ANT 2511 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Australopithecus, Gastrolith, Quadrupedalism
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Name 4-5 types of locomotion in primates.
1. Clinging and Leaping
2. Terrestrial Quad.
3. Arboreal Quad.
4. Brachiation
5. Knuckle Walking
How do the locomotor patterns of monkeys differ from apes?
Monkeys: equal-sized limbs
Apes: Long arms, short legs.
By looking at a skeleton, how could we tell a quadruped from a brachiator?
Quadrupeds have equal-sized limbs while brachiators have longer arms and shorter legs.
How are human limb proportions different from other apes?
Human: Shorter arms, long legs.
Apes: Shorter legs; long arms.
Types of fossils:
*Mold fossils (a fossilized impression made in the substrate - a negative image of the organism).
*Cast fossils (formed when a mold is filled in).
*Trace fossils = ichnofossils (fossilized nests, gastroliths, burrows, footprints, etc.).
What can we tell about the activity patterns (diurnal versus nocturnal) from fossilized remains?
The larger the eye orbits, we can tell that these creatures were nocturnal. Diurnal eye orbits are smaller.
Adapoids are thought to be ancestral to what modern forms?
Strepsirhines