Unit 2 Flashcards
Primatology
Study of non-human primates
Homologies
Similarities of organisms from common ancestry
Analogies
Convergent evolution
Strepsirhini
(Prosimians) Lemurs and Lorises
Nocturnal, no color vision, ALL ENDANGERED
Haplorhini
(Anthropoid) tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans
Platyrrhines
(New World Monkeys) small, arboreal, prehensile tail, quadrupeds
Catarrhines
(Old World Monkeys)
Colobines and Cercopithecines
downward facing nostrils, ischial callosities, double-ridged molars, most are terrestrial, non-prehensile tails, sexual dimorphism
Hominoidea
Apes and Humans
Gibbons and Siamangs
Sexual dimorphism, solitary, monogamous, nuclear families, brachiation, fruit eaters, mated pairs/sings
Orangutans
Vegetarians, arboreal, sexual dimorphism, less social, polyandrous (females have multiple mates)
Gorillas (lowland and mountain)
Vegetarians, sexual dimorphism, knuckle walkers, polygynous families, inclusive fitness (silverbacks will die defending the group) ENDANGERED
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes- common & Pan paniscus- bonobos)
Knuckle walkers, nest in trees, less sexually dimorphic, omnivorous, polygynous, mate only during estrus cycle
Sociality
Hallmark of nearly all the haplorhine primates and a fundamental behavioral adaptation
Proximate Causes
Hormonal or physiological reason to act
Reasons for sociality
Access to mates, food, predator avoidance
Behavioral Ecology
Studies the evolutionary basis of social behavior
Taphonomy
The study of what happens to the remains of an animal from the time of its death to the time of its discovery
Trace fossils
Tracks of an animal
Coprolites
Fossilized feces
Era
Largest division of geologic time
Period
Divisions of eras
Epoch
Divisions of periods
Relative Dating
Tells us how old something is in spatial relation to something else
Provenience
A fossil location
Lithostratigraphy
Using rock layer characters to correlate across regions
Tephrostratigraphy
Using volcanic ash by chemical fingerprints to correlate across regions