Archaeology 131: Human Origins

Introduction to the course

Dr. Dennis Sandgathe

Department of Archaeology
 ‘Physical Anthropology’
or
‘Biological Anthropology’
 Archaeology ___—__— Physical/Biological
Study of past cultures 7 > Anthropology
through their material Study of human
culture that survives in the biological evolution and
archaeological record human remains

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Anthropology
Linguistics
Study of languages
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UNIT 1: Introduction to Human Origins
The History of Human Origins Research

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The Earliest Scientists?
Pre-Scientific Frameworks in Europe
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Irish Archbishop
James Ussher
(1581-1656)

“The world began in

4004 BC.”

6022 years ago

Feldhofer Cave,
Germa ny, 1856 The original Neandertal
 Hermann Shaaffhausen

Johann Fuhlrott
Rudolf Virchow
(1821-1902)
Three Important Changes in Thinking

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1. Extreme Age of the Earth

James Hutton
(1726-1797)
 Law of Uniformitarianism

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“Geologically ancient conditions were

the same as or ‘uniform to’ those of today.”
Charles Lyell
(1797-1875) 1835
“Extreme antiquity of
the earth”
2. Extreme Age of Human History
Boucher de Perthes
(1788-1868)
Somme River, France 1841
“(Flint artifacts are] generated in the
sky by a fulgurous exhalation
conglobed in a cloud by the
circumposed humour.”

Tollius, 1649
2?
translation: ‘they are created by lightning’
 — .

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Hugh Falconer
(1808- 1865)
3. The Mutability of Organisms
‘Evolution’
 anticte Piarra

“Inheritance of
acquired
qapecer'sristics”
\ s
S “irckian
e m
 George Cuvier
(1796-1832)

“Fixity of Species”
 Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)

in 1859 published

On the Origin of Species

explained the mechanism by

which the evolutionary process
worked.

Alfred Russel
Wallace
(1823-1913)
Thomas Henry
Huxley
(1825-1895)
“Darwin's Bulldog”
A ‘missing link’
The Missing Link?
Eugene Dubois
(1858-1940)

Pithecanthropus on Java
1891
Arthur Keith
(1866-1955)

“modern humans are special”

Marcellin Boule
(1861-1942)
The Broken Hill, or Kabwe Skull
Zambia, Africa
 “Taung Child”
1925

Raymond Dart
(1893-1988)

Australopithecus africanus
 “Peking Man”
1926-1929
Zhoukoudien, China

Davidson Black
(1884-1934)
Sterkfontein Cave g?
South Africa e*

ie
ee
~3 million years old
 Human Origins research as a discipline

THE SKELETAL REMAINS OF

EARLY MAN THE
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS
COLLFCTIONS, VBI
MANKIND
THE GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES QUARTERLY

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN

THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY VARIATION PRE-HISTORIC

TIMES AS
ILLUSTRATED
By SIR CHARLES LYELL, F.RS BY ANCIENT aaa ech aan ent bengeh to Gatioel
REMAINS ae

LONDON
JOUN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1863
 Other Directions of Early Biological
Anthropology Research

Variation in the morphology of modern humans:

¢ Why do we look like we do?

¢ Visible differences and the concept of “race”

¢ “Survival of the fittest” and cultural diversity

41
Biological Anthropology’s
Contribution to Archaeology

¢ Skeletal Pathologies
- nutrition and nutritional stress

- disease
Chronic stress from repetitive tasks
can result in bones showing
indications of specific behaviours
Social structure

