ANT E101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Dentition, Sivapithecus, Prognathism
Document Summary
Many different species, with unclear evolutionary relationships. Sivapithecus or similar forms likely ancestors of orangutans. Some european and asian species might be ancestral to african apes. Climate changes in the late miocene (cooler and drier climate) Too slow generation time and developmental period to deal with these climatic changes. The same climatic conditions favored the evolution of the earliest ancestors of the human lineage. Mosaic evolution: different traits evolve at different points in time. 2. 1. 2. 3 dental formula (same as in all catarrhines) 2 incisors 1 canine 2 premolars 3 molars. Canine size and shape is associated with behavioral difference in apes. Reduction of sexual dimorphism less male-male competition different social interactions. Human has less facial prognathism and a smaller, shorter mandible, probably has to do with muscles of mastication. Long and curved fingers for grasping branches. African apes have long upper limbs (inherited from an ancestor with suspensory locomotion) Humans have inherited these adaptations as well.
