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Primates and Human Evolution Overview Primates and Human Evolution Overview • Primates arose 85 Mya as tree-dwelling, large brained, social mammals • The first bipedal hominins diverged from the apes in Africa some 5-7 Mya • An increase in brain size followed the origin of bipedalism • Earliest fossils of the genus Homo are 2.4 Mya old, and genus Homo eventually expanded throughout the Old World Human Ancestry Humans are primates, the mammalian group that also includes: • Lorises • Pottos • Lemurs • Tarsiers • Monkeys • Apes Primates evolved from insect-eating mammals during the late Cretaceous period. Primates Primates – divided in several ways – Prosimians, retain more mammalian features • Lemurs, Lorises, Pottos, Tarsiers. – Anthropoids, shortened face, larger brains • Monkeys • Hominoids, the ape relatives of humans • Humans Primate Diversity Modern Lemurs resemble primitive Primates Mammalian Heritage Vertebrates - Internal skeleton with backbone, nerve chord Skull and Brain with 3 regions (hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain) Humans belong to the class Mammalia (there are 7 classes of vertebrates) • Have hair • Nourish young with milk produced from mammary glands. • Protect young for an extended period of time • Dentition: Have 4 types of upper and lower teeth, that match up and work together. • Incisors, Canines, Premolars, Molars (teeth important in fossil record, tell us a lot) Purgatorius, a Cretaceous primate ancestor • lived roughly 65 MYA at the end of the Cretaceous period • teeth link it to primates • feet flexible, lived in trees Asteroid Impact – end of Mesozoic Dinosaurs go extinct Cenozoic Era – 65 MYA to Present Age of Mammals Notharctus – an Eocene primate, 45 MYA, much like lemurs Northarctus was a tree dweller as opposed to a land mammal Miocene Ape – Proconsul, 20 MYA • Proconsul africanus is one of the first apes. • Lived 25-15 MYA in forests of Eastern Africa • Shares features with both monkeys and apes. Ring-tailed Tarsier lemur Black spider monkey (New World monkey) Orangutan (ape) Patas monkey (Old World monkey) Gibbon (ape) Gorilla (ape) Laura CoronadoChimpanzee Bio 10 Chapter (ape) 17 Human Figure 17.37 Primates- What is a Primate? (5:08) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpnlS_ach-0 Primate Videos NOVA scienceNOW : 41 - First Primates (13:36) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_X5ciqtbG0 Ch 01 Observing Primates (in a zoo) (30:57) Gibbons, orangutans, gorilla, bonobos, kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZT8te2x6Lk BBC David Attenborough – Primates (52:00) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vohyXdAs4 The Swinging Gibbon (1:06) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSLFHPd8LX0 Gibbons Apes Singing (:50) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3MKcrQpTR4 Orangutan - Man Of The Forest HD (25:58) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZYWfoQ3tjg Bonobo Chimpanzees: More human-like than you think (2:36) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEY15Tl_D4c Bonobo Ape - Our Closest Relative (53:33) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbv4DrXbmAo Gorillas in the Wild (39:27) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jAEPZ2QmZU Mountain Gorillas Documentary (37:01) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvRkxACH6qo Lemurs of Madagascar Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 1) (7:51) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqrjB4U25eM Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 2) (5:49) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brcrAEPVxPA Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 3) (5:15) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVz1w6a-Odc Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 4) (7:41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAO3u8ED0g4 Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 5) (6:36) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHXXMWxxdFo Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 6) (6:41) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn5VdqPuS2k Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 7) (6:05) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXhASc98DE Madagascar. The World of the Lemurs (Part 8) (6:23) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzo_aZ2R6Ho Lemurs - Madagascar New World monkeys – nostrils flat and spread, and (usually) a prehensile tail Old World monkeys - nostrils close together and the tail, if present, is not prehensile . Great Apes Gibbons Orangutan Chimpanzee Bonobo Gorilla Humans Hominoids Primate Characteristics Primates are distinguished by characteristics that were shaped by the demands of living in trees: • Limber shoulder joints • Eyes in front of the face • Excellent eye-hand coordination • Extensive parental care • The evolution of primates is characterized by trends towards: – Mobile forelimbs and hindlimbs – Grasping hands – A flattened face – Stereoscopic vision – A large, complex brain – Reduced reproductive rate Primate Hands lemur orangutan chimpanzee gorilla fingernails Binocular Vision • Stereoscopic vision and resultant depth perception allows primates