Quadrupedalism

Bipedalism (Only humans use this)

Vertical clinging and leaping (VCL)

Brachiation (Suspension in lab)

Arms and legs are about the same length.

Long, flexible lumbar spine.

Usually have a TAIL for balance.

Extras:

Deep, not broad, thorax/

Scapula located laterally/

Foramen magnum placed posteriorly, near rear of cranium.

Long upper limbs, including the fingers.

No tail. (A monkey in a tree with a prehensile tail would be considered a quadruped with a prehensile tail.)

Large body size.

Short, stable lumbar spine.

Broad thorax, not deep.

Longer legs

Cranium balanced on erect trunk

Broad thorax

Big toe in line with other toes (nondivergent toe).

Quadrupeds use all four limbs to support themselves in the trees or on the ground. (e.g. knuckle-walkers)

VCL'ers use mainly their hind limbs to support themselves, though they do use their arms to grasp to trunks of trees.

Brachiators almost exclusively use their arms for arm swinging.

Grasping hands and feet with opposable thumbs or big toes.

Nails instead of claws.

Reduced dependence on sense of smell (olfaction).

Increased reliance on sight: forward facing eyes.

Stereoscopic vision: allows excellent depth perception; allows for 3D perception.

Generalized skull and dentition.

Heavy parental investment in single offspring.

Large brains.

Increased encephalization (increase in the volume of the neocortex of the brain).

Extended ontogeny (development since birth).

They live by both learned behaviors from their social groups and as well as instinct.

Extended length of each stage from infancy to adulthood.

Extended parental investment in primates corresponds to such an extended ontogeny.

Example: 15 years for a gorilla to reach sexual maturity, while only 10 weeks for a mouse. Why is this?

Primates must learn much information to survive in the world. A primate must learn to find food and water, BUT also how to live in a social group.

The process of learning how to live in a group is a long one--it isn't solely instinctual. 

Diurnal (active during the day; rely on vision) or nocturnal (active during the night; rely on smell).

All haplorhines are diurnal except for night monkey Aotus.

Sociality: solitary or group-living.

Group-living provides animal with ready access to mates, help it find food, and avoid predators.

Sleeping, traveling, eating, grooming, playing.

Strepsirhines vs. Haplorhines

Prosimians vs. Anthropoids

Genetically based.

Strepsirhines: lemurs, lorises, galagoes.

Haplorhines: Tasiers, NWM, OWM, Apes, and Humans.

Anatomically based.

Prosimians: Lemurs, Lorises, Galagoes, and Tarsiers.

Anthropoids: OWM, NWM, Apes, and humans.

Only found in Madagascar.

True-lemur: Ring-tailed lemur.

Dwarf lemur: Greater dwarf lemur.

Aye-aye

Sifaka

Found in mainland Africa and tropical Asia.

Loris

Galago (busybaby)

Small body size

Long snouts

Claws on one pedal digit

Large ears

Rhinarium (wet, naked surface around nostrils of the nose in mammals)

Tooth comb, unfused mandible

Arboreal

Nocturnal

Solitary

Tarsiers

New World Monkeys (Ceboids)

Old World Monkeys (Cercopithoids)

Apes and Humans (Hominoids)

No tapetum in eyes

Color vision

Diurnal

Larger brains

Larger body size

Social groups with extended parental care

Solitary

Nocturnal

Diet: mainly insects

VCL locomotion

Both are either anthropoids or haplorhines.

New World Monkeys: live in the tropical and subtropical forests in the "new world," the western hemisphere. (Americas) Also known as ceboids or platyrrhines.

Old World Monkeys: Live in parts of Africa and Asia. Also known as cercopithecoids or catarrhines.

Small body size

ALL have tails; some have prehensile tails.

Platyrrhine nose: broad and flat with widely spaced nostrils

Three premolar teeth

Dental formula: 2 1 3 3

ALL Arboreal

ALL Diurnal (except Owl Monkey)

Omnivores: eat fruits, seeds, leaves, gums, and insects

New World Monkey subfamily.

Examples: Tamarin and Marmosets.

Can have twin offspring.

Practice paternal and allopaternal (non-biological parents) care.

New World Monkey subfamily.

Examples: Capuchin and Muriqui

Have prehensile tails.

Belong to infraorder catarrhini - Catarrhine nose: narrow nose with nostrils close together and pointing downward.

2 1 2 3 dental formula.

Have tails, but NEVER prehensile tails.

Some species are sexually dimorphic.

Old World Monkey family.

Examples: proboscis monkey (big, ugly nose) and hanuman langur

Leaf eaters: sacculated stomach for breaking down cellulose in leaves, higher stomach acid content, longer intestines.

Old World Monkey family.

