| A | B |
|---|
| Prosimians | The most ancient primates, modern day descendants still possess many primitive traits= Lemurs, lorises, tarsiers |
| Anthropoids | Diurnal, greater emphasis on vision, relatively large brains= New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, Hominoids |
| Primate Distribution= Anthropoids | PLATYRRHINES include New World Monkeys (round, sideways facing nostrils)= CATARRHINES include Old World monkeys, and Hominoids (humans, apes) (narrow, downward facing nostrils) |
| Primate Distribution= Prosimians | Current prosimians are found only in old world, but that was not the case in the past |
| General Characteristics of Primates | (No single characteristic defines primates, they share a set of features...) 1. Typically ARBOREAL 2. GRASPING Hands and Feet 3. NAILS instead of CLAWS 4. FORWARD-FACING EYES(BinocularVision) 5. Post-OrbitalBarorEnclosure 6. Relatively BIG BRAINS 7. SOCIAL |
| Typically Arboreal | Many primates features relate to life in the trees (Primates are very capable of rapid movement through trees)= Although some contemporary primates do not live in trees, they retain features inherited from arboreal ancestors |
| Grasping Hands and Feet | As mentioned, a characteristic of the earliest known mammals is having five digits on each hand or foot= Primates have kept the ancestral condition= Further, the hands and feet of most primates are PREHENSILE |
| Prehensile | Further, the hands and feet of most primates are prehensile (capable of grasping objects)= Some primates even have prehensile tails= This grasping ability is an adaptation to living in trees |
| The Palmar Grasp Reflex | Newborn human infants also have strong grasping reflexes= If an object strokes the palm of their hand, they will grasp= The palmar grasp reflex appears at birth and persists until five or six months of age (however, grasp is sometimes unpredictable)= also, note that newborns |
| Primate hands and feet | Primate hands and feet have expanded tactile pads and nails instead of claws= Expanded tactile pads provide primates with an enhanced sense of touch |
| Nails Instead of Claws= Why? | Nails serve to protect the sensitive skin at the ends of the fingers and toes= The nerve endings at the tips of our digits provide primates with an enhanced sense of touch that is useful in manipulating objects |
| Expanded Tactile Pads | Expanded tactile pads provide primates with an enhanced sense of touch |
| Depth Perception | (Forward Facing Eyes: Binocular Vision) [***Result of fact that fields of vision for each eye overlap, thus providing us with depth perception] Three-dimensional nature of arboreal life requires depth perception to judge distances accurately= Depth perception is provided by overlapping fields of vision, with both sides of the brain receiving images from both eyes (Result= BINOCULAR STEREOSCOPIC VISION) |
| Binocular Stereoscopic Vision | Depth perception is provided by overlapping fields of vision, with both sides of the brain receiving images from both eyes |
| Forward Facing Eyes (Binocular Vision)= Result? | In general, we see a reduction in dependence on sense of smell and increasing visual abilities among the primates |
| (Enclosed Eye Sockets) Haplorhines | Have evolved fully enclosed sockets to protect their eyes= Anthropoids tend to be diurnal and rely heavily on visual input |
| (Enclosed Eye Sockets) Strepsirhines | Have a bony bar that runs around the eye socket= Mainly nocturnal primates with decreased reliance on visual input |
| Primates brains... | (Have expanded on the basic mammalian brain pattern) 1. Larger than would be expected for our body size; 2. More complex than those of most mammals; 3. Have larger areas associated with body control and coordination; 4. Have larger areas associated with visual abilities, learning and intelligence |
| Social | Primates are social organisms= Grooming behavior serves hygienic functions...but also may aid in forming social bonds |
| Social= Advantages of group living include | 1. Increased ability to detect/defend themselves against predators; 2. Improved access to food; 3. Better access to mates; 4. Assistance in caring for offspring |
