Robert Banks and Jeffrey Kaldahl Primate Evolution Robert Banks and Jeffrey Kaldahl

What is a Primate? Defined as an order of mammals with a large brain and complex feet and hands Well known primates include monkeys, apes and lemurs

First Primate First Primate believed to originate 65 m.y.a. in the Tertiary First fossil records do not come about until near the end of the Tertiary Period in the Eocene First known primate is the Plesiadapiformes

Plesiadapiformes

Plesiadapiformes Earliest fossil dates them back to the Palaeocene about 65-54 m.y.a. Are not classifed as primates of modern aspect, but could be ancestral to the rest of the primate order Could be a separate branch of Primate not like the current two Prosimii and Anthropoidea

Eocene Primate More modern like primates Two main primates both considered to be in the Prosimii Adapidae Larger animals Kind of like a modern lemur Omomyidae Smaller animal Eyes went to front of the skull and they lost the claws and got flattened nails

Adapidae

Differences in Prosimii and Anthropoidea Wet noses Unfused mandible- separate left and right bone Elongated Snout Anthropoidea Fused mandible Greater degree of midline fusion of the skull bones Single frontal bone Dry nose Reduced Snout

Prosimii Anthropoidea

Differences Prosimii Anthropoidea Dental formula of 2.1.3.3/2.1.3.3 Only clawed primate Nocturnal Tails Anthropoidea Dental formula of 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 Ear morphology Cranial bones No Tail Nails

Teeth

Skull

Miocene Primate 26-7 m.y.a Size increases No tail Longer arms Modern Apes Gibbons Orangutan Gorilla Chimpanzee

Gibbons Small bodied 3 feet tall 12-24 lbs Long arms with curved hands to help with climbing and swinging (brachiation)

Orangutan Largest of the apes from Asia 41/2 feet tall 130-200 lbs Males often larger stay on ground Also have a huge fleshy pads framing the upper part of their faces Females and infants stay in trees and use brachiation

Gorilla Largest of the Apes More muscle Knuckle walkers 6 ft tall 155-400 lbs 9-10 ft wingspan More muscle Knuckle walkers

Chimpanzee Small ape Also knuckle walkers 51/2 ft tall 70-100 lbs Also knuckle walkers More closely related to humans than gorillas

References http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chimpanzee& view=detail&id=4B40D5C8F5C2A985EB7BDABBD2CC AFA310C38626&first=1&FORM=IDFRIR&qpvt=chimpa nzee http://anthro.palomar.edu/primate/prim_7.htm Ross, C. (1996). Adaptive Explanation for the Origins of the Anthropoidea. American Journal of Primatology 40:205-230. Tattersall, I. (1993). The Human Odyssey Four Million Years of Human Evolution. Pg. 43-62.

References Sellers, B. (2000). Primate Evolution. Lecture. Pg.1-18. Gebo, D.L. (2004). A shrew-sized origin for primates. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology, 47:40-62.

Question?