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Chapter 6

Chapter 6. An Overview of the Primates. Chapter Outline. Characteristics of Primates Primate Adaptations Primate Classification Survey of the Living Primates Endangered Primates. Primates As Mammals. There are approximately 190 species of nonhuman primates Primates belong to:

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Chapter 6

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  1. Chapter 6 An Overview of the Primates

  2. Chapter Outline • Characteristics of Primates • Primate Adaptations • Primate Classification • Survey of the Living Primates • Endangered Primates

  3. Primates As Mammals • There are approximately 190 species of nonhuman primates • Primates belong to: • Vertebrate class - Mammalia • Subgroup of placental mammals.

  4. Characteristics of Primates • Fur (body hair) • Long gestation followed by live birth • Homeothermy, the ability to maintain a constant body temperature • Increased brain size • Capacity for learning and behavioral flexibility.

  5. Primate Limbs • A tendency towards erect posture. • Hands and feet possess grasping ability. • Features of the hands and feet: • 5 digits on hand and feet • Opposable thumb • partially opposable great toe • Tactile pads enriched with sensory nerve fibers at the ends of digits

  6. Primate Senses and the Brain • Color vision is a characteristic of all diurnal primates, nocturnal primates lack color vision. • Depth perception is made possible by eyes positioned forward on the front of the face. • Decreased reliance on the sense of smell. • The brain has expanded in size and become increasingly complex.

  7. Primate Maturation • Longer periods of gestation • Reduced numbers of offspring • Delayed maturation • Extension of the entire life span.

  8. Primate Learning and Behavior • Have a greater dependence on flexible, learned behavior. • Tend to live in social groups. • Males are permanent members of many primate social groups, a situation unusual among mammals.

  9. Arboreal Hypothesis • Arboreal living was the most important factor in the evolution of primates. • Prehensile hand is adapted to climbing in the trees. • A variety of foods led to the omnivorous diet and generalized dentition.

  10. Visual Predation Hypothesis • Primates may have first adapted to shrubby forest undergrowth and the lowest tiers of the forest canopy. • Forward facing eyes enabled primates to judge distance when grabbing for insects. • Flowering plants may have influenced primate evolution.

  11. Primate Habitats • Most live in tropical or semitropical areas of the new and old worlds. • Most are arboreal, living in forest or woodland habitats. • No nonhuman primate is adapted to a fully terrestrial environment; all spend some time in the trees.

  12. Primate Diet and Teeth • Generally omnivorous, reflected in their generalized dentition. • Most eat a combination of fruits, leaves, and insects. • Most have four types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars and molars.

  13. Primate Locomotion • Most are quadrupedal, using all four limbs in their locomotion. • Arm swinging is found among the apes. • Prehensile tails, found only among the new world monkeys, are used as an aid to locomotion.

  14. Alternative Classifications of Great Apes and Humans

  15. Prosimians • The most primitive of the primates. • Characteristics: • Reliance on olfaction • Laterally placed eyes • Shorter gestation and maturation periods • Dental specialization called the "dental comb”

  16. Lemurs • Found on the island of Madagascar and other islands off the coast of Africa. • Extinct elsewhere in the world. • Characteristics: • Larger lemurs are diurnal and eat vegetable foods: fruit, leaves, buds, and bark. • Smaller lemurs are nocturnal and insectivorous (insect -feeding).

  17. Lorises • Found in tropical forests and woodlands of India, Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and Africa. • Characteristics: • Use a climbing quadrupedalism. • Some are insectivorous; others supplement their diet with fruit, leaves, gums, and slugs. • Females frequently form associations for foraging or in sharing the same sleeping nest.

  18. Tarsiers • Small nocturnal primates found on the islands of southeast Asia. • Eat insects and small vertebrates which they catch by leaping from branches. • Basic social pattern appears to be a family unit consisting of a mated pair and their offspring.

  19. Anthropoids (Monkeys, Apes and Humans) • Common traits: • Larger brain and body size • Reduced reliance on the sense of smell • Greater degree of color vision • Bony plate at the back of the eye socket • Different female reproductive anatomy • Longer gestation and maturation periods • Fused mandible

  20. Monkeys • Represent about 70% of all primate species. • Divided into two groups separated by geography and several million years of evolutionary history: • New world monkeys • Old world monkeys

  21. New World Monkeys • Almost exclusively arboreal. • Found in southern Mexico and central and south America. • Two families: Callitrichidae and Cebid

  22. New World Monkeys: Callitrichidae • Give birth to twins • Live in families composed of a mated pair or a female and two adult males, plus the offspring. • Males are involved with infant care.

