ANTH 1200 Human Origins

Exam 2 review sheet – Part 1

Primate Traits:
Class: Mammalia
Subclass:
• Prototheria (monotremes)
§ egg-laying (platypus, echidna)
• Metatheria (marsupials)
§ Pouched (kangaroo, opossum, koala)
• Eutheria (placentals)
§ Placental (elephant, bat, squirrel, primates)

*Dermoptera and Scandentia are two groups of placental mammals that are closely related to
primates.
• Mammalian Traits
§ Homeothermic / endothermic (sweat glands; hair / fur)
§ Heterodont dentition
§ Occlusion of teeth
§ Teeth only replaced once
§ Non-continuous, differential growth
§ Mammary glands
§ Increased parental care

• Ancestral Mammalian Traits (retained in primates)

§ Generalized mammalian body plan
§ Retention of clavicle
§ Pentadactyly
§ Generalized mammalian heterodont dentition

• Shared-Derived Traits of Primates (evolved in first primates)

§ Grasping hands and feet
§ Flat nails instead of claws
§ Post-orbital bar, plate, or closure
§ Auditory bulla made up of the petrosal part of temporal bone

• General Primate Patterns (generalizations compared to other mammals)

§ Brain Size: larger brains than other mammals; increased complexity
§ Increased importance of vision (reduced importance of olfaction)
§ Slow life history strategies: single offspring; slow development/maturation; more
parental investment
• Primate locomotion
§ Vertical clinging and leaping
§ Brachiation
§ Arboreal quadrupedalism
§ Terrestrial quadrupedalism
§ Bipedalism

• Major divisions of primates – traditional

§ Prosimians: Lemurs, Lorises, Tarsiers
§ Anthropoids: New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys, Apes

• Major divisions of primates – current (evolutionary classification)

§ Strepsirhines: Lemurs, Lorises
§ Haplorhines: Tarsiers, New World Monkeys, Old World Monkeys, Apes

§ Evolutionary classification
• Strepsirhines
§ Smaller (body and brain size)
§ More reliant on olfaction
§ Many nocturnal
§ Less social / more solitary
§ Rhinarium (moist naked snout)
§ Split upper lip
§ Tapetum lucidum
§ Post-orbital bar
§ Tooth comb
§ Grooming claws: “toilet claws”

• Haplorhines
§ Larger
§ More reliant on vision
§ Mostly diurnal except tarsiers and Aotus (owl monkeys)
§ More social
§ No rhinarium
§ Continuous upper lip
§ No tapetum lucidum
§ Post-orbital plate or closure
§ No tooth comb
§ Nails
• Strepsirhini:
§ Lemuroidea (lemurs)
§ Lorisoidea (lorises and galagos)

• Lemurs
§ Only found in Madagascar
§ adaptive radiation (lemurs went through an adaptive radiation when their common
ancestor dispersed)
§ wide variety in body size, social system and diet
§ arboreal quadrupedalism
§ vertical clinging and leaping

• Lorises
§ Asia: slow loris and slender loris
§ Africa: potto, angwantibo
§ nocturnal
§ arboreal
§ small-bodied: all less than 2.2 kg
§ vocal and olfactory communication
§ scent-marking
§ “infant-parking” (leaving infants on a safe branch or bushes)
§ slow-climbing

• Galagos (bushbabies)
§ Africa
§ small
§ nocturnal
§ solitary
§ infant-parking
§ vertical clinging and leaping

• Haplorhini
§ Tarsiiformes (tarsiers)
§ Platyrrhini (New World monkeys[NW])
§ Catarrhini (Old World monkeys [OW], apes, and humans)
• Tarsiers
§ Found in islands of Southeast Asia
§ Prosimian like: Unfused mandibular symphysis; molar teeth with high cusps;
grooming claws; multiple nipples
§ Haplorhine like: Postorbital closure; absence of moist rhinarium; retinal fovea
§ Tiny (4-5 oz)
§ Nocturnal
§ Post-orbital plate
§ Huge, immobile eyes
§ Vertical clinging and leaping
§ Insectivore/carnivore (most carnivorous primate)

• Differences between NW primates and OW primates

§ OW primates
o Dental formula: 2:1:2:3
o Nostril orientation: nostrils point downwards (narrower nose)
o
§ NW primates
o Dental formula: 2:1:3:3
o Nostril orientation: nostrils point to sides (broader, flatter nose)

• Platyrrhini (New World monkeys)

§ Atelidae (spider monkeys, woolly monkeys, howler monkeys, muriquis)

o suspensory locomotion “semi-brachiation”
o prehensile tails
o reduced thumbs
o mobile shoulder joints

§ Pitheciidae (titis, sakis, bearded sakis and uakaris)

o seed predators/dispersers
o Seed predation adaptations:
o Robust, widely flaring canines – to breach protected exocarp (skin)
o Procumbent incisors – to scrape mesocarp (pulp) from inside fruit
husk
o Titis
o pair bonded (monogamous)
o tail-entwining – way to bond
o Paternal care

o Uakaris
o Color of face – honest indicator of health
o Pale color – disease, parasite infection
 § Cebidae (capuchin, squirrel monkey, owl monkey)
o arboreal quadrupedalism
o have a wide variety of body size, diets and social systems
o capuchin – tool use
o owl monkey – nocturnal, monogamous

§ Callitrichidae (marmoset and tamarins)

o small (4-20 oz)
o only 2 molars (2.1.3.2)
o insectivorous
o gum-feeding by marmosets
o twins
o polyandrous
o paternal care

• Catarrhini
o Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys)
o Hominoidea (apes and humans)

• Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys)

o tails
o smaller brains
o adapted for quadrupedalism
o ischial callosities (sitting pads)

