ANTH 203 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Darwinius, Dentition, Aegyptopithecus
3 Jun 2012
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Document Summary
Extinction of dinosaurs (65 mybp) opened up ecological niches. Primates were first to take advantage of that. Derived traits: nails, opposable fingers/toes, stereoscopic vision, reduction of reliance of sense of smell. Thought these features were adaptations to climbing/jumping in trees. But not present in other arboreal creatures like squirrels. But shared by insectivores that catch insects using vision combined with their paws. Earliest primate ancestor should be a small, arboreal insectivores, hunting on small branches. Avoiding tree snakes by running on very small branches. Thus, first primate adaptation was feeding on fruits, flowers, and nectar on the terminal branches of trees/shrubs. But, dna proofs that closest relatives to primates are bats and shrews. Rodent-like adaptations in their incisors and evolved to eat seeds. Middle eocene = greatest diversity of primates in world history. Earliest primate fossil to show some anthropoid features that make it a missing link to monkeys.
