1. Chapter 5 An Overview the Primates
Key Terms

2. prosimians Members of a suborder of primates (lemurs, lorises and tarsiers).
anthropoids Members of a suborder of primates (monkey’s, apes and humans).

3. primitive Referring to a trait or a combination of traits present in an ancestral form.
specialized Evolved for a particular function; usually refers to a specific trait.

4. primatologists Scientists who study the evolution, anatomy, and behavior of nonhuman primates.
morphology The form of anatomical structures; can also refer to the entire organism.

5. omnivorous Having a diet consisting of many food times (plants, meat and insects).
nocturnal Active at night.

6. diurnal Active during the day.
stereoscopic vision Visual images are, to varying degrees, superimposed on one another. Provides for depth perception or the perception of three dimensions.

7. binocular vision Vision characterized by overlapping visual fields provided by forward facing eyes.
arboreal tree living

8. arboreal hypothesis View that primate characteristics can be explained as a consequence of primate diversification in arboreal habitats.
visual predation hypothesis Primates may have first adapted to shrubby forest undergrowth and the lowest tiers of the forest canopy, where they captured insects and other small prey primarily through stealth.

9. adaptive niche The entire way of life of one organism: where it lives, what it eats, how it gets food, how it avoids predators, etc.
intelligence The ability to learn, reason, or comprehend and interpret information, facts, relationships, meanings, etc.

10. arboreal hypothesis The traditional view that primate characteristics can be explained as a consequence of primate diversification into arboreal habitats.
cusps The elevated portions on the chewing surfaces of premolar and molar teeth.

11. quadrupedal Using all four limbs to support the body during locomotion.
brachiation A form of locomotion in which the body is suspended beneath the hands and support is alternated from one limb to the other; arm swinging.

12. hominoids Members of the superfamily Hominoidea includes apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons, and siamangs) and humans.
sexual dimorphism Differences in physical characteristics between males and females of the same species.

13. estrus Period of sexual receptivity in female mammals correlated with ovulation.
homoplasy The separate evolutionary development of similar characteristics in different groups of organisms.

14. hominoids The formal description for the superfamily of anthropoids that includes apes and humans.
frugivorous Having a diet composed primarily of fruit.