1. Human Evolution Series: Set 1
Part Two
Human Evolution Series: Set 1
Copyright © 2005
Version: 2.0

2. Primate Characteristics
Primates have a combination of features that are unique to their group.
Their anatomy is well adapted to an arboreal (tree-dwelling) lifestyle.
They possess:
Superior intelligence
Often complex social behavior
A highly developed problem solving ability

3. Primate Physical Features
Features that distinguish primate species from each other include:
Tail anatomy
Skull anatomy, including:
Brow ridges
Vision
Nostrils
Snout and lips
Limb length
Hand and foot anatomy
Langur monkey

4. Primate Skulls The skulls of various primate groups: Ruffed Lemur
Tarsier
Spider monkey
Chacma Baboon
Borneo Orangutan
Chimpanzee
Photos courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

5. Brow Ridges No brow ridge Heavy brow ridge
Some primates have a heavy brow ridge while others have little or no apparent brow ridge.
Heavy brow ridge
No brow ridge

6. Gorilla Skulls Female Male
Gorillas exhibit sexual dimorphism in skull features.
Female gorilla skulls differ from those of males by having:
Very small sagittal crest
Large sagittal crest
Female
Male
Female skull smaller than male
Small nuchal crest
Large nuchal crest
Photos courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

7. Gorilla Skull Features
Sagittal crest (attachment
site for jaw muscles)
Low, small cranial vault
Brow ridge
Nuchal crest (for the attachment of neck muscles)
Heavy malar
(cheek bone)
Massive zygomatic arch through which jaw muscles pass
Diastema (gap)
Protruding
muzzle
Foramen magnum
positioned at rear
Large incisors
Massive jaw
with no chin
Large molars for
grinding vegetation
Large canines used as defensive weapons

8. Primate Tails Features that distinguish primate tails:
Tails present or absent
A prehensile tail can be used to grip things
Furred or not furred
Long or short
Prehensile tail
Long tail
No tail

9. Primate Feet and Hands The hands and feet of various primate groups:
Foot
Loris
Hand
Hand
Foot
Squirrel Monkey
Foot
Tarsier
Hand
Foot
Baboon
Hand
Foot
Orangutan
Hand
Foot
Gibbon
Hand
Foot
Gorilla
Hand
Foot
Chimpanzee
Hand

10. Primate Feet and Hands
The hands and feet of various primate groups can be distinguished by the following features:
The presence of claws or nails
Thumbs or big toes opposable or non-opposable
Human hand
Human foot
Tarsier foot
Gorilla foot
Opposable thumb
Claws on some fingers
Nails
Non-opposable big toe
Opposable big toe

11. Primate Limbs
An important feature that distinguishes certain primates is limb length - the ratio of the length of arms to legs
Arms longer than the legs
Legs longer than the arms

12. Genetic Similarity of Primates
The genetic relationships among the primates have been investigated using DNA hybridization as well as comparing DNA sequences.
DNA Similarity (%) to Humans

13. Genetic Similarity of Primates
Human DNA was compared with that of the other primates and largely confirmed what was suspected from anatomical evidence.
Patterns of relationship among the apes and Old World monkeys based on information from DNA-DNA hybridization:
Human
Pygmy chimpanzee
Common chimpanzee
Gorilla
Orangutan
Gibbons
Old World monkeys

14. Primate Evolution Strepsirhines Haplorhines Present
Lemurs & lorises
New World monkeys
Old World monkeys
Tarsiers
Gibbons
Orangutans
Gorillas
Chimpanzees
Humans
Present
PLEISTOCENE
1.8
PLIOCENE 5
Gigantopithecus
O. tugenensis
S. tchadensis
Split between hominins and chimpanzees about 8-6 mya
UPPER MIOCENE
Ouranopithecus 10
Sivapithecus
MIDDLE MIOCENE
Krishnapithecus
Kenyapithecus
Dryopithecus 15
Dryomorphs
Micropithecus?
Afropithecus
Proconsul
Prohylobates
Millions of years ago
LOWER MIOCENE 20 25
Omomyiformes
Branisella
Aegyptopithecus
Propliopithecus
Oligopithecus
Catopithecus 30
OLIGOCENE
Afrotarsius 35 40
Oldest known anthropoids about million years ago 45
EOCENE
Adapiformes 50 55
PALEOCENE 60
Purgatorius
After Colin Groves
May have given rise to the primates, in Africa 60 million years ago (probably tree-dwelling and adapted to gliding between trees)
Strepsirhines
Haplorhines