| Living in Groups: Tolerance | Being tolerant of conspecifics: differences among species in the degree of tolerance of other individuals |
| Living in Groups: Relationships | Forming relationships with other group members: Primate species differ in quantity/quality of their social relationships |
| Equipped for Sociality? | Primate have many features which promote sociality= Also, primates have advanced social awareness |
| Equipped for Sociality: Primate features which promote sociality | 1. Elaborate systems of scent marking/detection; 2. Communicative postures; 3. Expressive faces; 4. Diverse vocal repertoires |
| Equipped for Sociality: Social Awareness | Primates have advanced social awareness= 1. Perceptive to other individuals' reactions/expectations; 2. May even cue individuals for social interactions |
| Why Study Primates? | We are primates; primate-wide trends & phylogenetic patterns help us understand our own evolution; evolutionary patterns and species uniqueness; human impact and conservation |
| Who Studies Primates? | Primatology is an interdisciplinary Pursuit= Biologists, Psychologists, Anthropologists |
| Primatology: Biologists | Study the structure, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy of primates |
| Primatology: Psychologists | Examine the cognitive capacities of our closest living relatives |
| Primatology: Anthropologists | Reconstruct models of the behavior of our ancestors |
| Studies of Nonhuman Primates: Can help us... | Understand human evolution through: Morphology, Ecology, Sociality, Cognition |
| Primate Teeth | Can inform us about diets= Chimpanzees have big flat incisors and low rounded molars for eating fruit |
| Australopithecus: Teeth | Australopithecus had: Smaller canines/incisors than chimpanzees; relatively big molars; thick enamel on its teeth= Likely consumed fruits, hard objects (nuts/seeds), and tubers |
| Living Primates Inform us about ECOLOGY | EX: Chimp populations live in dense rainforest habitats, wheras others live in savannas |
| Living Primates Inform us about BEHAVIOR | Degree of SEXUAL DIMORPHISM provides morphological indicator of male competition (sexual dimorphism and sexual monomorphism) |
| Sexual Dimorphism | Differences in size between the sexes= Associated with extreme male competition and dominance over females |
| Sexual Monomorphism | Males and females are similar in size and strength= Associated with equality in relationships |
| Hominoidea: Gibbons | 12 species of small arboreal apes= "lesser apes" due to small body size= Long forearms, highly mobile shoulder= Sexually monomorphic |
| Gibbons: Sexual... | Sexual Monomorphism: Gibbon male/females have similar body size (monomorphic)= Both males and females have large canine teeth, with male canines slightly larger them female canines= They live in pair-bonded social groups consisting of an adult female and an adult male, with offspring |
| Living Primates Inform us about COGNITION | What do different nonhumans have of the physical world, social world? Do they have social strategies= Knowledge of self and others (mirror, etc.) |
| Classification Schemes | Primatologists classified diff. primate species according to general ecological and social categories: Activity Patterns; Diet; Habitat Use; Ranging and Territoriality; Grouping Patterns; Mating System |
| Classification Schemes: Activity Patterns | DIURNAL (active during daylight hours; inactive/sleeping at night); CATHEMERAL (active day or night); NOCTURNAL (active during night; inactive/sleeping during day); ACTIVITY BUDGETS (how primates allocate time to essential activities-- rest, feed, travel, other [social]) |
| Classification Schemes: Diet | [Diets generally classified based on what primates eat most of time= MAJORITY OF PRIMATES are considered FRUGIVORE-FOLIVORE or INSECTIVORE-FRUGIVORE]: INSECTIVORES (insects); FAUNIVORES (non-insect vertebrates); FRUGIVORES (fruits); FOLIVORES (non-reproductive parts of plants [leaves, stems, shoots, pith, bark]) |
| Diet Classification: What are most primates considered | MAJORITY OF PRIMATES are considered FRUGIVORE-FOLIVORE or INSECTIVORE-FRUGIVORE |
