ANT100Y1 Lecture 4: Lecture 4
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ANT100Y1 Full Course Notes
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General patterns of morphology and phylogenetics for fossil primates and hominins. What a hominin is in terms of taxonomy. Morphological trends in hominin evolution: bipedalism, expansion in brain size, change in dental/ cranial features. Body size: tiny, shrew-sized to size of small dog. Niche: likely solitary, nocturnal quadrupeds; well-developed sense of smell. Used to be classified as primates because of primate-like teeth and limbs that are adapted for arboreal lifestyle. Recent: plesiadapids not primates: no postorbital bar, claws instead of nails, eyes placed on side of head, , enlarged incisors. Mainly arboreal quadrupeds, some were specialized leapers. Smaller adapids ate mostly fruit and insects, larger forms ate more fruits and leaves. Body size of 45g to 2500 g. Teeth: adapted for eating insects and soft fruits, only few species were leaf-eaters. Three taxonomic groups: fused frontal bone, full postorbital closure, fused mandibular symphasis, parapithecidae, propliopithecidae, and platyrrhini.