Primate Definition

Question 1

why are most primates diurnal

Answer 1

shift from solitary to grou protection (social skills)

activity shift due to environmental factors (day length/weather) affecing food availability

Question 2

diurnal vs nocturnal

Answer 2

nocturnal= active at night (most lemurs); thought to be ancestral condition

diurnal= active in day (most primates)

Question 3

cathemeral?

Answer 3

both active in day and night (lemurs)

-> also known as metaturnality

Question 4

taxa examples of cathemerality

Answer 4

common brown lemur (E. fulvus fulvus) shift between nocturnal + diurnal states depending on food availability

mongoose lemur (goes from nocturnal to diurnal throughout year seasonallly)

Question 5

gregarious

Answer 5

group size= spending time in a social group (common)

Question 6

solitary primates

Answer 6

rare; usually with other individuals for mating/infanct dependency

Question 7

what is the ‘degree of cohesiveness’

Answer 7

whether group members remain together on a routine basis

Question 8

activity budget

Answer 8

how primates delegate time to essential activtieis:

1. reproductive
2. survival
3. sociality

split between:

• energy minimizers
• energy maximizers

Question 9

energy minimizers: diet?

Answer 9

usually folivorous + within a territory/habitat

more time devotd to resting

less energy devoted to travelling

rely on leaves as harder to digest

Question 10

energy maximizers; diet?

Answer 10

usually fruit/high-value food (meat)

more time devoted to travelling/searching for food patches

disperesed territory

Question 11

what is diet influenced by

Answer 11

seasonal fluctations in availibty of preffered food

Question 12

types of primate diets

Answer 12

insectivirous
faunivoroes
frugivorous
folivorous

Question 13

types of primate habitats

Answer 13

semi-terrestial (arboreal + ground travelling)

arboreal

Question 14

pros + cons of arboreality

Answer 14

more at risk of injury from falling

but safer from predators

Question 15

pros + cons of semi-terriestiality

Answer 15

more at risk to predators in low visibility

mixed travelling= different food accessisble

Question 16

day range vs home range

Answer 16

day range= travel within a day

hoem range= area where a primate lives

Question 17

explain territoriality

Answer 17

territorial primates; defend an entire resources area from other species/consepectivis whereas non territorial primates tend to have their home ranges overlap

territorality—> isnt fixed (small and larger home ranges; i.e. a tree in a forest)

Question 18

qualities unique to primates: body

Answer 18

1. oppossoble big toe/prehensile hands
2. flat nails on hands and feet
3. locomotion in hind-limb dominants

Question 19

qualities unique to primates” smell

Answer 19

1. unspecialized olfactory sense reducded in idurnal primates (more focus on visual)
   exeption: lemurs

Question 20

qualities unique to primates: vision

Answer 20

1. stereoscopic + binocular vision for 3D/depth

2. colour vision

Question 21

stereoscopic vision

Answer 21

the ability to see things in three dimensions (3-D).

Stereoscopic vision is what allows for true depth perception.

Question 22

binocular vision

Answer 22

seeing with two eyes that have an overlapping field of view.

This is essential to stereoscopic vision

Question 23

qualities unique to primates: birth

Answer 23

females= smallet litters, larger gestations

extended juvenile period in children

Question 24

qualities unique to primates: brain

Answer 24

larger brain to body ratio (neocortex ratio; white matter to grey matter)

Question 25

primate dentition

Answer 25

2 insisors
1 canine
3 premolars
(two sets) 3 molars

Question 26

body size ratio distribution according to diets?

Answer 26

insectivores < frugivorous< folivorous

Question 27

why do small primates tend to eat more high energy foods?

Answer 27

smaller body size= higher metabolism= means more energy is lost therefore relative higher energy requirements

Question 28

what must a primate diet do

Answer 28

1. satisfy energy requirements
2. provide specific nutrients
3. minimize exposure to dangerous toxins

Question 29

what is food important for

Answer 29

1. basal metabolism
2. active metabolism
3. growth rate
4. reproductive effeort (+ other energy rquirements)

Question 30

folivorous primate adaptations and benefits

Answer 30

1. larger body size/exended digestive tract
2. more food in a given area (hence less energy expenditure/travel)= small home range
3. ability to digest toxic leaves (special stomacts or cellulose enzymes)

Question 31

examples of folivorous primates

Answer 31

mountain gorillas
colobines (b+ w colobus monkey)
cercopithecines (red howler monkey)

Question 32

what is a primate?

Answer 32

a generalized order of mammal

specialized in ‘non specialization’ (flexible and behavioural plasticity)

Question 33

trends of arboreality?/primate

Answer 33

pendadactlity (5 digits)
flat nails
tatcile sensive pads
prehensility/grasping
tendency towards erectness
generalized denitition
reduction of olfaction 
clavicle

Question 34

mircosematic

Answer 34

‘small smellers; reliance on vision

Question 35

macrosemantic

Answer 35

‘large smllers’; reliance on smell

Question 36

types of locomotions

Answer 36

vertical climbing
upright sitting
bipedalism
brachiation 
knuckle walking

Question 37

clavicle

Answer 37

colalr bone; allows for flexible shoulder joints

Question 38

primatology?

Answer 38

bridges anthropology and zoology

Question 39

human evolution studies…

Answer 39

1. reconstruction via fossils
2. ethnic diversity
3. living primates as evolutionary models

Question 40

rhinarium

Answer 40

furless skin surface surrounding the external openings of the nostrils in many mammals. ( in strepsirhines)

Question 41

dry nose animals

Answer 41

haplorhines; have no rhinarium