ANBI 133: Great Ecology and Evolution The “Trimates” January 6th, 2021 But first… • What is an ape? • What is a ? • What is a ? What makes a mammal?

• • Mammary glands • Hair or fur • Three middle ear bones • Primate reproduction (and a lot of behavior) is constrained by mammalian anatomy • Female gestation and lactation • Female investment in offspring is obligatory • Male care varies What Makes a Primate?

• No unique characteristic common to all to the exclusion of all other mammals • Suite of characteristics • Grasping hand with opposable big toe and/or thumb with nails instead of claws (on at least some digits) What Makes a Primate?

• No unique characteristic common to all primates to the exclusion of all other mammals • Suite of characteristics • Decreased importance of smell/ Increased reliance on vision • Forward-facing eyes and binocular vision • Trichromatic vision in old world primates What Makes a Primate?

• No unique characteristic common to all primates to the exclusion of all other mammals • Suite of characteristics • Large brains • Increased investment in offspring • Increased dependence on and behavioral flexibility What Makes a Primate?

• No unique characteristic common to all primates to the exclusion of all other mammals • Suite of characteristics • Unspecialized dentition • Dietary flexibility • Mainly restricted to living in the tropics Primate Origins

• 54-65 mya (Paleocene, North America) • Extinction of dinosaurs • Angiosperm and mammal adaptive radiation Primate Origins

• Plesiadapiforms • Primate-like postcranials • Adapted for arboreal life • Grasping hands and feet • Nocturnal • Eyes of side of head • Developed olfactory system • Seed/insect eating • Claws instead of nails • No postorbital bar Primate Origins

• Eocene (54-34 MYA) • Earth got warmer and wetter • True primates emerged • Spread throughout the old world first, then spread to the new world • Lived in tropical forests • Miocene (23-5 MYA) • Earth was cooling and getting drier • Many emerge around the beginning of the Miocene • Dwindle in number through the Miocene, this trend continues today Apes vs Monkeys Apes vs Monkeys

• Compared to other primates, apes have: • Relatively large brains • Slow life history with increased investment in offspring • Different body shape • Unspecialized Y-5 molars • Tail-less • Broad flat ribcage • Scapulae placed dorsally on a wide and relatively shallow thorax • Results in different style of locomotion • More upright body • Suspensory, orthograde climbers (flexible shoulders) The “Trimates”

• , , and Biruté Galdikas • Three women who shaped our understanding of the great apes, and the way we understand behavior • Prior to their work, very little was known about non-human apes Jane Goodall

• English primatologist and anthropologist • Studied at Gombe National Park in since 1960 • Found that chimpanzees: • Use tools • Hunt and eat meat • Are more violent than previously believed • Kill group members and out-group individuals • Engage in cannibalism • Wage “war” • Named rather than numbered her subjects • Criticized for anthropomorphizing chimpanzees and for provisioning Dian Fossey

• American primatologist and conservationist • Studied mountain from 1966-1985 • Made important discoveries about social life • Female transfer between groups • Hierarchies and social relationships • • Worked to prevent and pet trade of infants • Some of her methods were controversial Biruté Galdikas

• Lithuanian-Canadian anthropologist, primatologist, and conservationist • Began studying in in 1971 • Increased our knowledge of orangutans, as well as Indonesian in general • Revealed how mothers invest huge amount of time and energy in their offspring • Worked against poaching and pet trade • Rehabilitated orphaned orangutans • Faced controversy about her rehabilitation methods