ANT 4553 Mid-term Exam Fall 2018

Directions: On the day of the mid-term exam, you will be asked to answer three essay
questions chosen from the list below. Your choices will be limited but will always include at
least two alternatives for each of the three essays. You may prepare one essay in advance and
bring in a type-written answer of 1-3 double-spaced pages (or 1.5 single-spaced pages). You
will be allowed to use this prepared answer to substitute for any one of the three required essays.

For the remaining essays, you may bring in one 3x5 index card with a few key words for each
essay (no more than 20 words or so per card). When you begin writing, you should have no
more than 2 (or 3) index cards visible on your desk. Bring some ruled loose-leaf paper for
writing in class (a small amount of paper will be available for those who forget). Bring a pen.

1. Why study great apes? Why are studies of free-ranging apes important? Who was the
first scientist to call for natural history studies of great apes in their natural environment?
What evidence did he present to support his call for this kind of study? When and how
did anthropologists become involved in promoting the need for studies of apes and other
primates? What role did the National Geographic Society play in raising public
consciousness about the value of studying great apes in the wild?

Studying great apes is important in being able to reconstruct the last common ancestor between
apes and humans and determining the origins of our own species. It’s important to study free-
ranging apes in their natural habitat to be able to fully capture their sociality and community
interactions.
Thomas Henry Huxley provided the first review of what was known about apes in their natural
habitat.

In the 1960s, there was a major change in public perception of apes because of popular media
coverage by National Geographic. The advent of film made it easier for more people to not only
be able to observe apes but also observing them in their natural environment. National
Geographic became a great public relations outlet for great apes and further helped to
anthropomorphize them by naming them, depicting them as cute and safe to study. Still, NatGeo
documentaries are a form of entertainment

2. The taxonomic position of “great apes” is very close to that of humans. Describe the
traits shared by humans and “great apes” that suggest a shared evolutionary
heritage as mammals, primates, haplorhines, anthropoids, and catarrhines.
Humans and great apes belong to the Superfamily Hominoidea. What traits
characterize this superfamily and what is the adaptive reason for this complex of
traits?

In the broadest sense, apes and humans are both vertebrate and mammals. As mammals, we are
homeothermic which through either fur or internal mechanisms, is what allows us to maintain our
body temperature in response to the climate. The dentition of an animal gives us a lot of
information, and mammals have heterodonty. In comparison to a shark or alligator, whom have
the same kind of tooth in their mouths, mammals have 4 different kinds of teeth: incisors,
canines, premolars and molars. Additionally, mammals are also characterized by certain traits in
their reproduction such as the internal gestation of young, lactation and extended parental care,
the length of which varies between species of mammals. Due to the length of time that young
spend with their mothers, emotional bonds are developed, and immatures will be able to learn
about their environment and themselves through play. Primates are a diverse order within the
mammalian class that contains over 300 species. One of the most defining features of primates is
their hand-eye coordination, bony eye sockets, grasping hands/feet and their stereoscopic color
vision. Other features include a smaller snout reducing emphasis on smell, touch receptors on
hands, fingernails, mobile appendages and hindlimb dominance. Primates also have more
elaborate cerebral cortexes, larger brains and the presence of the neocortex which is exclusive to
mammals but highly expanded in the primate order. The neocortex allows for sensory perception,
motor commands and spatial reasoning. Primates typically live long lives, mature slowly and
have complex social relationships with one another. Primates are further divided into two
suborders: strepsirhini(lemurs/lorises) and haplorhini which is characterized by dry noses. The
infraorder anthropoidea follows, which separate all monkeys, apes and humans from tarsiers.
Anthropoidea is characterized by a fused mandible, fused frontal bone, individual digit movement
and even larger brains. The parvorder catarrhine separates new world monkeys, whose nostrils
point outward, apart from old world monkeys, apes and humans whose nostrils point downward.
Finally, apes and humans fall into the superfamily hominoidea who are characterized by wider
torsos, absence of tails, presence of the Y-5 molar and the wide range of motion in the wrists,
elbows, forearms etc. The rotator shoulder joint allows for 360 degree movement of the arm and
forearms are able to rotate 180 degrees due to the radius and ulna are connected.

3. For much of the 20th century, great apes were classified into the family Pongidae and
humans into the family Hominidae. Describe how “evolutionary taxonomy” (the school
of taxonomy which created this earlier version of hominoid taxonomy) emphasizes
adaptation and highlights the contrast in adaptive zone occupied by great apes and
humans. Today great apes and humans are usually classified together into the family
Hominidae. Describe how the school of taxonomy known as “cladistics” clarifies the
probable branching sequence that occurred in the evolutionary emergence of these
modern taxa (but obscures degree of adaptive similarity). How does this change in
taxonomic practice also push us to change our sense of what it means to be human?

