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An Overview of The Primates

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Title: Chapter 5 Overview of Living Primates Author: stacy Last modified by: Stacy SCHOOLFIELD Created Date: 11/7/2000 4:49:16 AM Document presentation format – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: An Overview of The Primates


1
Chapter 6
  • An Overview of The Primates

2
Chapter Outline
  • Characteristics of Primates
  • Primate Adaptations
  • Primates Classification
  • A Survey of the Living Primates
  • Endangered Primates

3
Primates As Mammals
  • There are approximately 190 species of nonhuman
    primates
  • Primates belong to
  • Vertebrate class - Mammalia
  • Subgroup of placental mammals.

4
Characteristics of Primates
  • Fur (body hair)
  • Long gestation followed by live birth
  • Homeothermy, the ability to maintain a constant
    body temperature
  • Increased brain size
  • Capacity for learning and behavioral flexibility.

5
Binocular Vision in Primates
6
Primate Limbs
  • A tendency towards erect posture.
  • Hands and feet possess grasping ability.
  • Features of the hands and feet
  • 5 digits on hand and feet
  • Opposable thumb
  • partially opposable great toe
  • Tactile pads enriched with sensory nerve fibers
    at the ends of digits

7
Dental Formulae
8
Primate Senses and the Brain
  • Color vision is a characteristic of all diurnal
    primates, nocturnal primates lack color vision.
  • Depth perception is made possible by eyes
    positioned forward on the front of the face.
  • Decreased reliance on the sense of smell
    (olfaction).
  • The brain has expanded in size and become
    increasingly complex.

9
Primate Maturation
  • Longer periods of gestation
  • Reduced numbers of offspring
  • Delayed maturation
  • Extension of the entire life span.

10
Primate Learning and Behavior
  • Have a greater dependence on flexible, learned
    behavior.
  • Tend to live in social groups.
  • Males are permanent members of many primate
    social groups, a situation unusual among mammals.

11
Arboreal Hypothesis
  • Arboreal (tree) living was the most important
    factor in the evolution of primates.
  • Prehensile hand is adapted to climbing in the
    trees.
  • A variety of foods led to the omnivorous diet and
    generalized dentition.

12
Visual Predation Hypothesis
  • Primates may have first adapted to shrubby forest
    undergrowth and the lowest tiers of the forest
    canopy.
  • Forward facing eyes enabled primates to judge
    distance when grabbing for insects.
  • Flowering plants may have influenced primate
    evolution.

13
Primate Habitats
  • Most live in tropical or semitropical areas of
    the new and old worlds.
  • Most are arboreal, living in forest or woodland
    habitats.
  • No nonhuman primate is adapted to a fully
    terrestrial environment all spend some time in
    the trees.

14
Primate Diet and Teeth
  • Generally omnivorous, reflected in their
    generalized dentition.
  • Most eat a combination of fruits, leaves, and
    insects.
  • Some primates kill and eat small mammals.
  • Some primates are dietary specialists on leaves.
  • Most have four types of teeth incisors, canines,
    premolars and molars.

15
Primate Locomotion
  • Most primates are quadrupedal, using all four
    limbs in their locomotion.
  • Arm swinging is found among the apes.
  • Siamangs of southeast Asia use this exclusively.
  • Monkeys that use a combination of leaping and arm
    swinging are termed semibrachiators.
  • Prehensile tails, found only among the new world
    monkeys, are used as an aid to locomotion.

16
Human and Chimpanzee Chromosomes
  • Human chromosome2 has banding patterns that
    correspond to chimpanzee chromosomes 12 and 13.
  • This suggests that human chromosome 2 resulted
    from the fusion of ape chromosomesduring the
    course ofhominid evolution.

17
Revised PartialClassification of the Primates.
18
Alternative Classifications of Great Apes and
Humans
19
Prosimians
  • The most primitive of the primates.
  • Characteristics
  • Reliance on olfaction
  • Laterally placed eyes
  • Shorter gestation and maturation periods
  • Dental specialization called the "dental comb

20
Lemurs
  • Found on the island of Madagascar and other
    islands off the coast of Africa.
  • Extinct elsewhere in the world.
  • Characteristics
  • Larger lemurs are diurnal and eat vegetable
    foods fruit, leaves, buds, and bark.
  • Smaller lemurs are nocturnal and insectivorous
    (insect -feeding).

21
GeographicalDistribution of Modern Lemurs
22
Lorises
  • Found in tropical forests and woodlands of India,
    Sri Lanka, southeast Asia, and Africa.
  • Characteristics
  • Use a climbing form of quadrupedalism.
  • Some are insectivorous others supplement their
    diet with fruit, leaves, gums, and slugs.
  • Females frequently form associations for foraging
    or in sharing the same sleeping nest.