• Hominoidea (apes and humans)

o no tails
o larger brains
o adapted for suspensory locomotion
o no ischial callosities (except gibbons)

• Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys)

o Macaques; baboons; mangabeys; drills; mandrills; guenon; patas monkeys;
vervet monkeys
o Sexual dimorphism
o Many semi-terrestrial
o Cheek pouches for storing food
o Sexual swellings of females in estrus (sexual receptivity and fertility)
§ advertise fertility

Note: macaques and baboons in particular very adaptable, successful primates; can
survive in a wide variety of habitats/environments/conditions
• Colobines (Old World monkeys)
o leaf monkeys, langurs, proboscis monkeys (Asia)
o colobus monkeys (Africa)
o leaf-eating (folivorous)
o specialized digestive systems: multi-chambered stomachs; foregut fermentation
o one-male groups (infanticide)

• Hominoidea
o Hylobatids (gibbons)
o Pongids (great apes)
o Hominins (humans)

• Hylobatids
§ “lesser apes”
§ gibbons and siamangs
§ SE Asia; South Asia (gibbons)
§ brachiation (long arms, elongated permanently curved fingers)
§ pair-bonded, paternal care
§ territorial

• Orangutans
§ SE Asia
§ quadrumanous climbing
§ solitary social system
§ bimaturism – arrested development

§ Gorillas
§ Africa
§ knucklewalking
§ small groups with 1 or 2 males
§ female dispersal

• Chimpanzees
§ strong male bonds
§ territorial
§ border patrol
§ hunting
§ tool use
§ culture
 • Bonobos
§ strong female bonds
§ female dominance
§ socio-sexual behaviors (not directly related to reproduction)
§ sex to reduce tension

• Hominins
§ humans and their ancestors
§ African origins
§ currently world-wide
§ bipedalism
§ large and complex brains
§ multi-layered social system

Primate Ecology
§ Ecology - interrelationships of plants, animals and their physical environment
§ Primate ecology: the study of how primates interact with other parts of their
environment
§ Primates + other living organisms + physical environment

• Primate Habitats
§ Forest (ecosystem dominated by trees)
§ Woodland (more open than forest)
§ Gallery forests (along water)
§ Savanna (grassland)
§ Desert or semi-desert

*Most primates found in tropical forests

Tropical forests
• high diversity of plants and animals
• climate seasonality
• resource distribution can be patchy

• Habitat UseàNiche separation

§ Primates occupy different layers à separate niches / partition resources à
reduce competition à coexistence between species

• Home range - total area used by animal or group

• Ranging patterns - how home range is used
• Territoriality - defense of home range from conspecifics (members of own species)
§ resource defense
§ mate defense
• Feeding Ecology
§ Foraging decisions
o quality
o distribution
o availability
§ Benefits (energy intake)
§ Costs (energy spent to acquire food, while avoiding predation)

• Primate Foods
§ fruits, seeds, nuts, leaves
§ bulbs and tubers
§ grass and herbs
§ insects and other invertebrates
§ small reptiles
§ small mammals and birds
§ gum and sap

• Dietary Categories
§ Frugivory - fruits
§ Folivory - leaves
§ Insectivory - insects
§ Gramnivory - grass
§ Gummivory - gum
§ Omnivory - both plants and animals

• Diet and Body Size

§ Smaller primates
o high quality foods
o protein from insects
o insectivorous
o (solitary)
§ Larger primates
o low quality foods
o protein from leaves
o folivorous
o (larger groups)

• Food distribution affects feeding competition and sociality

§ Dispersed (even distribution)
o low quality foods
o scramble to get enough food
o → scramble competition
o e.g. folivores
 § Clumped (patchy distribution)
o high quality foods
o contest access to food
o → contest competition
o e.g. frugivores, with dominance hierarchies

• Activity Pattern: the times within a 24-hr period a species is active

§ Nocturnality
o small body size
o high-energy diet
o solitary foraging
o more olfactory and vocal/auditory communication

§ Diurnality
o larger body size
o more varied diet
o social foraging
o more visual communication, visual acuity and color vision

• Predation
o Natural Predators of Primates
§ wild cats: lions, leopards, tigers
§ birds of prey: eagles
§ large snakes: pythons, cobras
§ crocodiles
§ other primates
• chimps eat red colobus
• baboons eat vervet monkeys
• humans hunt other primates
o Costs
§ injury
§ death
§ energy expenditure for defense
§ Higher risk for smaller primates, younger primates: infants and juveniles

o Predator Defense
§ alarm calling
§ mobbing/attacking predators
§ associating with other species
§ being in a large group
§ high predation riskà large groups
§ more eyes and ears to detect predators
§ geometry of the selfish herd
 o Ecological pressuresàfinding food and avoiding predatorsàevolution of sociality
(group-living) in primates

o Benefits of Group Living

o Increased access to resources (food, water, sleeping sites):
§ More eyes searching
§ Cooperation
§ Better able to compete with other groups
o Decreased risk of predation
§ Detection
§ Dilution
§ Defense
o Increased access to mates
o Socialization of offspring

o Costs of Group Living

• Increased competition within group
o for food
o for mates
• Increased risk of predation
• Increased exposure to pathogens and parasites

• Residence Patterns in Primate Groups

o Dispersal (emigration from natal group; necessary to avoid inbreeding)
o Philopatry (remaining in and reproducing in natal group)

• Interactions within Social Groups

• agonistic (aggressive or submissive)
o Competition à dominance hierarchies à priority of access to resources
o males: access to mates (females)
o females: access to food
o Higher rank à higher fitness
o affiliative (friendly)
o Cooperation
o higher fitness for group members