4. Why are members of the family Hylobatidae known as “lesser apes?”

Members of this family include the Hoolock, Hylobates, Nomascus and Symphalangus.
Because they are smaller in stature, branched away from the lineage leading to hominids
18 MYA and they are cognitively distinct from great apes. The members of the family
Hylobatidae are known as “lesser apes” due their smaller body size and the cognitive
distinction between themselves and “great apes.” Unlike monkeys, members of
Hylobatidae have great brachiated locomotive ability in addition to arboreal bipedalism.

What traits mark them as “apes” (i.e. hominoids) rather than monkeys even though
they are often mistakenly identified as “monkeys” when visitors see them in a zoo
exhibit?

The 360 range of mobility of their upper arms, bipedalism and lack of an external tail
classifies them as apes. Their size and appearance would make it hard for a zoo visitor to
distinguish them from monkeys.

What derived traits (physical, locomotor, behavioral) distinguish members of the

family Hylobatidae from the family Hominidae?
 Their forelimbs are much longer than apes and they are much smaller in size. They are
monomorphic, and some species display sexual dichromatism. Both sexes have
projecting canine teeth. They travel rapidly through the trees and will be in the air
without support for seconds at a time as they use the momentum of their pendulum swing
to reach the next branch of support. They do not use tools. They do not recognize their
mirror image. They practice monogamy and vocal duetting.

What makes the siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) distinctive from other species
of hylobatids?

Siamangs are twice as large than other hylobatids and they eat more leaves than fruit.

5. Compare the chimp and bonobo “factsheets” (Univ. of Wisconsin Primate Information
Network website) and the Stumpf 2011 chapter (from the Campbell text) as sources of
information about chimpanzees and bonobos. Which did you find most effective?
Present something interesting you learned about chimpanzees and bonobos from each of
these sources (at least one conclusion from each source….at least 3 conclusions in total).

6. Describe the bi-level fission-fusion social organization of Pan troglodytes.

A social grouping pattern in which individuals form temporary small parties, or

subgroups, whose members belong to a larger community of stable membership. There
can be fluid movement between subgroups and unit-groups such that the group
composition changes frequently.

What kinds of affiliation (or avoidance or aggression) are displayed by

chimpanzees?

What features make chimpanzee social organization distinctive from that of all
other primate species? What do these distinctions say about chimpanzee cognition?
-Multi male, multi female
-Males stay/philopatry, strong bonds between males
-females emigrate, weak bonds between females
-Males are territorial and patrol boundaries
-prey capture, possession, food sharing with other males to cement alliances(but only
meat)
-Alliances can shift easily
-coalition behavior helps rank ascension and maintenance
-changes in rank are disruptive to community
-dominant males can steal monkey kill away from females and lower-ranking males

How much variation exists across Pan troglodytes study sites especially in the
behavior of schweinfurti females and verus females? What consequences does this
variation in female social behavior have for tool use and cultural diversity?
-lower rates of killing are reported for western(verus) than eastern(schweinfurti)
chimpanzees
 -verus, tai, senegal: a bisexually bonded community model where both sexes use the
entire home range equally. Still a male competition for rank but note female rold in
recognizing the alpha status of the male. Females rarely spend time alone (4%)
-cooperation during hunting, meat is widely shared
-females are more social, bring new tool-use traditions when they emigrate
-new kinds of tool use including nut-cracking and hunting with spears in Senegal
-females are more likely to use tools for hunting
-schweinfurti, gombe, mahale, kibale: a male bonded community model where females
occupy individual home ranges (core areas) that are distributed within the boundaries of
the male defended territory. Females spend more time alone (65%)

7. Beginning in 1960 with Jane Goodall’s pioneering observations at Gombe Stream,

Pan troglodytes was the first great ape to be successfully studied in its natural
habitat for multiple years. Describe some of the continuing discoveries of human-
like behavior that are still keeping scientists studying wild chimpanzees 58 years
later.

Chimps display a lot of human-like behavior, the discovery of which has continued to
inspire scientist to keep studying them as these behaviors suggest that these behaviors
also existed in the last common ancestor of chimps and humans. Among Wild
Chimpanzees revealed that chimpanzees hunt, eat meat, make & use tools, have close
family ties, have an inherent curiosity, are intelligent problem solvers, and mimic
behaviors of their mothers at a young age. Goodall also took note of the indulgent-
mothering behavior of chimpanzees and Mel Konner found similar behavior on the !
Kung and other forager cultures.

How has research at additional study sites (e.g. Mahale, Kibale, Tai, Boussou, Fongoli,
Goualougo) expanded our understanding of chimpanzees? What did we learn about new
kinds of tool use, hunting skills, intra- and inter-group aggression, alliance behavior,
evidence of cultural variation across study sites, etc.

8. Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus are closely-related species with minor physical
differences and substantial behavioral differences. Describe how these two species
compare in a selection of the following categories:

-group size and structure;

PP: foraging groups are larger in size but community is smaller. Most parties have
both males and females.

-intra-group patterns of affiliation and aggression;

PP: female dominance over males, aggressive display by the alpha female. Males
have bigger body size yet they do not dominate females. Females eat first and share esp.
between female friends and offspring.