| Classification Schemes: Habitat Use | Categories of Habitat Use: TERRESTRIAL (ground-dwelling); SEMI-TERRESTRIAL (partially ground-dwelling); ARBOREAL (tree-dwelling) |
| Habitat Classification: Forests | Most of the tropical/semi-tropical forests inhabited by primates are 3-dimensional mosaics of different kinds of vegetation: FOREST FLOOR (ground level); UNDERSTORY (area below the trees, but above the ground); CANOPY (forest cover); EMERGENT TREES (crown above the forest canopy) |
| Classification Schemes: Ranging | Resource quality, abundance, and distribution affect distance traveled and area used by primates= DAILY PATH LENGTH/"DAY RANGE" (distance traveled each day); HOME RANGE (area used by a primate) |
| Classification Schemes: Territoriality | TERRITORIAL PRIMATES (defend the entire resource area that they exploit from intrusions by other members of their species) |
| Classification Schemes: Grouping Patterns | Most primates live in social groups, which vary from few individuals to hundreds |
| Grouping Classification: Grouping Categories | [NOTE: GROUPING PATTERNS DO *NOT* EUQAL MATING SYSTEM] A) Multifemale/multimale; B) 1 male/multifemale; C) 1 female/multimale; D) 1 female/1 male |
| Grouping Classification: Group Cohesiveness | STABLE SOCIAL GROUPS (group composition remains stable); FISSION-FUSION (group composition is fluid, depending on ecological/social factors) |
| Mating Systems | Number of breeding males and females in a group (monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, polygamy) |
| Monogamy | a single adult male and a single adult female= Callitrichids, owl monkeys and titi monkeys |
| Polygyny | single male and multiple females= Nocturnal prosimians and orangutans |
| Polyandry | single breeding female and multiple males= Moustached tamarins |
| Polygamy | multiple males and females= Chimpanzees |
| Settings of Primatological Research | Field Sites, Labs, Sanctuaries, Zoos |
| Charles Darwin: Depiction of Primates | Darwin held that minds were biological adaptations with evolutionary histories that can be studied by making systematic comparisons between related species. |
| [Primate Research History] Specimen Collectors and Hunters | 1890s= Garner travels to Gabon to collect great apes and observe them in a wild= Built a cage in the forest to protect himself |
| [Primate Research History] Ideas for Captive Studies and Laboratories | 1916= ROBERT YERKES published article in SCIENCE calling for establishment of primate research institute for the systematic study of fundamental instincts/social relations of primates (thought primates, because of evolutionary closeness to humans, could shed the MOST light upon the roots of human behavior)= In 1929, THE GREAT APES was published by Robert and Ada Yerkes= Yerkes also sponsored 2 expiditions to Africa to study/collect apes for his lab |
| [Primate Research History] More Specimen Collectors and Hunters | 1920s= MARY HASTINGS BRADLEY and husband traveled to Africa with big game hunter (CARLE AKELEY) to collect gorilla specimens for the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY= 1926, Akeley return to study the gorillas, but died at beginning of mission |
| [Primate Research History] First Field Studies of Wild Primates | 1931-34= CLARENCE RAY CARPENTER observed howler monkeys on Barro Colarado island and spider monkeys in Panama= 1937= Carpenter went on multidisciplinary expedition to study langurs in Thailand; SHERWOOD WASHBURN was also on this "ASIATIC PRIMATE EXPEDITION" as a grad. student= WASHBURN would become pioneer in Primatology (encouraging incorporation of primate behaviors into theories of human origins) |
| [Primate Research History] Primate Behavior and Understanding Human Origins | SLIDE 53 |
| [Primate Research History] Long-term Field Studies of Baboons | SLIDE 54 |
| [Primate Research History] Emergence of Primatology in Japan | SLIDE 55 |
| [Primate Research History] Long-term Field Studies of Lemurs | SLIDE 56 |
| [Primate Research History] Long-term Field Studies of the Great Apes | SLIDE 57 |
