22. Mammals II: Primates, Hominid Evolution, CNS Flashcards
Primates
- Limbs?
Grasping limbs with opposable thumb
Primates have a …. ancestor
Arboreal
Primates - eyes?
Forward-facing (depth perception)
Primates - social?
- Reduced brood size
- Extended parental care
2 major groups of primates?
- Prosimians
- Anthropoids
What are prosimians?
Lemurs, loris, etc.
Arboreal and nocural
Which primate is the only one entirely carnivorous?
Tarsier
New world vs old world monkey?
New world: South American - prehensile tail (to grasp/hold objects) present in most new world monkey, not in old world monkeys - flat nose, arboreal
Old world: Africa, Asia
Examples of Old world monkeys?
- Macaques
- Baboon
- Vervet
Example of New world monkeys?
- Capuchin
- Spider monkey
- Howler monkey
- Vervet (Barbados - vs. South Africa)
What is the key difference between monkey and apes?
Larger brain to body size ratio
What are African Apes?
Gorrillas, chimpanzees, hominids
Gibbons, Orangutangs and African apes - what in common?
All lack tail
Size of gibbons?
Smaller than other apes
What can’t orangutangs do?
Cross from one tree to another by branches (too big). Must go down, walk between them, climb back up.
4 large categories of hominids?
- Ardipithecus
- Australopithecus
- Paranthropus
- Homo…
What was found about the ardipithecus ramidus in 2009?
That they walked upright (no use of arms like chimps), yet retained primitive big toe that could grasp a tree like an ape
Brain size of australopithecus?
35% of modern human brain
Lucy, an australopithecus afarensis, provided evidence that…
- Bipedalism evolved before brains fully evolved