15. The Effect of Continental Drift
Early primates emerged in a world that was undergoing great change due to continental drift.
During the Paleocene and Eocene, the continents were breaking up and taking on their present shapes and positions.
Shifting continents affected climates, vegetation, and habitats for the evolving primates.
Late Paleozoic
250 million years ago
The ancestors of the mammals were still in the early stages of evolving

16. The Effect of Continental Drift
Turgai Strait
Paleocene-Mid Eocene million years ago
Early primates were distributed throughout North America and Europe (because the continents were joined)
Primates were absent from Asia until the late Eocene (separated from Europe by Turgai Strait)
Madagascar

17. The Effect of Continental Drift
Later Eocene million years ago
North America separated from Europe
Europe joined onto Asia and Africa
Primates in North America were isolated and evolved without competition
New primates emerged in Africa, Asia, Europe: the Old World monkeys, apes and hominins
Madagascar

18. Ancestral Apes Proconsul Aegyptopithecus Sivapithecus Gigantopithecus
(an early anthropoid)
Sivapithecus
Gigantopithecus
Photos courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

19. Pliopithecids
Photo courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com
There are a group of early apes that were present at the end of the Oligocene (about 28 million years ago).
One of them, called Propliopithecus (also called Aegyptopithecus), is thought to be a primitive ancestral hominoid (ape).
A modern form that is thought to have diverged from this group is the gibbon.
Includes:
Propliopithecus (Aegyptopithecus), Pliopithecus, Dendropithecus
Period:
28 million years ago
Brain size:
400 cc
Height:
1.0 m
Distribution:
Egypt

20. Dryomorphs
This widespread extinct group consisted of a large number of species.
Dryomorphs were probably the ancestors of all the great apes and humans.
The dryopithecines were early apes that probably evolved in Miocene Africa and reached Europe during the shrinkage of the prehistoric Tethys Sea. They may have been the ancestors of the ramamorphs.
Includes:
Dryopithecus, Proconsul, Kenyapithecus, Rangwapithecus, Afropithecus
Period:
22-9 million years ago
Brain size:
370 cc
Height:
1.0 m
Distribution:
Europe, Africa and Asia
Photo courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

21. Modern orangutan skull
Ramamorphs
Sivapithecus
Asia's sole living great ape is the orangutan, a member of the sub-family Ponginae.
This group probably evolved in Africa but spread to Europe and Asia where it continued to persist from about 17-1 million years ago.
Until the early 1980s, it was generally accepted that Ramapithecus was a direct ancestor to the modern human lineage.
Now reclassified as Sivapithecus, it is considered a likely ancestor of the modern orangutan.
Fossil apes belonging to this group are referred to as ramamorphs. ?
Modern orangutan skull
Photos courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

22. Ramamorphs Ramamorphs are known by three fossil species:
Includes:
Sivapithecus (a.k.a. Ramapithecus), Gigantopithecus, Ouranopithecus
Period:
17-1 million years ago
Brain size:
Within ape range
Height: m
Distribution:
Europe, Africa and Asia
Ramamorphs are known by three fossil species:
Sivapithecus (Ramapithecus) However, recently discovered leg bones from Sivapithecus are not similar to modern hominoids (including orangutans), raising doubts about its links even with orangutans.
Gigantopithecus This was the largest primate that ever lived - considerably larger than the modern gorilla.
Sivapithecus
Gigantopithecus
Photos courtesy of: SkullsUnlimited.com

23. Bipedalism
Of all the primates, only humans are habitually bipedal. Some primates will occasionally walk using just two legs when it suits them, such as this chimpanzee.
Humans too may occasionally exhibit ape-like locomotion - a throwback to our primate ancestry.

24. Selection for Bipedalism
Recent evidence suggests that bipedalism may have evolved while early hominids, such as Ardipithecus ramidus and Orrorin tugenensis, were still living in a forested environment (a habitat currently occupied by chimps).

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