PrimatesAnthropology

Primatology

Mammalian Characteristics

• Fur covering body• Endothermy• Viviparous• Mammary glands• Omnivorous -Specialized teeth

Primate Characteristics

• Opposable thumbs• Prehensile (Grasping) hands & feet• Forward facing eyes (Stereoscopic vision

determines depth perception)• Large cerebrums• Clavicle (Allows arms to increase in mobility)• Prehensile tail• Rotating forearm• Color vision• Singular births (Quality, not quantity)

Primate Social Features

• Diurnal• Long dependency period (Allows infants to

observe & learn)• Play or imitation (Important for learning,

practicing skills)

Primate Phylogeny

Primate Classification

Prosimians – premonkeys• Lemurs • Lorises • Tarsiers

Anthropoids New world monkeys (Platyrrhines)Old world monkeys (Catarrhines)• Lesser apes (Gibbons & Siamangs)• Great apes (Orangutans, gorillas, & Chimpanzees• Humans

Prosimian Traits• Better sense of smell than vision (Use scent glands or urine to

mark territory)

• Mobile ears

• Longer snouts

• Single offspring (twins are common in some species)

• Quadrupedal

• Vertical clinging & leaping

• Arboreal

• Nocturnal

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Suborder: Strepsirrhini

Prosimian TypesSUBORDER - Strepsirhines (Wet nosed) All have a dental comb (Tightly clustered incisors & canine

teeth—used for grooming)FOUND IN MADAGASCAR• Lemurs (vegetarians, females dominate males for food)• Indris• Aye-ayesFOUND IN SOUTHEAST ASIA• Loris (Slow, hand over hand, quadrupedal movement)• Bushbabies (Quick, active, kangaroo hop on the ground)

SUBORDER - Haplorhines (Dry nosed)FOUND IN PHILIPPINES & INDONESIATarsiers – Carnivorous, named from elongated

tarsal bones

Bushbaby

Madagascar

Southeast asia

Philippines

Prosimians

Lemurs

Indris

Aye-Ayes

LorisesWalk slowly, hand over handAlso vertical leapers

BushbabiesFamily : Galagonidae

Tarsiers

AnthropoidsTypes• Humans• Apes• Monkeys

Traits• Rounded braincase• Non-mobile outer ears• Small flat faces without muzzles• Highly developed placenta• Dextrous hands

• Grouping• Platyrrhines – New world monkeys (Central & South

Americas)• Catarrhines – Old world monkeys (Africa, Asia, & Europe)

Platyrrhines

• “New world”• Have broad flat-bridged noses• Nostrils facing outward• Most have prehensile tail• Completely arboreal

Two groups• Marmosets• Tamarins• Cebid monkeys

Marmosets & Tamarins

• Very small

• Have claws instead of nails

• Give birth to twins

• Some Monogamy, others Polyandry

• Omnivores (fruit, tree sap, insects)

• Fathers aid in parental care (carrying of young)

MarmosetsName means a grotesque figure or ugly little boy

genera: Callithrix

Tamarins

Cebids

• Larger than marmosets• Single offspring• Ominvores

Capuchin monkeyHowler monkeys

Cebids

• New world monkeys• • Preyed on by ocelots and jaguars

• Communicate by urinating on themselves and rubbing a tree

• Thumbs that cannot grip against the fingers

Catarrhines

• “Old world” = CERCOPITHECOIDS• Some arboreal, some terrestrial,

some both

Colobine Monkeys

• Asian langurs• African colobus

Langur Monkey

Colobus

Colobine Monkeys

• Arboreal

• Herbivorous – leaves & seeds

• Mothers allow other group members to care for their infants shortly after birth

• Males not in group will kill infants

Cercopithecine Monkeys

Exhibit sexual dimorphism• Males larger than females• Males have longer canine teeth• Males are more aggressive

• Depend more on fruit than colobine monkeys

• Have cheek pouches to carry/store food

• Have ischial callosities to make sitting in trees or land for a long time more comfortable, and for sexual displays

Mandrillus sphinx

Mandrill Baboons

Japanese & RhesusMacaques

Ischial Callosities (Callouses)

Hominoids

• Lesser apes – hylobates• Great apes – pongids• Humans – hominids

General Traits• Large brains (Cerebral cortex)• Long arms• Short, broad trunks• No tails

Hylobates – Lesser apes

Gibbons & Siamangs• Omnivores (Fruit, leaves, & insects)• Brachiators• Monogamous• No sexual dimorphism

Gibbons

Siamangs

• Name means “Dwells in trees”

Pongids

• Orangutans• Gorillas• Chimpanzees

Orangutans

• Found only in Sumatra & Borneo• Name means people of the forest• Sexually dimorphic (Males ~200 lbs larger with cheek

pads, throat pouches, and beards)• Heaviest arboreal primates• Eat mainly fruit

Live solitary lives• Maybe due to lack of food• Maybe easier to hide from human predators• Maybe large size prevents natural predation, so no

need to live in groups

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Female_Orangutan_%26_Baby_PerthZoo_SMC_Sept_2005.jpg

Gorilla• Herbivorous

• Have unique nose prints

• Largest of the apes (Males up to 450 lbs and females up to 250 lbs)

• Knuckle walking to distribute weight

• Dominant male called a silverback

• Average adult male eats 50 lbs of food per day

Chimpanzees

• From the genus Pan

• Arboreal & terrestrial (move best on the ground)

• Uses tools such as leaves for personal hygiene or drinking water

• Have ability to learn sign language

• Eat lizards, birds and actively hunt larger animals (Colobus monkeys & baboons)

• Knuckle-walk