- high/low status
- access to food
- manual labour
¢ Injuries/Breaks

- Livelihood/occupation
- interpersonal violence

¢ Bone Chemistry Analysis

- diet/subsistence
- geographic origins
45
 Early Research Tool

Classification

Taxonomy
Greek: taxis = arrangement
 Binomial Classification

Carl Linnaeus
(1707-1778)
All the Levels of Classification

KINGDOM Animalia Classification of

PHYLUM Chordata Modern Humans
SUBPHYLUM Vertebrata

SUPERCLASS Tetrapoda

CLASS Mammalia
SUBCLASS Theria

INFRACLASS Eutheria

ORDER Primata
SUBORDER Haplorrhini

PARVORDER Catarrhini

SUPERFAMILY Hominoidea

FAMILY Hominidae
SUBFAMILY Homininae

TRIBE Hominini

GENUS Homo
SPECIES sapiens
51
sapiens
SUBSPECIES
All the Levels of Classification

KINGDOM Animalia Classification of

PHYLUM Chordata Homo erectus

SUBPHYLUM Vertebrata

SUPERCLASS Tetrapoda

CLASS Mammalia
SUBCLASS Theria
INFRACLASS Eutheria

ORDER Primata
SUBORDER Haplorrhini

PARVORDER Catarrhini

SUPERFAMILY Hominoidea

FAMILY Hominidae
SUBFAMILY Homininae

TRIBE Hominini

GENUS Homo
SPECIES erectus
52 SUBSPECIES
 Genus species subspecies

Homo erectus

Australopithecus africanus

Homo sapiens sapiens

53
Part 2.1 History of Evolutionary Theory
 Change
is
Constant!
Fixity of Species ??
Extinct Species?

4
Variation within species
Incredible
Biological
Variation
John Ray
(1627–1705)

Species and Genus

concept
 Linnaeus
(1707–1778)

Taxonomy and
Binomial
Nomenclature

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
George Buffon
(1707–1788)

“Species adapt slightly

to new conditions.”

Vestigial organs and limbs

 Lamarck
(1744–1829)

“Inheritance of
acquired characteristics”
Evidence
for
Evolution
Charles Darwin
(1809–1882)
Voyage of the HMS Beagle 1832–1836
 Geographic correlation between the
fossil record and living organisms

Megatherium:
extinct species
of sloth

Three-toed sloth
of Central and
South America

15
Glyptodon:
an extinct relative
of the armadillo

Armadillo

16
Galápagos
Islands
Galápagos Finches
Galápagos Tortoises
Part 2.2 Natural Selection Theory
Evolution is
not a theory

It is a
demonstrable
fact
 The theory of

Natural Selection
6 Fundamental Premises of Natural Selection

1. More offspring are produced by a species than can be

supported by naturally available food sources.
 1798
An Essay on the
Principles of
Population

“Animal populations tend to

increase exponentially while
food supplies tend to
remain stable.”

Thomas Malthus
(1766–1834)
World population
400 BC to 2050 AD
most
in billions of you

me

2020
2. Within any one species there exists a significant
amount of biological/genetic variability.
3. Individuals with advantageous traits will have an edge over
other members of their species in terms of their ability to
survive longer.
4. Those individuals with traits that will increase their chance
of living longer are more likely to reach the age at which
they will begin reproducing and so are more likely to
contribute offspring to subsequent generations ...

… and therefore, those traits that gave these individuals

this advantage will be passed on to their offspring giving
them the same advantage.
5. Those traits that are advantageous under current
environmental conditions will tend to be passed on.
An individual’s reproductive success is generally dictated
by their reproductive potential or fitness: products of their
ability to adapt (or not) to specific environmental conditions.
6. Over long periods of time, accumulated changes within a
species will eventually result in new species. This is called
speciation.

Starting with subspecies …

Wood bison Plains bison

Bison bison athabascae Bison bison bison
32
Genus species subspecies Genus species subspecies
 … eventually separate species

North American bison European bison

Bison bison Bison bonasus
Genus species Genus species
… eventually different genera (plural of genus)

Bison Aurochs
North America Eurasia
Bison bison Bos primigenius

The process of speciation is often aided

by geographic isolation. 34
Example: Trinidad Guppies Upstream
habitats

Downstream habitats

35
 Other Fundamental Components
of the Evolutionary Process
1. Of the inherent variability in
traits in a species:

Most represents neither potential

advantage or disadvantage to
their survival so are not subject
to Natural Selection …

…they are Neutral Traits.

