Chapter 6

Question 1

One key unifying feature of all primates

Answer 1

Forward-facing eyes —> part of the generalized and arboreal adaptation

Question 2

Primatologists

Answer 2

Scientists who study primates

Question 3

One of the most impressive characteristics of primates

Answer 3

Ability to adapt to new or changing circumstances —> can live almost anywhere, intelligence, long lives, variable diets, complex social behaviors

Question 4

Primate inhibit (…)

Answer 4

Every continent except Antarctica and Australia

Question 5

New World primates live in

Answer 5

North and South America

Question 6

Old World primates live in

Answer 6

Europe, Africa, and Asia

Question 7

Practical implications for the study of primates

Answer 7

Advances in medicine (same diseases), clues about the origin of human, study of behavior provides insight into our own behavior

Question 8

What is a primate

Answer 8

1. Arboreal adaptation (adaptation to life in the trees): set of behaviors and anatomical characteristics that is unique among mammals
2. Dietary plasticity: the ability of an organism to utilize a wide range of foods in meeting its nutritional requirements
3. Parental investment: the I’ve and energy parents expend for their offspring’s benefit
   Enormous diversity!

Question 9

The Tai National Park, Ivor Coast, West Africa

Answer 9

Primate adaptation in microcosm

Question 10

Generalized skeletal structure

Answer 10

Highly mobile articulations in the should, upper and lower limbs, hands and feet —> great flexibility when living in trees

Question 11

Enhanced touch

Answer 11

Sensitivity: presence of dermal ridges (fingerprints and toe prints) on the inside surfaces of the hands and feet
The more derived the dermal ridges are, the better the gripping ability is

Question 12

Enhanced vision

Answer 12

Increased depth perception and seeing in color.
Eyes’ convergence provides significant overlap in the visual fields —> greater sense of depth

Question 13

Reduced smell

Answer 13

Smaller and less projecting snouts indicate their decreased reliance on smell

Question 14

Dietary versatility

Answer 14

Teeth 2/1/2/3 dental formula

Question 15

(Arboreal adaptation) Versatile skeletal structure

Answer 15

Wide range of motion involving the limbs and body trunk
Bones are articulated at highly mobile joints

Question 16

Opposable thumbs

Answer 16

Thumb that can touch each of the four fingertips, enabling a grasping ability
Longest thumb —> Greatest opposability

Question 17

Power grip

Answer 17

A fist like grip in which the fingers and thumb wrap around an object in opposite directions

Question 18

Precision grip

Answer 18

A grip in which the fingers and thumb come together, enabling fine manipulation

Question 19

Opposable big toes (the halluces)

Answer 19

Enable their feet to grasp things such as tree branches
Humans lack this feature due to their adaptation to life on ground

Question 20

Body trunk of primates

Answer 20

Backbone has 5 functionally distinct types of vertebrae (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, cocygeneal): greater range of movements
Body trunk tends to be vertically oriented —> essential to pre adaptation to bipedalism

Question 21

Pre adaptation

Answer 21

An organism’s use of an anatomical feature in a way unrelated to the feature’s original function

Question 22

Dermal ridges

Answer 22

Increase the amount of friction, or resistance to slipping, when grasping n objects

Question 23

Flat nails

Answer 23

Made of keratin
Protect the ends of the fingers and toes, aid in picking up small objects, provide broad support to the ends of the fingers and toes by spreading out the forces generated in the digits by gripping

Question 24

Enhanced sense of vision - 2 evolutionary developments

Answer 24

1. Eyes rotated forward from the sides of the head to the front of the head —> two fields of vision overlapped —> depth perception
2. Color vision evolved: nocturnal to diurnal adaptation

Question 25

What makes primates good at living in trees? (3 characteristic + features)

Answer 25

1. Versatile skeletal structure emphasizing mobility and flexibility: separation of bones in articular joins associated with mobility, 5 functionally distinct vertebral types
2. Enhanced sense of touch: dermal ridges + nails instead of claws
3. Enhanced sense of vision: depth + color

Question 26

Reduced sense of smell and healing

Answer 26

Lost of rhinarium (the naked surface around the nostrils, typically wet in mammals) and the long snouts
- some of te strepsirrhines have retained the rhinarium
Reduction of the mouth length resulted from a loss of internal surface area of the nasal passage, the location of the chemistry involved in smell
- baboons: large and projecting snout to accommodate massive canine roots

Question 27

Primates have retained primitive characteristics in their teeth

Answer 27

Incisors, canines, premolars and molars

Question 28

Primates have a reduced number of teeth

Answer 28

Old World: 2/1/2/3
New World: 2/1//3/

Question 29

Dental formula

Answer 29

The numerical description of a species’ teeth, listing the number, in one quadrant of the jaws, of incisors, canines, premolars, and molars

Question 30

Primate dental formulas - 2/1/3/3

Answer 30

Tarsiers, lemurs, lorises, New World Monkeys
New World Monkeys can be either 2/1/3/2or 2/1/3/3

Question 31

Primate dental formula - 2/1/2/3

Answer 31

Old World Monkeys, Apes and humans

Question 32

Primates have evolved different dental specializations and functional emphases

Answer 32

Premolars and molars: undergone little evolutionary change —> conservatism reflects the continued function of these teeth, especially of the molars: grinding and crushing

Question 33

Specialized attributes reflect particular food preferences

Answer 33

High, pointed cusps on the occlusal: chewing
High, pointed cusps on the surfaces of their molars: puncturing and crushing insects
Crests on their molars: shearing leaves
Low, round cusps on their molars: crushing ad pulping (fruits and vegetables seeds)

Question 34

Bilophodont (molar)

Answer 34

having 2 ridges, as the lower molars in Old World Monkeys
Each pair of of cusps, front and back, is connected by an enamel ridge or loph

Question 35

Y-5

Answer 35

Hominoids’ pattern of lower molar cusps
Apes and humans have a lower molar with 5 separate cusps that are separated by grooves —> a Y-shaped groove i dominant, with the fork of the Y directed toward the outside of the tooth

Question 36

Tooth comb

Answer 36

Anterior teeth (incisors and canines) that have been tilted forward, crated a scraper
Used for grow in
Strepsirrhines