Chapter 6-10 Flashcards
Primates have?
- Improved vision
- Reduced sense of smell
- A slower life history
- Generalized dentition
Where do most primates live?
Tropical forests
What are the most primitive primates?
Prosimians
What are the methods of studying primates?
- Captive study
- Semi free-ranging
- Field study (free living/ wild)
The Evolution of Primate Social Behavior
-What are proximate causes/explanations?
Hormonal or physiological reason to act (ex. Sex b/c it feels good)
The Evolution of Primate Social Behavior
-What are ultimate cause/explanations?
Deeper evolved strategies that have been shaped over millions of years of selection (Ex: sex b/c it provides variation for disease resistance)
What are primates ranging behavior?
All primates have home ranges but only some are territorial defending their home range against incursions by other member of their species.
What are benefits of group living and Paradox of Sociality and the trade offs (associated costs)
- Alo-parenting: kind of care of dependent youngsters by someone other than the parent, a non biological parent (between species=benefit)
- Infanticide: killing of infants (negative)
- More access to mates, more options when you’re in bigger groups but more conflict and competition
- Increase protection from predators, but population rates is higher with bigger populations
What are some predators that prey on primates?
What is predation?
Snakes, tigers, crocodiles, humans, etc.
-A significant source or morality among primates
Sociality is an effective anti-predator strategy. What are the 3 D’s of why living in big groups is a good strategy?
- Detection
Vigilance efficiency: groups more likely to detect predators b/c there are more pairs of eyes on the lookout - Dilution: being in a bigger group there’s less of a chance of you being eaten (just need to be faster then the other guy)
- Deterrence: groups can better deter predators (strength in numbers)
What is inter-specific mutualism?
Between species mutualism, the species share the range but tolerate each other b/c they occupy diff parts of that range. They benefit each other
With clumped resources we predict?
With dispersed resources we predict?
- Contest competition
- Dominance Hierarchy
- Alliances are useful (females)
- Close bonds (females)
- Female philopatry (male dispersal)
- Scramble competition
- Unstable hierarchy
- No alliances
- Weak bonds
- Male or female dispersal
The Geologic Time Scale (GTS) is divided into?
Eons, eras, periods, and epochs
How to become a fossil?
- Petrification
- Trace fossils
- Coprolites (animal poop)
What is taphonomy?
Study of what happens to remains from death to discovery
What are relative dating techniques?
- Biostratigraphy: index fossils (trilobites=most famous)
- Lithostratigraphy: study of the actual geology (rocks, minerals)
- Tephrostratigraphy: via chemical traces of ash
What are calibrated relative dating techniques?
What are chronometric dating techniques?
- Geomagnetic polarity: normal vs reverse
- Radiometric dating: radioactive decay
Evolution of primates what are our near ancestors and describe its features.
Plesiadapiforms
- Narrow snout
- large incisors
- spikey teeth
- claws
What are the features of adapoids and omomyoids?
Adapoids: 3.5oz-15lbs, fruits and leaves, diurnal, slow
-Nails not claws
Ex: Northarctus
Omomyoids: 1oz-5lbs, insects and fruits, nocturnal, VCL
Ex: Darwinius
During the Miocene the Earths temp steadily fell causing 2 important changes in African tropics what were they and what did this cause?
- Total rainfall declined
- Rainfall became more seasonal
- African tropics became drier, woodlands and grasslands expanded
- Many ape species went extinct
When did the genus Australopithecus appear?
4-2MYA during the Plio-Pleistocene
Hominin origins
From hominoid (ape) to hominin 6MYA (last common ancestor w/ chimps, etc)
Fossil apes from late Miocene were already distinct from monkeys in that they had…
- larger brain/body size
- extended growth period
- knuckle walking traits
- brachiator traits
- smaller canines
Hominis differed from fossil apes in that they had…
- Even larger brain/body size
- Even more extended growth period
- Habitual bipedality
- Even more derived dentition and associated jaw/ skull muscle