  23. New World Monkeys: Cebid • Possess prehensile tails. • Most live in groups of both sexes and all ages. • Others live as monogamous pairs with subadult offspring.

  24. Old World Monkeys • Habitats range from tropical forests to semiarid desert to snow-covered areas in Japan and china. • Characteristics: • Most quadrupedal and arboreal • All belong to the Cercopithecidae family. • Divided into subfamilies, the cercopithecines and the colobines.

  25. Hominoids(Apes and Humans) • Characteristics distinguishing hominoids from monkeys: • Larger body size • Absence of a tail • Shortened trunk • More complex behavior • More complex brain • Increased period of infant development and dependency

  26. Gibbons and Siamangs • Found in the tropical areas of southeast Asia. • Adaptations for brachiation may be related to feeding while hanging from branches. • Diet is largely fruit with leaves, flowers, and insects. • Basic social unit is a monogamous pair and their offspring. • Males and females delineate their territories with whoops and “songs”.

  27. Orangutans (Pogo pygmaeus) • Found in heavily forested areas of Borneo and Sumatra. • Almost completely arboreal. • males = 200 lbs, females = 100 lbs • Pronounced sexual dimorphism. • Solitary • Principally frugivorous (feed-eating).

  28. Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla) • Largest of the living primates. • Confined to forested regions of central Africa. • Males can weigh up to 400 pounds, females 200 pounds. • Primarily terrestrial, using a posture called “knuckle –walking”. • Groups consist of one large silverback male, a few adult females, and their subadult offspring.

  29. Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) • Found in equatorial Africa. • Anatomically similar to gorillas particularly in limb proportions and upper-body shape. • Locomotion includes knuckle-walking on the ground and brachiation in the trees. • Eat a variety of plant and animal foods. • Large communities of as many as 50 individuals.

  30. Bonobos (Pan paniscus) • Only found in an area south of the Zaire river. • Population is believed to only number a few thousand individuals. • Exploit the same foods as chimps, including occasional small mammals. • Male-female bonds constitute the societal core. • Sexuality includes frequent copulations throughout the female's estrous cycle.

  31. Humans (Homo Sapiens) • The only living species in the family Hominidae. • Human teeth are typical primate teeth. • Dependence on vision for orientation to the world

  32. Humans (Homo Sapiens) • Flexible limbs and grasping hands • Omnivorous diet • Cognitive abilities are the result of dramatic increases in brain size. • Bipedal

  33. Endangered Primates • Over half of all living primates are endangered, many face immediate extinction. • Three reasons: • Habitat destruction • Hunting for food • Live capture for export or local trade

  34. Hunting of Primates • In West Africa the most serious problem is hunting to feed the growing human population. • Estimated that thousands of primates, are killed and sold for meat every year. • Primates are also killed for commercial products.

  35. Bushmeat • Bush meat is not survival food – it is seen as a luxury food by some – some gorilla parts are thought to have magical properties

  36. Quick Quiz

  37. 1. Which of the following is NOT a primate characteristic? • stereoscopic vision • highly developed sense of smell • orthograde or upright posture • prehensility

  38. Answer: b • A highly developed sense of smell is NOT a primate characteristic.

  39. 2. Binocular vision in primates contributes to • color vision. • lateral vision. • panoramic vision. • stereoscopic vision.

  40. Answer: d • Binocular vision in primates contributes to stereoscopic vision.

  41. 3. Which of the following is NOT true of tarsiers? • They are nocturnal. • They are insectivorous. • They live in groups of 10-12 individuals. • They can rotate their heads almost 180 degrees.

  42. Answer: c • Tarsiers do not live in groups of 10-12 individuals.

  43. 4. The _________________ is the largest living primate.

  44. Answer: gorilla • The gorilla is the largest living primate.

  45. 5. Which of the following is NOT a reason that nonhuman primates are endangered? • habitat destruction for logging, mining, and agricultural land • hunting for food • live capture for either the exotic pet trade or biomedical research • establishment of biological reserves

  46. Answer: d • The establishment of biological reserves is NOT a reason that nonhuman primates are endangered.

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