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Vertebrates > Primates > Flashcards

Primates Flashcards

1
Q

What is unique about primate joints?

A
  • Retention of the clavicle (collarbone)
  • Shoulder joint → allows limb movement in all directions
  • Elbow joint→ allows forearm rotation (especially useful in arboreal lifestyles)
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1
Q

Give some key morphological features of primates

A
  • 5 digits (most have opposable thumbs)
  • Reduced snout
  • Reduction in no. of teeth
  • Nails (not claws)
  • Enlarged brain
  • Forward facing eye
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2
Q

Describe the main sense of primates

A
  • Reduced olfactory system = vison is main sense
  • Forward facing eye allows for binocular vison (good depth perception)
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3
Q

What is thought to have facilitated primates switch to frugivorous diet?

A

Evolution of enlarged brain and forward facing eyes is associated with a switch in diet (frugivorous) due to improved vision

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4
Q

Describe the prosimians

A
  • Basal primates - branched off early
  • E.g Lemurs, bush babies, pottos, tarsiers
  • Small, nocturnal and small brained
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5
Q

Describe the anthropoids

A
  • Mostly larger than prosimians
  • Larger brain and relatively small olfactory lobes
  • Mainly frugivorous or folivorous
  • Switch from nocturnal to diurnal may have also brought a switch from different types of locomotion
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6
Q

Traditional phylogeny prefers to divide the primates into 2 suborders, what are these?

A

Prosimians (e.g lemurs) and Anthropoids (New world, Old world, Apes)

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7
Q

What is the alternative classifcation of primates?

A

Strepsirrhini (wet noses) Haplorhini (dry noses)

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8
Q

Describe the Strepsirrhini

A
  • Usually small
  • Long- snouted
  • Nocturnal
  • Frontal bones unfused & lower jaw halves unfused
  • No orbital septum
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9
Q

Compare the skulls of the Haplorrhini and the Strepsirrhini

A

Haplorrhini:
- Short rostrum
- plate separating orbits from temporal lobes

Stersirrhini:
- Long rostrum
- Postorbital bar
- No plate

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10
Q

Describe the New world monkeys

A
  • Platyrrhini = ‘broad-nosed’
  • 3 premolars (more primitive state)
  • Relatively good sense of smell
  • Colonised SA from Africa 30 MYA
  • No terrestrial radiation
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11
Q

Describe the Old World monkeys

A
  • Catarrhini = ‘narrow nosed’
  • More specialised and species-rich
  • 2 premolars
  • Trichromatic colour vision
  • Poor sense of smell
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12
Q

Describe the key morphology of the Hominoidea (apes)

A
  • Broad thorax and dorsal position of scapula
  • Caudal vertebrae reduced
  • Front skull - sinuses
  • 5 cusps on molars
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13
Q

What is the function of the broad thorax of Apes?

A

Assists balance in a bipedal pose centre of gravity near vertebral column

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14
Q

Describe the female transfer system in primates

Give some examples

A
  • Females leave natal group to join another upon reaching sexual maturity.
  • Small group size
  • One or many males
  • Male behavior: territorial, sometimes kinship groups

e.g Chimp, Gorilla, Baboons, Colobus

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15
Q

Describe the male transfer system in primates

Give examples

A
  • Males leave natal group to join another after reaching sexual maturity
  • Large group
  • One or several males
  • Male hierarchy

E.g Most Old World Monkeys

16
Q

Describe the monogamous system in primates

Give examples

A
  • One family
  • One male in group
  • Both sexes participate in defence and parental care

e.g Gibbons, tamarins

17
Q

Describe solitary behaviour in primates

Give examples

A
  • Individual or female + offspring
  • Range overlaps with range of >1 female

E.g Organutan, Bushbabies

18
Q

Which primates have dichromatic vision?

A

Most New World monkeys and prosimians

19
Q

Which primates have trichromatic vision

A

Most Old World moneys and apes

20
Q

Describe the evolution of trichromatic vison in primates

A
  • Ancestral primate had dichromatic (similar to other mammals)
  • Duplication of opsin gene (green sensitivity) = new opsin gene sensitive to red wavelengths
  • Duplication occurred 30-40 MYA in the ancestor of Old World Monkeys and apes
21
Q

What are the Advantages of Trichromatic Vision

A
  • Enhanced ability to discern ripe fruits against a green foliage background = faciliated fugivory
  • Better detection of social signals (e.g changes in skin colouration with emotional state)

Vertebrates (13 decks)

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