Of the variability, a very small percentage has the potential to be

disadvantageous, and a very small percentage has the potential to
be advantageous …

… and this depends almost entirely on the environment they face.

36
2. Natural selection only acts on the variation that already exists
in a species.

Now that`s what

I`m talkin aboot!

Natural selection does not grant organisms what they “need”.

Natural selection selects from what’s already there. 37
 Another common misconception about evolution: it’s moving
in a specific, purposeful direction.

Are we
Are we there yet?
there yet?
Are we
there yet?
Are we
there yet?

Are we
there yet?

38
3. Natural selection can only act on genetic variability.

39
40
4. Natural selection can only play a role in the
selection of traits that affect the reproductive
success of an individual.

41
But …

What about female

menopause in humans?

Grandmother
Hypothesis
42
 Micro- vs. Macro-evolution
Microevolution

Western Gray Fox Eastern Gray Fox

Chimpanzee Bonobo
Macroevolution

44
 How Does Speciation Actually Occur?
Traditional view: species spread into a variety of environments
and, either through geographic barriers or just sheer distance,
different populations fail to continue to interbreed and so very
slowly and gradually diverge into new species.

Phyletic
Gradualism

45
The Fossil Record

… an obvious lack of
intermediate forms 46
Punctuated Equilibrium

47
1,000,000 yearsago
500,000 years ago

48
 Replacement Evolution vs Divergent Evolution

desertification?

A B
parent species goes extinct

Also called Anagenesis and quite rare.

Occurs when all members of species

are together in a contained environment
– caves for example:
 Divergent Evolution

A B
Both species
continue to exist

Also called Cladogenesis.

It results from species occurring as separate populations that

can be subject to different selective pressures and is the most
common way that evolution occurs.
Part 3.1 The Mechanism of Inheritance of Traits
and Mendel’s Principles
How are traits passed from one generation
to the next, from parents to offspring??

19th Century Views of Inheritance:

‘Blending of Traits’

+ =
+ =
Often children do look like a blend of their parents’ traits …

+ =

But, often they don’t …

=
 Breeding
or Domestication of
corn/maize
Artificial
Selection
people select for
desirable traits in
plants or animals
rather than nature
doing the selecting

Wild ancestor Ancient

(teocinte) domesticated Modern
variety variety
Domestication of cattle and creation of new breeds

Heckrind: recreated version of extinct species Aurochs (Bos primigenius)

7
 Gregor Mendel
(1822–1884)

1850s
Research on plant
hybridization:

how do new varieties of

domesticated plants (or
breeds of domesticated
animals) come about?
 Mendel’s Pea Plant Traits

Seed shape

Seed colour Flower

location

Flower colour

Pod shape
Plant
height
Pod colour

9
 What Mendel saw:

Generation 1 (parents)

Offspring
(generation 2)

___________________________________________________________________

Generation 2

Offspring
(generation 3)
10
What he determined was actually happening:

SS + ww
Generation 1 (parents)

Sw Sw Sw Sw
Offspring
(generation 2)
___________________________________________________________________

Sw + Sw
Generation 2 (hybrids)

Offspring SS Sw wS ww
(generation 3)
11
 Mendel’s Hypothesis
• Each plant contains 2 ‘factors’ for a trait:
• When crossing 2 plants they randomly passed on one
factor OR the other to each offspring.

• When crossing 2 pure strain plants that differ in a

trait, each offspring will receive a dominant and a
recessive factor for that trait: all offspring will be
hybrids for that trait.

