PRIMATES

Question 1

reasons we study non-human primates

Answer 1

• Shared ancestry with humans - can give insights into human evolution
• Evolutionary processes - helps us understand how certain traits and behaviors have evolved over time
• Interesting to study - have unique biological and behavioral characteristics

Question 2

what are the general traits of primates

Answer 2

animals, grasping hands, large brains, high degree of learned behavior, generalised body plans, locomotion, eye position, life history, singleton offspring usually, extended ontogeny

Question 3

what are the behavioural traits of primates

Answer 3

color vision, limited olfactory sense, primarily social

Question 4

3 Major Groups of Primates and their characteristics

Answer 4

Strepsirhines (less like humans):
- Includes lemurs (Madagascar) + lorises + galagos (mainland Africa)
- Rely more on olfaction
- Often exhibit nocturnal behavior
- simpler social behaviors compared to other primates

Haplorhines (more like humans):
- Tarsiers (Philippines)
- New World monkeys: Found in Central and South America - primarily arboreal monkeys (tree-dwelling)
- Old World monkeys: Found in Africa and Asia - occupy a wider range of habitats, from forests to savannas

Hominoids (apes):
- include gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos
- Rotationg shoulder
- No tails (difference between monkeys and apes)
- Knuckle / fist walking

Question 5

explain the experiment scientists used to discover the most recent common ancestor of humans and chimps

Answer 5

Immunological approach
Allan Wilson + Vincent Sarich
Biochemical experiment
- extract a specific protein from human blood (albumin)
- human albumin was injected into a rabbit
- The rabbit’s immune system identified the albumin as foreign and produced specific antibodies to fight it
- took a blood sample from the rabbit and extracted the antibody that was produced, which was specifically designed to bind to the human albumin
- created a solution containing both the human albumin + rabbit antibody - caused a chemical reaction (forming a precipitate)
- The amount of precipitate was measured using light - indicated the strength of the reaction
- replaced the human albumin with albumin from different species like chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans
- measured how much of the rabbit antibody reacted with the albumin from each species - could determine how similar or different the species’ proteins were to humans’

Question 6

what was the results of the experiment scientists used to discover the most recent common ancestor of humans and chimps

Answer 6

• showed that humans, chimps, and gorillas are closely related - they share a recent common ancestor
• provided an estimate that humans and chimps diverged from their common ancestor about 5-7 million years ago

Question 7

3 Chimps and bonobos differences

Answer 7

• Violence - male chimps at tanzania patrol territory for inavadors – attack / bonobos – female run the show, release tension by having sex not violence
• Delayed gratification – chimps + bonobos = both successful at delaying grat to gain greater reward – chimps are better
• Risk taking behavior – teach both that red = reliable, blue = unreliable – when presented with both bowls chimps gamble – take reliable bowl 36% of time, bonobos take red bowl 72% of time – to do with chimps hunting tendency?

Question 8

how do you detect bipedality

Answer 8

1. Look at knees – thigh bone = angled, chimps = straight
2. Skull - balanced on top of spinal cord, gorillas spinal cord linked to back of head

Question 9

examples of early human ancestors found

Answer 9

• Taung Child skull: discovered in South Africa - captured an imprint of the brain, preserved by calcium carbonate deposits - provided strong evidence of early bipedality
• “Lucy” : fossilized knee joint was found - could be identified as bipedal based on the inward angle of the femur
• CT scans: used to to examine the bone mass in fossils - more mass = more weight - more evenly distributed in quadrupeds like chimps - unequal in bipeds - more bone in the legs and lower body due to the increased load
• Orrorin tugenensis = best available candidate for earliest hominin

Question 10

what 2 hypothesis explained why humans became bipeds

Answer 10

1. Provisioning Hypothesis
2. Savannah Hypothesis (best one)

Question 11

explain the Provisioning Hypothesis on why humans became bipeds

Answer 11

1. Provisioning Hypothesis: suggests that bipedalism evolved to facilitate monogamous relationships
   - Monogamy in humans allowed adult males to have free hands to gather and provide food to females and their offspring - males and females tend to be different colour but similar size (no sexual dimorphism) - males don’t need to be larger to compete with other males
   - non-monogamous = males do not form exclusive bonds with females -instead, males compete with each other for reproductive access - means males often bigger to compete

