Chapter 6

Question 1

mammals are divided into 3 groups:

Answer 1

1. Metatheria (aka marsupials)— that reproduce without a placenta, including the marsupials
   e.g. kangaroos give birth to an embryonic offspring that goes into the pouch, latches onto nipple and further develops
2. Prototheria— that reproduce by egg-laying, then the nurse young from nipples. The Australian platypus and echidna are the only living monotremes
   Eutheria— that reproduce with the placenta and uterus

Question 2

What exactly is a primate?

Answer 2

primates are mammals with grasping hand, large brains, a high degree of learned rather than innate behaviour and a suite of other traits

Question 3

the order primates are dived into 2:

Answer 3

strepsirhine (strepsirhini)—

haplorhine (haplorhini)—

Question 4

what are strepsirhine (strepsirhini

Answer 4

suborder of the order primate that includes the prosimians, excluding the tarsier

Question 5

what are haplorhine (haplorhini)

Answer 5

suborder of the border primate that includes the answer anthropoids and the tarsier

Question 6

Some Taxonomists use a more traditional naming system, which is based on aspects of anatomy, for the major primate groups:

Answer 6

prosimian and anthropoid suborders

Question 7

what are prosimian—

Answer 7

of the primate suborder Prosimi that includes the lemurs, lorises, galagos and tarsiers

Question 8

what are anthropoid—

Answer 8

of the primate suborder anthropoid that includes the Monkeys, apes and hominids

Question 9

Distinguish primates from other mammals by a set of traits that they all share:

Answer 9

GENERALIZED BODY PLAN
GRASPING HANDS WITH OPPOSABLE THUMBS OR BIG TOES
FLATTENED NAILS
FORWARD FACING EYES WITH STEREOSCOPIC VISION
GENERALIZED TEETH
PETROSAL BULLA
ENCLOSED BONY EYE ORBITS IN THE SKULL

Question 10

describe GENERALIZED BODY PLAN

Answer 10

primates body plan is generalize, not specialized like a giraffes neck is (for example)
their body type gives them much versatility… able to have many modes of travel (running and walking), swinging leaping, etc
all non human primates are quadrupeds (walk on all 4s… their hinds are longer than front legs to help with support when leaping and sitting, they can actually run and walk as well as swing from trees!)

Question 11

describe GRASPING HANDS WITH OPPOSABLE THUMBS OR BIG TOES

Answer 11

this is believed to be a fundamental primate adaptation
although some strepsirhine don’t fully exhibit this trait
Nonhuman primates have an opposable hallux (big toe)
humans do not have this but have developed a foot that makes bipedal striding easier

Question 12

describe FLATTENED NAILS

Answer 12

instead of claws

this the case for all primaries except one group, the marmosets and tamarins

Question 13

describe

FORWARD FACING EYES WITH STEREOSCOPIC VISION

Answer 13

gives excellent depth perception because the overlapping field of vision provide a three dimensional view of the world… even though we loose 360 vision it is still beneficial
the arboreal hypothesis; for the origin of private adaptation that focuses on the value of grasping hands and stereoscopic vision for life in the trees— by Frederick Wood-Jones and George Elliott Smith in the 1920s
1970’s Matthew Cartmill argued that squirrels also did this but were more adapt with greater agility when it came to working the trees… he argued that we should consider how the very earliest pirates and their close kin lived in order to understand primate origins
he came up with the visual predation hypothesis

Question 14

what is the visual predation hypothesis

Answer 14

— hypothesis for the origin of primate adaptation that focuses on the value of grasping hands and stereoscopic vision for catching small prey

Question 15

describe GENERALIZED TEETH

Answer 15

shape tells us a lot about diet
most nonhuman primates eat leaves, fruit and occasional animal protein (insects)… only the tarsier eats mainly animal protein
nonhuman primates do not have specialized teeth (for either meat or greens)
dental arcade— the parabolic arch that forms the upper or lower row of teeth
there are 4 types of teeth arranged in the following order; 2 incisors, one canine, two premolars
exception to this is the New World Monkeys who have a third premolar and the strepsirhines who have varying dental formulas

Question 16

describe PETROSAL BULLA

Answer 16

the tiny bit of skeleton that protects the inner ear
single bony trait that all primates share
occurs in no other mammalian group

Question 17

describe ENCLOSED BONY EYE ORBITS IN THE SKULL

Answer 17

could protect the primate more efficiently than other lower mammals
this is more complete in haplorhines than jstrepsirhins who tend to have just a bony ring around the orbit

Question 18

Life History Traits of primates:

Answer 18

SINGLE OFFSPRING
LARGE BRAINS
EXTENDED ONTOGNY

Question 19

describe SINGLE OFFSPRING

Answer 19

nearly all primates give birth to at least one, many mammals (especially smaller ones) have litters ortwins
marmosets and tamarins are the exception that give birth to twins
prouder fewer offspring so they can invest much time and energy in keeping the current one(s) healthy and alive