• And, when crossing 2 hybrid plants, there is a 50:50

chance that each parent’s contribution will be one
factor or the other, which means 4 possible
combinations in their offspring:

S w+ S w = S S or S w or w S or w w
Punnett Square
parent plant #1
S S
Two pure
strain parents

parent plant #2
w

Sw Sw

Sw Sw

13
Punnett Square
parent plant #1
S w
Two hybrid
parents

parent plant #2
S

SS Sw

Sw ww

14
Today we refer to the “factors” for each trait as
alleles. An allele is an alternate form of a trait.

Homozygous dominant: Having 2 of the

dominant form of an allele

Heterozygous : Having 1 dominant and 1

recessive form

Homozygous recessive: Having 2 of the

recessive form of an allele

Sw + Sw = SS or Sw or wS or ww
 Mendel continued his experiments: (SS Sw Sw ww)

Sw + ww
Generation 31

Sw Sw ww ww
offspring
___________________________________________________________________

Sw + SS
Generation 32

SS SS Sw Sw
offspring
Monohybrid vs. Dihybrid Crosses

Monohybrid: Crossing 2 plants that differ in only one

characteristic.

Dihybrid: Crosses where the parent plants differed in

2 different characteristics.
 Dihybrid Punnett Square

SwYg

SY Sg wY wg

SY SSYY

Sg Swgg

SwYg wY wwYY

wg wwgg
Mendel’s Principles

1. The Principle of Segregation

• Offspring inherit one discrete factor for a

trait from each parent.

• These factors maintain their unique

integrity from generation to generation.
2. The Principle of Dominance
and Recessiveness
• Some expressions of a specific trait were
dominant over others.

3. The Principle of Independent

Assortment
• Different traits were not inherited together
as packages. They passed from generation
to generation as independent units.
 Problems …

Mendel lucked out …

First of all, he happened to

have selected traits that are
influenced by single genes in
the chromosomes of pea plants.

These are called monogenic traits.

Polygenic traits?
Secondly:

Some of Mendel’s results were contrary

to his principle of independent
assortment.

In fact, some traits did appear to be

linked together.
Thirdly:

The traits Mendel examined were types that

are expressed as discrete categories …

… one thing OR another.

There are traits which are continuous in

their potential forms …

An example?
 UNIT 3: Genetics

Part 3.2 Cell Biology and DNA

Life first appeared ≈ 3.8 billion years ago

Prokaryotic Cells
Earth was formed ≈ 4.6 billion years ago
 Eukaryotic Cells

≈ 2.0 billion years ago

Complex Multicellular Life

≈ 1 billion years ago

 Basic Animal Cell Structure
endoplasmic nucleus
mitochondria reticulum
cytoplasm

plasma ribosomes
membrane
Somatic Cells

Sex Cells (gametes)

 Basic DNA
Structure

double helix

Rosalind
Franklin

James Watson and Francis Crick

 1 phosphate
1 sugar
1 nitrogenous base

= a nucleotide

Nitrogenous Bases:
Adenine (A)
Guanine (G)
Thymine (T)
Cytocine (C)

“Base Pairs”

8
Number of Base Pairs:

A single copy of nuclear

DNA has 3,200,000,000 = number of
base pairs letters in 600
copies of:
(we have 2 copies in every
somatic cell in our body)

Only 3 times
J. K. Rowling’s
estimated net
worth:

Our mitochondrial DNA has 16,600 base pairs

What’s the deal with base pairs?

Proteins are the building blocks of almost all the

components that make up an animal …

Set sequences of base pairs in DNA are the coding

for specific proteins.
A gene: a set sequence of base pairs (out of the
whole DNA sequence) that codes for a specific protein.
DNA Replication

Free
nitrogenous
bases
DNA
Replication
Continued …

Chromosomes
are different sections
of the entire DNA
sequence.

13
 replicated
single-strand compacted chromosome
chromosome chromosome (just prior to cell
division)
 Humans normally have 46 chromosomes:
this is referred to as our diploid number.

• These occur as 23 pairs of matched chromosomes.

• Of each pair, one comes from the father and one
from the mother.
• Each pair is called homologous chromosomes
or a ‘homologous pair’.
The last set are called sex chromosomes
because they determine whether the
person’s sex will be male or female.
 Each chromosome
carries different genes:

A ‘gene’ really just

refers to a specific
location or locus on
a chromosome.
 Alleles
• Alleles are different versions of a specific
trait – (slightly) different coding at the
same gene location (Mendel’s ‘particles’).

