ANT100Y1 Lecture 4: Evolutionary Anthro - Lecture 4.pdf

• School: UTSG
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANT100Y1
• Professor: (3differentprofs)

Document Summary

North and south america, africa, india were island continents; Europe and western asia were inundated with water; australia had just separated from antarctica. Geography and climate very different from present-day conditions; hotter and more humid. Body size = tiny, shrew-sized to size of small dog. Niche: likely solitary, nocturnal quadrupeds (using all four legs), well developed sense of smell. Used to be classified as primate b/c of primate-like teeth and limbs that are adapted for arboreal lifestyle. Nocturnal; large eye orbits; mostly ate seeds; arboreal; scampering mode of locomotion similar to squirrels. This changed as we began to know more about fossils. Claws instead of nails (claw is attached to bone by ligaments; nails lye on a soft tissue bed. More recent: plesiadapis and a few others are primates. Connection between north america and europe, and asia and. Europe; south america and africa = island continents; land- bridges between major continents.