ANTH 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bonobo, Common Chimpanzee, Old World Monkey

• School: University of Victoria
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: ANTH 100
• Professor: Mc Guire

Document Summary

We are not quite as unique as we think we are. We share our taxonomy order with around 400 other species of mammals. In order to understand humans, we must study our past, as well as animals in the order. If a behavior is observed in contemporary humans or humans of the recent past and the same behavior is observed in our closest animal relatives, then there is a good chance our ancestors behaved in the same way. The 5500 species of mammals are divided into a dozen orders. Prehensile: refers to the ability to grasp things with the digits of the hand and/or feet. Grasping is enhanced by flexibility in the fingers or toes. Other 400 species of primates have fingernails and toenails. Overlapping field of vision allows for excellent depth perception in primates. Most primates have one offspring at a time. Many particular taxa specialize in eating only fruit, seeds etc.