Question 20

describe LARGE BRAINS

Answer 20

primates have high degree of encephalization, or evolved increase int he volume of the neocortex— the part of the brain that controls higher cognitive function; the cerebrum
more obvious int he brain of haplorhine than strepsirhines
we can tell it is bigger due to the increased # of convolutions (ridges on the surface of the brain)
reason for the expansion of the brain is debated because it is so large that is metabolically expensive to grow

Question 21

describe EXTENDED ONTOGNY

Answer 21

primates live by learned behaviours as much as they do by hardwired instinct
they are socialized so the offspring can learn
ontogeny— gorilla may live 20x longer than a mouse, but it takes 15 years to sexually mature where a mouse only takes 2 weeks (80x longer)
it takes much longer for primates o learn all the skills they need (to live and socialize) where the mouses (for example) only need to learn to find food and water!

Question 22

wha is ontogeny

Answer 22

the life cycle of an organism from conception to death

primates are notable for the extended length of each stage

Question 23

are primates active during the day or the night

Answer 23

primate species that are active during the day have colour vision whereas species that are active during night rely on smell

Question 24

define nocturnal—

Answer 24

active at night

Question 25

define diurnal—

Answer 25

active during daylight hours

Question 26

fact: most strepsorhines are nocturnal and all except one haplorhines are dinural

Answer 26

most strepsorhines are nocturnal and all except one haplorhines are dinural

Question 27

what is sociality—

Answer 27

group living, a fundamental trait of haplorhine primates
helps primates access mates and fend off predators
of the haplorhine primates, only the orangutang is not in social groups

Question 28

are monkeys more evolved than lemurs

Answer 28

and do not think that monkeys are more evolved than lemurs (for example), natural selection just favoured some sociality traits in monkeys than other species

Question 29

are there set ways to classify primates

Answer 29

not all taxonomists agree on how to classify primates, and one nonhuman primate, the tarsier, straddles the 2 suborders

Question 30

what are The Strepsirhines

Answer 30

include the lemurs of Madagascar, and the lorises and galas of mainland Africa and tropical Asia
strepsirhines and prosimians are not completely synonymous; one prosimian primate, the tarsiers is a haplorhine not a strepsirhine
all strepsirhines share the same anatomical features and lack of complex sociality

Question 31

what are The Haplorhines

Answer 31

includes the tarsier, the new world monkeys, old world monkeys, apes and hominins
guided more by vision than olfaction
living ones have a lower jaw that is fused at the midline in adulthood; in prosimians and most other animals, the jaw is 2 pieces joined by cartilage
with a few exceptions, most are diurnal and live in social groups

Question 32

what are THE TARSIERS

Answer 32

haplorhine primes that are thought to occupy an evolutionary position between the prosmian and anthropoid primates
have a mixture of the categories traits
generally considered to be closer to haplorhine
have an owl-like ecological role (nocturnal, same diet) live monogamous

Question 33

what are The New World Monkeys classified as

Answer 33

classified as playtyrrhini— infraorder of the order. Primates that is synonymous with the New World monkeys or ceboids

Question 34

wha are the The New World Monkeys

Answer 34

in superfamily Ceboidea
refers to the flat shape of the nose
all share 3 features;
small body size
3 premolar teeth
arboreality— some even have prehensile tail— grasping tail possessed by some species of the primate families Cebidae and Atelidae
Ceboidea are classified as 5 families;
cebidae, pithecidae, atelidae, aotidae, callitrichdae
callitrichdae— unique for treat that resemble those of lower mammals
some species polyandrous occurs— mating system in which one female mates with multiple males

Question 35

what are Old World Monkeys

Answer 35

infraorder catarrhini— infraorder of the order Primates that includes the Old World monkeys, apes and hominins
as a family, they share ischial callosities— thickened calluses on the rump that presumably make sitting on rough surfaces more comfortable
also have double ridged molar teeth (aka bilophodont molars) thought to be evolved to eat leaves
wide range of sizes
2 subfamilies of the Cercopithecidae merit special attention; the Colobines (aka leaf monkeys and others like them) and the colobus of Africa— they have evolved a semichambered stomach that resembles that of a cow and can digest tough, cellulose-laden foods in an organ called the foergut
this helps them find food in dense forests that they wouldn’t have been able to eat otherwise, yet these subfamilies have the highest nicer of infanticides
they have a cheek pouch to store food
Some old world monkeys have estrus— hormonally influenced period of sexual receptivity in some female mammals with corresponds to the timing of ovulation
during this, the skin around her genitals flats and acts as a billboard of her fertility

Question 36

what is superfamily; hominin (Homininae)—

Answer 36

member of our own human family past or present

Question 37

what does hominin (Homininae) include

Answer 37

member of the gibbon, or lesser ape, family

Question 38

what is the subfamily of hominins

Answer 38

pongid (Pongidae)— 1/4 great ape species: gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo or organutan