-intergroup interaction;
PP: female bonds- philopatry does not necessarily predict bonding pattern. Related
males do not cooperate while unrelated females do cooperate. males do not stalk and attack
at the boundaries of a territory. Prominence of mother-son relationships. Loss of mother
 leads to decline in status of the son. Less aggression within group and more social sensitivity
allows a male orphan to survive in the group. Bonobo life is calm and can display empathy
to individuals with injuries. Grooming mostly between males and females.
PT: males stalk and attack around border of territory. Grooming mostly between
males.

-vocalizations;
-PP: higher pitched.
-PT: pant-grunt submissive vocalization. Lower pitched.

-diet; Both are primarily frugivorous

PP: plants, berlingo fruit, forage in streams for larvae. Diet is high in terrestrial
herbaceous vegetation(THV). Makes it possible for bonobos to feed as a group. Haumania
liebrechtsiana rich protein, low fiber and tannins. Share mostly fruit.
PT: disperse to feed. Share mostly meat.

-tool use;
PP: infrequent
PT: habitual

-predation;
PP: eat more invertebrates. less vertebrate predation than chimps. Rarely observed
hunting
PT: hunt at most sites

-sexual behavior and reproduction;

PP: resume estrous cycle after parturition in 12 months. Sex is used to reduce
tension and is used in all combinations of age and gender. Sex is a social gesture and is
casual and quick.
PT: resume estrous cycle after parturition between 24-57 months

any additional category of behavior you wish to discuss.

-Bonobos walk upright more frequently than Chimps and assume human like postures
and body positions.
-Bonobos have less protruding faces/prognathism
-Bonobos have less sexual dimorphism in canine size and brain size(less m-m
competition?)

9. Why did Gottfried Hohman propose that coalition behavior by unrelated female
bonobos is not only unexpected, it “violates the rules of social ecology?”

Hohman is referring to evolutionary theory in which reproductive success is optimal in a

species. The idea of survival of the fittest, in the sense that the strongest survive and have
to compete with each other in order to dominate the reproductive gene pool, does not
apply here. This behavior is very different not just for chimpanzees but for animals in
general.

What did Tokuyama and Furuichi’s 2016 study at Wamba reveal about the causes
and consequences of female coalition aggression?
 Alliance behavior by females is a way to combat male aggression. All female coalitions
were formed to attack males usually following the aggression towards a single female.
Female alliances always win over individual males. Older females will come to the aid of
younger ones even if they have not spent time in proximity to them. After coalition
support, younger females spend more time near females that supported them.

How does variability in female sexual swelling (and its failure to accurately signal
ovulation) affect male ability to control female reproduction?

Female sexual swelling is usually an indicator of fertility and female bonobos show a
large variability in the duration of the Max Swelling Phase. Because of this mate
guarding by males doesn’t really work. The weak relationship between swelling and
ovulation results in low day-specific probability of fertility during a females MSP.

What relationship is the dominant influence on the rank of a male bonobo?

The relationship between the male and his mother affects his status.

10. Describe how the terrestrial locomotion of the gorilla differs from that of an Old
World monkey (what derived traits make it impossible for a gorilla to produce
monkey-like quadrupedal locomotion)?

Old World Monkeys have flexed elbows and highly extended wrists that allow them to
walk palmigrade. Gorillas have flexed shoulders, extended elbows, relatively extended
wrists and MCP joints. Gorillas have powerful hindlimbs with a permanent bent hip and
knee to provide thrust for forward locomotion.

Why were gorillas once thought to be exclusively terrestrial and herbivorous?

What have recent studies of lowland gorillas taught us about food preferences, and
versatility in the use of the physical environment (including tool use, diet, degree of
arboreality, ranging behavior and dispersal during foraging)?

Did Dian Fossey study a “fringe” subspecies that adapted to an unusual habitat by
evolving traits not seen in at any other study site?

11. Describe sociality in the gorilla.

Gorillas live in stable, cohesive social units based on mother-young and silverback-focal
bonds. Weak F-F, M-M mostly weak. There are breeding groups that include one male or
can be multi-male. There are also nonbreeding groups that can be all male or include
adolescent females. There can also be solitary males. Group sizes range from 2-20
individuals.

How does the silverback-focal breeding group of the gorilla differ from the female-
bonded breeding group of most Old World monkey species (although they both
consist of a single reproductive male and multiple reproductive females with
offspring)?
 Silverbacks are the main center of interest for their group and females are not bonded
with one another like most Old World Monkey species.

Contrast the social pathways followed by maturing gorilla females and maturing
gorilla males.

Once males mature they can either stay within the group they were born into, move to an
all male group or remain solitary until they attract females and start their own group.
Females will mature within their birth group and then transfer. Females can transfer
multiple times and in the company of another female.

12. Compare the gorilla “factsheet” (Univ. of Wisconsin Primate Information Network
website) and the Robbins 2011 book chapter as sources of information about gorillas.
Which did you find most effective? Present something interesting you learned about
gorillas from each of these sources (at least one conclusion from each source….at least 3
conclusions in total).