to make accurate judgments about distance and position of adjoining tree limbs • Retaining good peripheral vision is also of value Primate Locomotion Clinging-Leaping Terrestrial Quadrupedalism Brachiation Bipedalism Primate Diet – foliage, fruits, occasionally meat Intelligence and Sociality • Primates are very social animals • Almost always interacting in groups Care for Young • Long gestation period (pregnancies) • Spend more time raising their young • Take many years to reach maturity Hominoid Phylogeny Features of early hominid evolution Exact path of descent unknown • more hominid species continue to be discovered. Chimpanzees and humans represent two divergent branches • each evolved from a common, less specialized ancestor Evolution was continuous and gradual • no sudden “jumps” in size or cranial capacity observed. Some Common Misconceptions – Chimpanzees and humans represent two divergent branches of the anthropoid tree that each evolved from a common, less specialized ancestor. – Our ancestors were not chimpanzees or any other modern apes. – Human evolution is not a ladder leading directly to modern humans. – Instead, human evolution is more like a multibranched bush than a ladder. – At times in hominid history, several different human species coexisted. – Upright posture and an enlarged brain appeared at separate times during human evolution. – Different human features evolved at different rates. 0 ? Paranthropus Homo Homo 0.5 boisei neanderthalensis sapiens 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Homo erectus 3.0 Paranthropus robustus Homo 3.5 habilis 4.0 Australopithecus Millions of years ago of years Millions africanus 4.5 5.0 Australopithecus afarensis 5.5 6.0 Ardipithecus ramidus Cranial capacity increased from 600-800 cm3 to 1200-1400 cm3 over past 2 MY. Cranial capacity for Genus Homo Hominin Evolution • Major Homo advances: – Brain size – Better bipedalism – Hunting – Fire (H. erectus) – Tools • Oldowon (H. habilis) • Acheulean (H. erectus) • Mousterian (H. heidelbergensis) • Solutrean (H. sapiens) – Built shelters (H. heidelbergensis) – Clothing (H. neandertalensis) – Language (Neandertals?) Approximate Timeline for Human Prehistory • Ardipithecines: 5.8 to 4.5 mybp • Australopithecines: 4.5 to 1.2 mybp • Homo erectus: 2.0 to 0.5 mybp • Archaic Homo s. sapiens and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis: 500,000 - 200,000 years • Modern Homo s. sapiens: the last 200,000 years YouTube Videos Smithsonian - Evidence for Human Evolution (4:23) http://humanorigins.si.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/evidence-human-evolution Smithsonian - One Species, Living Worldwide (4:20) http://humanorigins.si.edu/resources/multimedia/videos/one-species-living-worldwide Becoming Human - Episode 1 – NOVA (51:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD47C8jP6Hw Becoming Human - Episode 2 (51:30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuT7N5aoP48 Becoming Human - Episode 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAaM1XHXPdc The Human Journey - In Search Of Human Origins (46:58) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vOwUtywxI8 Ape To Man: Evolution Documentary History Channel (1:29:54) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sMqFivWTmk YouTube Videos Zeresenay Alemseged: The search for humanity's roots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTQx2VhwkK4 Walking With Lucy | California Academy of Sciences https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT8Np0gI1dI&list=PLw_X3TN_pwALZxUPYiQxfLr mNQMja2Lwk&index=1 Mountain gorilla eating bamboo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OnOrp4gcwQ&noredirect=1 Chimpanzees Hunting for Meat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMXk5Z6-IHY World's Deadliest - Killers Like Us: Chimpanzees https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQq93Q2txrs Australopithecus Boisei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRBzAN3_jQ Homo Heidelbergensis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2g799e3SNX4 0 ? Paranthropus Homo Homo 0.5 boisei neanderthalensis sapiens 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Homo erectus 3.0 Paranthropus robustus Homo 3.5 habilis 4.0 Australopithecus Millions of years ago of years Millions africanus 4.5 5.0 Australopithecus afarensis 5.5 6.0 Ardipithecus ramidus Ardipithecus ramidus 2009! The skeleton was crushed into hundreds of small fragments, making for a 3D jigsaw puzzle for the scientists doing the reconstruction Ardipithecus ramidus is called "the root of terrestrial apes" The first fossil was dated 4.4 mya Fossil records show that Ardi lived in a tropical clearing in Ethiopia Ardi means "soil" and Ramid "root" Pithecus is derived from the Greek word "monkey“ Ardi was named in September 1994. Ardi was smaller (1.2 m) and less anatomically specialized than modern chimps or gorillas Anatomical traits suggest a combination of arboreal and bipedal locomotion Ardipithecus 5.8 to 4.5 mybp Ardipithecines • Two described species: – A. kadabba, dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago (late Miocene) – A. ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago during the early
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