Module 8

Question 1

Animal to primate:

Answer 1

Animalia - Metazoa - Chordata - Vertebrata - Mammalia - Eutheria - Primata - Anthropoidea (monkeys, apes, and humans) - Catarrhini (all old world monkeys, apes, and humans) - Hominoidea(apes & humans) - Hominidae (humans and human ancestors) - Homo - Sapiens.

Question 2

Generalized Traits

Answer 2

Traits that are most similar to the earliest ancestors of a species.

Question 3

Specialized Traits

Answer 3

Traits that are the result of adaptation to specific niches and environments, and are more recent adaptations.

Question 4

Morphology

Answer 4

Anatomical Structures (physical body traits).

Question 5

Primate adaptions

Answer 5

A. Limbs and Locomotion:
1. A tendency toward erect posture, especially in the upper body - (not to be confused with walking upright, which is bipedality).

Question 6

Primate adaptions

Answer 6

A. Limbs and Locomotion:
1. A tendency toward erect posture, especially in the upper body - (not to be confused with walking upright, which is bipedality).
2. A flexible, generalized limb structure which allows most primates to practice a number of locomotor behaviors.
3.
A.
a. Hands and feet with a high degree of prehensility (grasping ability).
b. To aid prehensility: retention of five digits on
c. To aid prehensility: An opposable thumb, and in most species, an opposable big toe.
d. To aid prehensility: Nails instead of claws.
e. To aid prehensility Tactile pads enriched with sensory nerve fibers at the ends of the digits.
B. Diet and Teeth
a. Diet and Teeth: A lack of dietary specialization.
b. Diet and Teeth: Generalized dentition(heterodont), containing canines, molars, premolars, and incisors.
C. The Senses and the Brain:
a. Color vision(few primates are nocturnal).
b. Excellent depth perception (stereoscopic vision).
c. Decreased reliance on the sense of smell. The size of the structures in the brain that process smell are considerably smaller than in many other mammals, likely because as visual acuity increased, the ability to smell diminished because it became less important.
d. Expansion and increased complexity of the brain. Expansion in the visual processing areas of the brain and in the areas where association happens and where different sensory modalities are integrated allowing for building more memories.
D. Maturation, Learning, and Behavior.
a. A more efficient means of fetal nourishment, longer periods of gestation, reduced numbers of offspring, delayed maturation, and extension of the entire lifespan.
b. A greater dependence on flexible learned behavior. Due to delayed maturation there is significantly increased parental investment. Much less offspring are produced in the lifespan of the parent, and parents dedicate a lot more time to teaching offspring survival skills.
c. The tendency to live in social groups and the permanent association of adult males with the group.

Question 7

Omnivorous

Answer 7

A diet of plant material, meat, and insects.

Question 8

Herbivore

Answer 8

A diet of only plant material.

Question 9

Carnivore

Answer 9

A diet of only meat.

Question 10

Insectivore

Answer 10

A diet of only meat.

Question 11

Frugivore

Answer 11

A diet of only fruit.

Question 12

Piscivore

Answer 12

A diet of only fish.

Question 13

Diurnal

Answer 13

Activity patterns during the day.

Question 14

Nocturnal

Answer 14

Activity patterns during the day.

Question 15

Stereoscopic vision

Answer 15

The ability to perceive objects in 3D. Helps with the ability to have superior hand/foot-eye coordination (particularly in dense environments).

1. Eyes are positioned in front of the face to produce binocular vision which provides an overlapping visual field.
2. Visual info from each eye is transmitted to visual centers in both cerebral hemispheres.
3. Visual information from both hemispheres is organized into 3D images by specialized structures in the brain that merge the overlapping visual field and allow for depth perception.

Question 16

Sensory Modalities:

Answer 16

Different forms of sensation (touch, pain, hot & cold, vision, taste, hearing, and smell.

Question 17

Hominoids

Answer 17

1. Generally larger in size
2. have no tail.
3. Have more complex behavior.
4. Have more complex brain and cognitive abilities.
5. Increased period of infant development and dependency.

Question 18

Pongo(orangutans.).

Answer 18

1. Two subspecies of orangutans today, and both are found in heavily forested areas on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra.
2. They are very larges and slow, cautious climbers. Often described as “four-handed”, since they tend to use all four limbs for grasping and support.
3. Although they are almost completely arboreal, orangutans can travel on all fours (quadrupedally) on the ground.
4. They are frugivorous: a diet mainly of fruits.
5. A high degree of sexual dimorphism( A high degree of differences in the sexes especially size. Males typically weighing 200 lbs or more, while females typically way less than 100 lbs.)
6. They tend to be very solitary but will congregate in larger groups for a period of time if the food supply is plentiful.

Question 19

Sexual Dimorphism

Answer 19

Differences in physical characteristics between males and females.

Question 20

Genus: Gorilla

Answer 20

1. Three sub-species of gorillas today, and all are confined to forested areas of western and eastern equatorial Africa.
2. They are the largest of all living primates
3. Gorillas are terrestrial and have a knuckle-walking posture on the ground.
4. They are almost exclusively herbivorous (occasionally eating insects).
5. A high degree of sexual dimorphism with males weighing 400 lbs and females weighing 150-200 lbs.
6. Gorillas mainly Iive in groups consisting of 1 or 2 males, a number of females, and young offspring.

Question 21

Knuckle-Walking

Answer 21

The wight of the upper body is carried on the backs of their bent fingers, instead of the weight on the plans of the hands.

Question 22

Genus: Pan Chimpanzees

Answer 22

1. Two species, chimpanzees and bonobos. They live in forested equatorial Africa.
2. Smaller than orangutans and gorillas.
3. They also have quadrupedal knuckle-walking.
4. Partly arboreal, partly terrestrial.
5. Chimps and bonobos are very omnivorous - they eat fruits, leaves, insects, eggs, and small mammals.
6. A lower degree of sexual dimorphism with males weighing 100 lbs, and females weighing at least 80 lbs
7. Chimps live in large communities, up to 50 individuals, centered around a group of closely bonded males, with very complex social behavior.

Question 23

Genus: Pan Bonobos

Answer 23

1. smaller overall
2. More arboreal
3. Also have large communities but not centered around groups of males, rather male-female bonding very important.

Question 24

Prehensility

Answer 24

Prehensility is the quality of an appendage or organ that has adapted for grasping or holding