciousness)
Because of large brain, learning is really important
•This means there are long periods of infant dependency because
of the reliance on learning
oFeatures of the skeleton & dentition
A mix of primitive and derived traits
An ancient, undifferentiated skeleton (primitive skeleton)
Primates have the tendency to be trunkal upright (example: when we sit
down, we sit up)
Reduction in tooth number
•Human dental formula: 2.1.2.3 (2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars,
3 molars)
•Ancient dental formula: 3.1.4.3
Primate Geographic Distribution
•Primates are almost exclusively tropical; we tend to like nicer, warmer areas
Alterative Classification
•We are the order of primates
oSuborder: Prosimii (pre-monkey and includes tarsiers who don’t really fit in
anywhere) & Anthropoidea
•Our classification of primates:
oSuborders: Strepsirhini (Wet nose) & Haplorrhine (dry nose)
oThis distinction is how most taxonomists look at primate order now
Strepsirhini
•Lemurs & Lorises
•Primitive primates – more closely retain our ancestral traits
•Only found in Africa, Asia, & Indonesia
•Tarsiformes are not strepsirhines!
•Lemurs and Lorises
•Some characteristics
oMost are nocturnal (active during the night)
oThey have large eyes
oThey have tapetum – a layer of tissue/reflective cells in the retina
oHearing is important to them in their nocturnal niche – independent mobile ears
oThey have immobile upper lips – they don’t use facial expressions often
oMost live along
oThey have relative inexpressive faces
oRely on scent marking
oThey have a heel bone that flares out
oDental comb
oThey groom each other with the grooming claw (one long claw)
oRhinarium – moist hairless pad at the end of nose which enhances sense of
smell
oMain mode of locomotion: vertical clinging and leaping
•Superfamily Lemuroidea (Lemurs)
oEvolved everywhere on Madagascar in every single niche
oWe have about 100 species of lemurs
oHuge diversity in lemurs but only found on Madagascar
oSmallest primate – mouse lemur
oSmaller lemurs tend to be nocturnal with a tapetum, insectivorous (eating
insects) and solitary (often alone)
oLarger lemurs tend to be diurnal (active during the day) with diverse diets and
some are arboreal; they are also quite diverse
•Superfamily Lorisoidea (Lorises)
oMore widespread
oContain 2 families
1. Galagidae – in Africa
2. Lorisidae – they go against the Strepsirhini, and are slow climbers. In
Africa & South East Asia
oStrictly nocturnal (active at night)
oThey shared common ancestors with lemurs in the Eocene