Examples: Vervet Monkey and Hamadryas baboon

Semi-terrestrial

Territorial

Cheek Pouches

Ischial callosities (thickened calluses for sitting on the rump, e.g. baboons)

Sexual swellings

Apes: Gibbons, Orangutans, Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Bonobos

Humans

Larger body size

No tail

Catarrhine nose

2.1.2.3 Dentition

Increased encephalization (i.e. brain size and intelligence)

Extended life histories (ontogeny)

Social complexity

Belong to hominoids.

Frugivorous: Fruit eaters.

Brachiators.

Long arms, elongated fingers, shortened thumbs, and suspensory shoulders.

Part of hominoids.

Closest living kin and among the largest-brained animals on Earth.

Fruit eaters.

Largely solitary (possibly due to spread out fruit).

Extremely sexually dimorphic (size).

Sexually competitive (explaining sexual dimorphism).

Claim territories for mating opportunities.

Feature transient males who are adults that look like adolescents and attempt to mate with females while avoiding confrontation with other adult males.

Part of Hominoids.

Largest primates.

Distributed throughout Africa.

Extremely sexually dimorphic (size).

Herbivores: eat leaves, but also fruit.

Live in multi-male groups.

Silverback - adult male

Blackback - adolescent male

Males can remain in their birth group and wait to join ranking silverbacks to breed some day.

Young silverbacks can also live on their own or in bachelor groups waiting for opportunities to either drive out a current silverback from their group or to steal a female or two and establish their own group.

Of all non-human primates, shares the greatest genetic similarity between humans.

Most abundant primate, found all across Africa.

Eat mainly ripe fruits, but also leaves and insects.

Sometimes they eat meat of monkeys, wild pigs, and young antelope.

Live in multi-male, multi-female groups called a fission-fusion mating system.

Males are sociable with one another, trying to control females, patrol, and hunt.

Males remain in their birth community their entire lives (male philopatry).

Females are more independent and once reaching sexual maturity at age 12, most females begin to visit neighboring communities, eventually settling there as breeding adults.

Part of the Hominoids.

Sometimes called pygmy chimpanzees due to more slender build.

Lesser sexual dimorphism than most other apes.

Similar body size, but males have larger skulls and canines.

Eat mainly fruit, but rely more on leafy plants than chimps do.

Live in large social communities called communities.

Males stay in community they were birthed in (male philopatry).

Females emigrate to new communities once reaching sexual maturity.

Females forge bonds together; females engage in genital-genital rubbing, reducing tensions between individuals.

Hypersexual.

I. Primate Diet

II. Fundamental Relationship to Maintaining Life

I. Mostly herbivores.

II. Primates must balance their calories spent looking for food with quantity (calories consumed) and quality (nutrients like fats, proteins, and carbohydrates).

Leaves are required for the tree to grow (photosynthesis), so a tree should be naturally selected to have mechanisms to defend its leaves from leaf-eaters. Trees don't want their leaves eaten.

Fruit hold the seeds that have the reproductive oppportunities for trees. Trees want their fruit to be eaten.

Plentiful and evenly distributed.

Poor sources of nutrients and calories compared to fruits.

Difficult to digest due to protection mechanisms (bristles, spines, or hairs).

Young leaves contain minimum fiber and are more nutritious.

Older leaves contain much fiber and are tougher.

Fiber inhibits digestion.

Patchy distribution and seasonal.

Brightly colored, pleasantly smelling, soft texture: attractive to primates.

More nutritious than leaves: high levels of carbohydrates in form of sugars.

Rate of energy consumption required to maintain life when animal is at complete rest.

Energy beyond BMR is used for everything and anything besides resting.

BMR = 70*(weight)0.75 kcal/kg/day

1. Lots of low quality food (Larger animals)

2. Less high quality food (Smaller animals)

A social group of multiple individuals sleep all together, but when foraging for food, break up into pairs or smaller groups during the day.

Form of mating system in which there are temporary subgroups but no stable, cohesive groups.

Examples: bonobos and chimps

Consists of incisors, canines, pre-molars, and molars.

Cusps of molars can either have Y-5 (hominoids) or bilophodont (leaf eaters/Old World Monkeys) cusps.

Longer snout and wet nose (rhinarium), indicating reliance on smell

Sharp-cusped molars

Large ears

Grooming claw on the second digit of foot

Nocturnal, with large eye orbits

Tooth comb formed by lower incisors

Partial orbital closure

Larger body and brain size

Reduced sense of smell, reduced snout, no rhinarium

Diurnal

Small eye orbits with complete orbital closure

Small ears

Square molars with flatter cusps

Fused mandible in the midline

Apes: thorax is broad from side-to-side, not deep

No tail

Larger body size

Long arms and shorter legs

Monkeys: deep thorax, not broad

Tail