Question 12

explain the Savannah Hypothesis on why humans became bipeds

Answer 12

2. Savannah Hypothesis (best one)
   - Bipeds = slow compared to 4 legs, but we are more energy efficient
   - Spend less energy to find food in landscapes the are more spread out
   - Primate only have their head exposed to sun at midday – able to forage in the day when others are asleep

Question 13

what are Neandertals

Answer 13

• 1800’s
• found out they were humans but not like modern humans
• European phenomenon

Question 14

morphological differences between between Neandertals and modern humans

Answer 14

• Brow ridges = different
• Sloping, low foreheads
• Bigger brain
• Short and stocky
• Wide torso
• Short forearms + lower legs

Question 15

behavioural differences between between Neandertals and modern humans

Answer 15

• settlement patterns - don’t divide up living spaces like us – no spacial organisation
• Did do burials – but don’t do stereotypical ones e.g. bury with grave goods
• Life history – don’t live very long (to late 40s) + malnutrition (shown by teeth bands indicating stopped growth – enamel hypoplasia)

Question 16

how is the Mousterian Complex associated with Neandertals

Answer 16

• Mousterian Complex tefers to the type of stone tools Neandertals are most associated with
• ## despite their advanced tool-making abilities they did not produce many task-specific tools

Question 17

what are Homo sapiens and how does mtEve study relate to this

Answer 17

Anatomically Modern Humans - species that look like us
- Mitochondrial Eve: Refers to the most recent common maternal ancestor of all modern humans
- Researchers can analyze mtDNA to study genetic relationships and ancestry
- obtained the mtDNA from placentas after women gave birth
- researchers were able to trace human populations back to two major genetic branches - indicate early splits in human populations
- By calculating how often mutations occur in mtDNA, researchers can estimate how long ago different populations shared a common ancestor
- BUT mtDNA only tells you what the women are up to

Question 18

what is sex-specific gene flow and an example

Answer 18

• refers to the idea that if Neandertal males mated with early modern human females, but not the reverse - Neandertal Y chromosomes could be passed down to modern humans, while Neandertal mtDNA (inherited from the mother) would not be present in the modern human gene pool - means modern humans could carry Neandertal genes, but only from male Neandertals
• e.g. Tigons (Tiger + Lion) - result of male tigers mating with female lions - shows how certain genetic traits can be passed down depending on the direction of mating

Question 19

what were the Neandertal Contribution to the Modern Human Gene Pool

Answer 19

Modern humans, particularly those of Asian and European descent, have about 2.5% of their DNA derived from Neandertals - indicates interbreeding

Question 20

what are behavioural modern humans

Answer 20

humans who not only looked anatomically modern but also demonstrated advanced behavior e.g. complex tool use, symbolic thought, and culture
- produced a variety of tools made from stone and bone - more complex than neos
- regional differences in the types of artifacts and tools used by early modern humans - cultural variability

Question 21

adaptive strategies and behaviors of humans in cold environments during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA)

Answer 21

• Start to get construction of shelters from animal bones to protect bodies from cold
• Start to see spatial differentiation

Question 22

Hunting Patterns in Middle Stone Age vs. Later Stone Age

Answer 22

• Middle Stone Age - humans often hunted eland, despite it being encountered less frequently than other animals like cape buffalo which were difficult to hunt / dangerous
• Later Stone Age - adjusted their hunting behavior, targeted animals like cape buffalo based on their encounter rate (how often they came across them)
• indicate improved hunting technology and strategies - increased their population density and success as hunters

Question 23

give an example of how humans exploit resources based on middle stone age vs later Stone Age

Answer 23

granite limpet – size = directly proportional to age - don’t stop growing
- Collect samples from popular beaches and unexploited beaches
- Ones on popular beaches = smaller – people drive down size of limpets
- How many people do the harvesting / exploiting matters
- Later stone age specimens = smaller

• Middle Stone Age people were opportunistic, happy to gather seal pups washed up on shore
• Later Stone Age people had developed a deeper knowledge of seasonal cycles - showing up when seal pups were abundant - more strategic resource use
• Later Stone Age humans exhibited advanced knowledge - utilized eggshells (possibly ostrich eggs) as containers to carry water

Question 24

5 indicators of behavioural modernity

Answer 24

Art e.g. Venus figurines
Burial
Tailored clothing
Jewelry
Flutes
Seasonal behavior

Question 25

what are the evidence that neanterdals are not as good as modern humans at using material culture (technology)

Answer 25

• broken bones
• teeth erosion - lack of nutrition