Evolution Primates Types of Primates Lemurs Lorises Madagascar

Evolution Primates

Types of Primates Lemurs & Lorises (Madagascar & Asia) Tarsiers (SE Asia) New World Monkeys (South America) Old World Primates (Africa & Asia)

Primate Phylogenetic Tree Note: A phylogenetic tree is just a cladogram that indicates how recently two clades diverged.

Last Common Ancestor Plesiadapis cooki Plesiadapiforms are likely ancestors of all later primate species. North America, Europe, and Asia. 66 -56 mya

Lemurs http: //www. youtube. com/watch ? v=COWw. HBlx. G 6 M

Aye-Aye Daubentonia madagascariensis Long third finger, useful for tapping on hollow logs to find insects. Environment with no woodpeckers. Continually-growing incisors, like a rodent. http: //www. youtube. com/w atch? v=kpk. XHX_7 ju 0

Lorises Galago (Bush Baby) & Slow Loris

Slow Loris Nictibecus kayan Recently discovered in Borneo Venomous bite. Rubs claws under venom glands under its arms, applies to teeth, chomps down. Bite can put a person into anaphylactic shock. Critically endangered due to wildlife trade (pets, traditional medicine).

Tarsier Each eye is larger than its brain. What would this suggest about its behaviour? Incredibly powerful jumper. Massive tarsals Only entirely carnivorous primate.

Island Biodiversity Islands offer AMAZING examples of evolution. Isolated system, no interbreeding with outside populations, unique selective pressures, limited resources. Gene flow is the exchange of genes between populations. Island populations have minimal gene flow. On islands, evolution can happen at a remarkable rate.

New World Monkeys Alouetta Lagothrix Ateles

Colour Vision How many colours make up our vision? Think about TVs, paint mixing, pixels, whatever.

Colour Vision (cont) Humans and Old World Primates are trichromatic. Our eyes have three different types of cone cells, each primarily receptive to a different wavelength of light. In New World Monkeys, only the females are trichromatic, while males are dichromatic.

Colour Vision (cont) In daylight, trichromatic vision is useful for determining ripeness of fruits and plant matter. In dim light, dichromatic vision is useful for determining a fruit from foliage. NW monkeys forage in groups, so having some trichromats and some dichromats would be helpful.

Howler Monkeys (Alouetta) Have re-evolved trichromatic vision for both sexes! Duplication of a gene on the X chromosome allows males to have cones tuned to blue, green-yellow, and red. Enlarged hyoid bone allows them to make awesome noises. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=vxln. Z 8 Bih. I

Old World Primates Monkeys and Apes Old world monkeys are more closely related to apes than they are to New world monkeys. Does the word “Monkey” represent a http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=e. V-g. OL 4 t 9 Vk

Ape or Monkey? Easiest way to tell: A monkey has a tail, while an ape does not. The apes are split into three groups: Lesser Apes: Gibbons & Siamangs Asian Great Apes: Orangutans African Great Apes: Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Humans.

Orangutans Massive growths on the males’ faces that only develop when they become the dominant male. They also double in weight at this time, from around 50 kg to 100 kg.

Gigantopithecus