ANTH 1001 : Anthro 1001 Half Of Final
Document Summary
If you accept the thesis that new world monkeys rafted to south. America on floating vegetation, then there are anthropoids in africa with the same dental formula as nw monkeys parapithecines. These african anthropoids predate the earliest nw monkeys by about 10 million years. Miocene diversity in locomotion: quadrupedality and arm swinging (suspensory) Miocene diversity in dental size and enamel thickness: Some taxa (proconsulines) > relatively small molars with thin enamel and gracile mandible (eg. proconsul and dryopithecus) Other taxa (sivapithecines) > relatively large molars with thick enamel and thick mandible (eg. sivapithecus) Before 19 mya, africa was a relatively continuous tropical forest. After 19 mya, tropical forests in old world became fragmented; environment became more mosaic (woodlands and open country) This change in environment led to selection for dietary diversity among hominoids and correspondingly, increase in molar size, enamel thickness, and robust mandible.