Question 39

what is brachiation—

Answer 39

mode of arm-hanging and arm-swinging that uses a rotating shoulder to suspend the body of an ape or homonin between a branch or to travel between branches
this arm provides basically the fame function as the prehensile tail
only in great apes do we see technologies that resemble simple versions of human tool

Question 40

true or false despite their social behaviour, primates parts of ecosystems

Answer 40

true

Question 41

what is ecology—

Answer 41

the study of the interrelationships of plants, animals and the physical environment in which they live

Question 42

how does the environment influence natural selection

Answer 42

the environment provides a template in which natural selection molds behaviour
at the same time, primates influence the ecology in the sense that they spread seeds

Question 43

what kind diet do most primates have

Answer 43

most primates are herbivores
exception to this are many lower primates and a few higher primates (including humans)
one primate group is entirely carnivouris— the tarsier of SE Asia

Question 44

Trees don’t want the animals to eat all their leave (they would die!), so they do what

Answer 44

Trees don’t want the animals to eat all their leave (they would die!), so they produce fruit which they actually want to be eaten so the seeds can be spread!

Question 45

what are folivores—

Answer 45

animals that eat a diest composed mainly of leaes, or foliage

trees and these do not get a long, as the trees are at constant risk of dying
trees and fruit eaters get along really nicely

Question 46

what is phenology—

Answer 46

the leafing and fruiting cycles of a forest

Question 47

many trees have asynchronous cycles what is this

Answer 47

when one tree is fruit ridden, the other has non to ensure that the whole stand of trees is not cleared at once

Question 48

many primates have developed specialized diets that allow for what reaosn

Answer 48

for them to coexist with other species

Question 49

what are secondary compounds—

Answer 49

toxic chemical compounds found in the leaves of many plants which the plants use as a defence against leaf-eating animal
specialize gut can digest this! only some animals have it
this allows the cohabitation of monkeys that can do this and monkey that cant

Question 50

what is activity budget—

Answer 50

the pater of walking, eating, moving, socializing and sleeping the all nonhuman primates engage in each day
allows the primate to compensate for the calories expended with calories exhumed
linked to dietary quality; those that live on low calorie diets are not as productive and active as those that live on high calorie diets
problem with primates is that it competes for food with many other mammals (the high calorie diet)

Question 51

which is more important; intragroup feeding competition or intergroup feeding competition

Answer 51

scientists have debated over which is the more important influence on the evolution of primate social systems; competition between members of the groups (intragroup feeding competition) or competition between groups (intergroup feeding competition)

Question 52

what is intragroup feeding competition

Answer 52

occurs when the group wants to eat from the same tree (fir example) and get the ripest fruit, the older and stronger males would get it first and that would cause conflict because the weaker ones would get it last or not at all (contest feeding competition)
this causes more problems because the weaker ones wont be able to get enough food and they will stay weaker and have lower fertility and it is a cycle they can’t escape

Question 53

what is competition between groups

Answer 53

(intergroup feeding competition)

Question 54

what is scramble feeding competition—

Answer 54

when everyone gets food in the end (if leaves are all over the ground)
there is much less competition here and most members of the group end up eating well… there is not an apparent/strict hierarchy here

Question 55

what is home range—

Answer 55

the spatial area used by a primate group
all primates live in one, can be smaller than a football field or more than a few km long,
this range must contain all the things they need to survive (water shelter etc)
they often overlap slightly or completely

Question 56

what is core area—

Answer 56

the part of a home range that is most intensively used

Question 57

whats territory—

Answer 57

the part of a home range that is defended against other members of the same species
this defence can be in the form of vocalizing intimidation, chasing, physical violence or even lethal means

Question 58

why be territorial?

Answer 58

defend food sources that are highly nutritional, because females are on these territories

Question 59

lack of field observation, but can make a few generalizations about predation:

Answer 59

small bodies nonhuman primates are more vulnerable than larger species

many nonhuman primates exhibit behaviours that appear to have evolved in response to a threat of predation; alarm calls, for example

the pattern of predation on the colobus depend very much on where the colobus lived relative to the border of the territory of the chimpanzee community;
if there were individuals near their core, they would be much more aggressive and likely to kill than if they were on the edges of home range

Question 60

if primates live so close together, why isn’t there more competition for food?

Answer 60

there is and was;
ecological theory predicts that when there are 2+ organisms with very similar food preferences, sharing the same space, they will diverge from one another in some critical aspect of their niche or ecological role
e.g. 2 monkeys that eat the same thing will be found to eat different things when food is scarce; you can find one series up in the trees and the other species on the ground
niche separation occurs among all primates that are sympatric, and such divergency often is evident only during ecological crunch times
although diets may overlap, actual contest for food is rare

Question 61

some primates form polyspecific groups, what are these

Answer 61

made up of 2+ species that travel and feed together for part or all of each day