Lecture 22: Mammals 2

Question 1

primates

Answer 1

• arboreal
• have grasping limbs
• have forward facing eyes
• have a big cerebrum
• VERY social

Question 2

Two groups of primates

Answer 2

1. Prosimians

2. Anthropoids

Question 3

Prosimians

Answer 3

• once found everywhere, now just Madagascar and SE Aisa
• nocturnal
• many species endangered
  ex. lemurs have radiated, not all are found in trees and some are diurnal and NOT found in Africa

Question 4

Anthropoids

Answer 4

• smallest primates
• only entirely carnivorous primates
  ex. TARSIER- big eyes, too large to rotate them

Question 5

New World monkeys

Answer 5

• have prehensile tail (used to grip/grasp objects)
• have flat noses
• tend to be arboreal

Question 6

Gibbons, orangutans and African apes

Answer 6

• have no tail

Question 7

Gibbons

Answer 7

• smaller than other apes

- mostly arboreal

Question 8

Orangutans

Answer 8

• too large to cross from one tree to another, so it goes down and walks

Question 9

African Apes

Answer 9

• include gorillas, chimps and hominids

Question 10

Hominids

Answer 10

• ardipithecus ansestor
• fossils uncovered that it walked upright
• didn’t use arms for walking
• retains a primitive big tow that could grasp tree like an ape

Question 11

Australopithecus

Answer 11

• 35% brain size compared to humans

- “Lucy”- fossil had a complete skeleton. Provided evidence that bipedalism evolved before brains fully developed

Question 12

Early Homo species

Answer 12

• Homo Habilis
- handy/skillful
- shorter jaw, bigger brain
• Homo erectus 
- standning
- first fire use
- as large as modern humans (small brain, TICK skull)

Question 13

Recent Homo species

Answer 13

•Homo Neanderthalensis
- coexisted with H.sapiens (possibly exterminated by them)
- short & stalky, but powerfully built
- larger brains than humans
• HOMO SAPIENS THE MOST POWERFUL SPECIES OF ALL TIME!!!!!1!11!!!!!1
- arose in Africa, then spread out
- larger brains that earlier homo species
- favouring increasingly complex social life

Question 14

Did Homo sapiens interbreed with Neanderthals? DID THEY GET THAT N DICK?!

Answer 14

• 1.5-2.1% of DNA from non-africans is from Neanderthals

* therefore, they spread out from Africa and started interbreeding*

Question 15

Homo Floresiensis

Answer 15

• another species that coexisted with homo sapiens
• half out height (like a hobbit)
• extinction due to volcanic eruption
• survived until 17,000 YA

Question 16

Central nervous system

Answer 16

• dorsal hollow tube of nervous tissue
• large, cephalic ganglion (brain)
• long tube inferior to it (spinal cord)
• protected by bone

Question 17

Peripheral nervous system

Answer 17

• system of lateral nerves
• cranial nerves from brain
• spinal nerves from spinal cord

Question 18

Structures in brain

Answer 18

• Cerebrum: conscious thought and memory
• Diencephalon: info relay and control of homeostasis
• Brain stem: info relay and autonomic control
• Cerebellum: coordination complex of complex motor patterns

Question 19

Cerebrum

Answer 19

• enlarged in primates
• used for intellect, memory, language and consciousness
• left side of brain communicates with right side of bodu

Question 20

The frontal lobe

Answer 20

personality

Question 21

Temporal lobe

Answer 21

helps with facial recognition

- neuron responds maximally to a complete face shown

Question 22

Amyglada

Answer 22

• encodes for both acoustic features pf stimulus and its perceived unpleasantness

Question 23

Hippocampus

Answer 23

• has to do with memory

Question 24

Limbic system

Answer 24

• responsible for basic physiological drives (hunger, thirst, emotions, long term memory)