23
Tarsiers
  • Small nocturnal primates found on the islands of
    southeast Asia.
  • Characteristics
  • Eat insects and small vertebrates which they
    catch by leaping from branches.
  • Basic social pattern appears to be a family unit
    consisting of a mated pair and their offspring.

24
Anthropoids(Monkeys, Apes and Humans)
  • Common traits
  • Larger brain and body size
  • Reduced reliance on the sense of smell
  • Greater degree of color vision
  • Bony plate at the back of the eye socket
  • Different female reproductive anatomy
  • Longer gestation and maturation periods
  • Fused mandible

25
Monkeys
  • Represent about 70 of all primate species.
  • Divided into two groups separated by geography
    and several million years of evolutionary
    history
  • New world monkeys
  • Old world monkeys

26
New World Monkeys
  • Almost exclusively arboreal.
  • Found in southern Mexico and central and south
    America.
  • Two families Callitrichidae and Cebid

27
New World Monkeys Callitrichidae
  • Give birth to twins
  • Live in families composed of a mated pair or a
    female and two adult males, plus the offspring.
  • Males are involved with infant care.

28
New World Monkeys Cebid
  • Possess prehensile tails.
  • Most live in groups of both sexes and all ages.
  • Others live as monogamous pairs with subadult
    offspring.

29
Old World Monkeys
  • Habitats range from tropical forests to semiarid
    desert to snow-covered areas in Japan and china.
  • Characteristics
  • Most quadrupedal and arboreal
  • All belong to the Cercopithecidae family
  • Divided into subfamilies, the cercopithecines and
    the colobines.

30
Geographical Distribution of Modern Old World
Monkeys.
31
Hominoids (Apes and Humans)
  • Characteristics distinguishing hominoids from
    monkeys
  • Larger body size
  • Absence of a tail
  • Shortened trunk
  • More complex behavior
  • More complex brain and enhanced cognitive
    abilities
  • Increased period of infant development and
    dependency

32
Gibbons and Siamangs
  • Found in the tropical areas of southeast Asia.
  • Adaptations for brachiation may be related to
    feeding while hanging from branches.
  • Diet is largely fruit with leaves, flowers, and
    insects.
  • Basic social unit is a monogamous pair and their
    offspring.
  • Males and females delineate their territories
    with whoops and songs.

33
Orangutans (Pogo pygmaeus)
  • Found in heavily forested areas of Borneo and
    Sumatra.
  • Almost completely arboreal.
  • Large
  • males 200 pounds
  • females 100 pounds
  • Pronounced sexual dimorphism.
  • Solitary
  • Principally frugivorous (feed-eating).

34
Geographical Distributionof Modern African Apes
35
Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla)
  • Largest of the living primates.
  • Confined to forested regions of central Africa.
  • Males can weigh up to 400 pounds, females 200
    pounds.
  • Primarily terrestrial, using a posture called
    knuckle walking.
  • Groups consist of one large silverback male, a
    few adult females, and their subadult offspring.

36
Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)
  • Found in equatorial Africa.
  • Anatomically similar to gorillas particularly in
    limb proportions and upper-body shape.
  • Locomotion includes knuckle-walking on the ground
    and brachiation in the trees.
  • Eat a variety of plant and animal foods.
  • Large communities of as many as 50 individuals.

37
Bonobos (Pan paniscus)
  • Only found in an area south of the Zaire river.
  • Population is believed to only number a few
    thousand individuals.
  • Exploit the same foods as chimps, including
    occasional small mammals.
  • Male-female bonds constitute the societal core.
  • Sexuality includes frequent copulations
    throughout the female's estrous cycle.

38
Humans (Homo Sapiens)
  • The only living species in the family Hominidae.
  • Human teeth are typical primate teeth.
  • Dependence on vision for orientation to the world

39
Humans (Homo Sapiens)
  • Flexible limbs and grasping hands
  • Omnivorous diet
  • Cognitive abilities are the result of dramatic
    increases in brain size.
  • Bipedal

40
Endangered Primates
  • Over half of all living primates are endangered,
    many face immediate extinction
  • Most primates live in tropical rain forests that
    are being destroyed for their natural resources.
  • Some primates are hunted for their meat.
  • Others are victims of the exotic pet trade.

41
Tropical Rain Forests of the World (Before Recent
Massive Destruction)
42
Hunting of Primates
  • In West Africa the most serious problem is
    hunting to feed the growing human population.
  • Estimated that thousands of primates, are killed
    and sold for meat every year.
  • Primates are also killed for commercial products.

43
Conservation Efforts
  • Many developing countries have designated areas
    as national parks or reserves.
  • Private organizations, such as the rain forest
    information center in Ecuador, have set up
    biological reserves.
  • Through conservation and educational programs,
    primate species may have a chance at escaping
    extinction.
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