Primate Studies

1. Primate Studies So what? The Comparative Approach Anatomy Evolutionary Trends Taxonomy

2. Primate Studies What fascinates us about non-human primates? Their apparent similarity to us physically: little "people." Their apparent similarity to us behaviorally.

3. Our studies of non-human primates have changed the ways we see ourselves. Especially… Tool using and tool making behavior Apes & language behavior Koko signing “help!”

4. Many of these insights are owed to a number of primatologists. Jane Goodall (chimpanzees) Diane Fossey (mountain gorillas) Birute Galdikas (orangutans) F. B. de Waal ( field and zoo study of bonobos) Susan Savage-Rumbaugh (chimpanzee Language)

5. Where does primatology fit into anthropology? A branch of physical (biological) anthropology… …but important in psychology, social psychology, zoology. Studies of primates can help us: • better understand the nature of the human body and mind. • to see what behavioral characteristics correlate with intelligence.

6. The big question as far as anthropology is concerned is … …explaining what it is to be human, a profoundly difficult task.

7. The Comparative Approach • Primatology gives us one of the few ways to have a biological comparative perspective. • To gain an understanding of any organism, it is necessary to compare its anatomy and behavior with other closely related forms. • Helps us to describe and explain significance of physiological and behavioral systems as adaptive responses to various selective pressures as our species evolved. • For humans this comparative perspective works best with non-human primates.

8. There are approximately 190 sepcies of non-human primates. prosimians monkeys apes

9. Physical Characteristics of primates • Prosimians evolved before anthropoids. • Don't confuse this as some do with an idea that prosimians "progressed" into anthropoids. There is no implied "superiority" of one form over another. • They simply adapted to have characteristics that allowed them to live in particular habitats. • All the groups we'll talk about are physiologically and behaviorally successful in evolutionary terms. • Nor should you think of any primate group as the final evolutionary stage of a primate lineage. • They are continually evolving. The only "final stages" are those that are extinct!

10. All primates have remained quite generalized. • Retained traits that other mammal species have lost over time. • Some responded to particular selective pressures and became specialized. Example • Horse and cattle hooves as reduction of the number of digits as an example whereas primates keep the five digit pattern allowing more types of locomotion and ability to manipulate objects

11. Evolution of Primate digits vs. Horse hooves This diagram shows the evolution of horse hind feet. a. shows Hyracotherium, from 55 million years ago. b. shows Miohippus, from 35 million years ago c. shows Merychippus, from 17 million years ago d. shows Equus, the modern horse, with its single hoof.

12. Except for some odd characters

13. Primates can't be easily defined by a few traits. • We can see evolutionary trends instead. • Limbs and locomotion • Dentition • Senses and the brain • Development • Origins from arboreal life

14. Limbs and locomotion Trends • A tendency toward erect posture (primarily upper body)-sitting, standing, leaping, some bipedalism • Flexible, generalized limb structure permitting most to use a number of locomotion behaviors • Retention of some bones (clavicle) and certain abilities (forearm rotation) lost in specialized mammals • Hip and shoulder morphology allowing wide range of movement such as knuckle walking, brachiation, bipedialism

15. Locomotion forms Brachiation Bipedalism Knuckle walking Laetoli, Tanzania, c. 3.5 - 3.8 million years ago

16. Hands & Feet (& tail?) Hands and feet are prehensile (grasping) Five digits on hands an feet, but some show diminished thumb and second finger Nail instead of claws (except some New World monkeys) Tactile pads with nerves at ends of fingers to enhance touch sense Partially opposable thumb and most have fully divergent , partly opposable big toe

17. Teeth Lack of dietary specialization Omnivorous Carnivorous Frugivorous Diet and teeth—cutting, tearing, grinding The dental formula is the quantity of each type of tooth (incisor, canine, premolar, and molar) in each quadrant of the mouth, counting from the front.  The human dental formula is 2.1.2.3.  The Old World monkeys and apes also share this dental formula. Primates have generalized dentition

18. Senses and the brain Color vision—all diurnal have it, nocturnal don't • Depth perception • stereoscopic vision allows to see in three dimensions • binocular vision-both eyes set toward front of head Expansion and increasing complexity of brain-visual areas and areas having to do with hands (humans especially!) Decreased reliance on sense of smell (olfaction) - reduction in sensory areas of brain and in snout

19. Development • Maturation, learning and behavior • More efficient fetal nourishment, longer periods of gestation, smaller numbers of offspring (a single birth norm), delayed maturation, extension of whole life span • Greater dependence on flexible, learned behavior-greater parental in offspring • Tendency to live in social groups and permanent association of adult males with the group (most tend to associate at least with offspring), male association uncommon in all but primates • Tendency for diurnal activity patterns