• For each gene you will receive two alleles,

one from each parent - these can be
different or the same.

• Different alleles may code for conflicting

traits (e.g. blood type O versus type A).

The physical expression of a trait depends on which

allele is dominant and on how many genes are involved
in expressing that trait - whether it’s a monogenic or
polygenic trait. 18
 Maternal Maternal Paternal Paternal
grandmother grandfather grandmother grandfather

Your mom’s two Your dad’s two

chromosome #9 chromosome #9

Your two
chromosome #9
What you got from
your parents (and
grandparents)
 Cell Replication

• Somatic cell replication is called mitosis.

• Sex cell replication is called meiosis.

 Mitosis
2 somatic cells

1 somatic cell

46 single-
stranded
chromosomes
46 double-
stranded 46 single-
chromosomes stranded
chromosomes
 Sex Cells
A sex cell carries only half the chromosomes
needed to create a normal individual: 23.

• This is the haploid number of chromosomes.

46 23 + 23 46

46

• Need to join 1 male and 1 female gamete in

order to have the required diploid number of
chromosomes in an embryo and the complete
genetic blueprints for a normal individual.
Meiosis ‘Germ cell’ with
46 single-stranded
chromosomes

23 four-
46 double-stranded
stranded
chromosomes
‘tetrads’

23 four-
stranded
tetrads split

23 double-
stranded
chromosomes
 23 double-
stranded
chromosomes

Each ends with 23 single-stranded chromosomes.

Oögenesis Spermatogenesis
 UNIT 3: Genetics
Part 3.3 Sources of Genetic Variability and
The Evolutionary Process
Some more terms
we need to know:

Population:
An interbreeding
group of organisms.
Gene pool: All the different genes and their various
expressions (alleles) that exist in the DNA of a species
or population.
Genotype: The genetic makeup of an individual.
This can refer to their entire genetic makeup or to
the alleles found at specific gene locations.

Sw Yg

Phenotype: The physical expression of an

individual’s genotype.
 A good definition of evolution:

“A change in allele frequency in a population

from one generation to the next.”
Two components to the evolutionary process:

1. The creation of genetic variability in

individuals (Premise #2) upon which
the evolutionary process can act.

2. External factors that act upon

individuals’ genetic variability: the
process of evolution.
1. Sources of genetic variability upon which
evolution can act:

What do we mean by variability?

• Changes in allele frequencies

• New combinations of alleles

• Formation of new alleles

Changes in frequencies of individual
alleles in a population
Changes in combinations
of different alleles
SSgg

E.g., First time the allele Sg Sg Sg Sg

for green and the allele
for wrinkled occurred
together in a pea plant SY SSYg SSYg SSYg SSYg

SY SSYg SSYg SSYg SSYg

wY SwYg SwYg SwYg SwYg

SwYY

wY SwYg SwYg SwYg SwYg

Formation of new alleles

B B
B
A A B
B B
A B
A B B
A A
A Blood types?
A A

O O
O
O
O O
O
O O
1. Sources of genetic variability upon which evolution can act:

Recombination
a. Random assortment of chromosomes

b. Crossing-over

Random mutations
 Random Assortment of Chromosomes

Germ Cell 1 Germ Cell 2

All 23 homologous pairs line

up next to each other, which
is on the left and which is on
the right is random

The line of homologous pairs

separate into 2 daughter cells

each cell will get EITHER father’s OR mother’s version of each chromosome
 What this means for humans with 23 sets of chromosomes:
C1 F C1 F C1 F
C2 M C2 F C2 F
C3 M C3 M C3 M
C4 M C4 M C4 M
C5 M C5 M C5 M
Number of possible C6 M C6 M C6 M
C7 M C7 M C7 M
versions for a single C8 M C8 M C8 M
gamete (sperm or C9 M C9 M C9 M
egg) every time a C10 M C10 M C10 M
germ cell undergoes C11 M C11 M C11 M … 8,324,608
C12 M C12 M C12 M
meiosis = 8,300,000 C13 M C13 M C13 M
C14 M C14 M C14 M
C15 M C15 M C15 M
C16 M C16 M C16 M
C17 M C17 M C17 M
C18 M C18 M C18 M
C19 M C19 M C19 M
C20 M C20 M C20 M
C21 M C21 M C21 M
C22 M C22 M C22 M
C23 X C23 X C23 y

Number of genetically different individuals that can potentially result from

one egg being fertilized is 8,324,608 x 8,324,608 = c. 69,299,000,000,000!!
 1.1b. Crossing-over

Tetrad stage
Crossing-over of Meiosis 1
occurs during
meiosis when
double strands
come together
to form tetrads.

An allele that
came from your
father ends up in
a chromosome
that came from
gametes your mother
1.2 Random
Mutations

In most species, there is already significant variability for

natural selection to act on and random mutations are not
necessary for micro-evolution to progress.
Sickle-Cell
Anemia
 Homozygous
Dominant: Mother
do not have
sickle-cell anemia N s
but not immune Heterozygous:
to malaria mild sickle-cell
symptoms, but
N NN Ns immune to
malaria
Father

Homozygous
s Ns ss Recessive:
severe sickle-
cell anemia

Hemoglobin beta gene: N = normal allele

plays role in formation of
red blood cells s = sickle-cell allele
Distribution of sickle-
Distribution
cell trait of
malaria
2. Factors that act upon variability in allele
frequencies: the evolutionary process

Non-random Mating

Migration or Gene Flow

Random Genetic Drift

Natural Selection
Random Mating
Non-Random Mating
Sexual selection:
A type of non-random
mating that acts upon
one sex or the other in
a species.

Occurs during mating

competition when
specific traits are
selected for when a
female chooses a mate
from among multiple
males:
Positive
Assortative
Mating
Tendency to select mates
of a similar phenotype as
your own
Negative
Assortative
Mating

Tendency to select mates

of a different phenotype
from your own
 mating individuals that are
Inbreeding genetically closely related

Hh + Hh
Increased chance offspring will inherit 2
recessive alleles for a dangerous trait
e.g., sickle cell anemia, hemophilia HH Hh Hh hh

European
royalty
descending from
Queen Victoria
 Close inbreeding can sometimes go very badly!

Long-term inbreeding can

create problems:

for example, Neandertals +

 Migration or Gene Flow
The exchange of genes between different populations
Gene flow between European
groups and indigenous groups
400-500 years ago

Gene flow between

Modern humans and
Neandertals 80,000
years ago
Random
Genetic
Drift

Random changes in a gene pool

towards greater proportions of
specific gene expressions
 Random Genetic Drift and the Founder effect:
genetic drift resulting from genetic bottlenecks.
British colony on
Tristan da Cunha
Siberia
(Asia)

North America
Original migration
of people into the
Americas
Natural Selection
 Why Do Physical Anthropologists
Study Primates?

1. We are primates so studying other living primates

will inform us about the stages of our own
evolutionary history.

2. We are also interested in studying evolutionary

processes in action.
Many of the processes (like natural selection or
sexual selection) that are acting on modern
primate species are likely working in similar ways
to when they played a role in our own emergence.
 Life

Bacteria
Domain
Archaea
Eukarya
Protista
Fungi
Kingdom
Plantae

Animalia

Phylum
X 36
 Arthropoda
Chordata
Annelida

Mollusca Echinodermata

Platyhelminthes
Nematoda

Cnidaria

Some Phyla of the

animal kingdom
Porifera
 Aves
Amphibians
Reptiles
Osteichthyes

Mammalia

Chonorichthyes
Agnatha

Cephalochordata

Classes of the
Phylum Chordata
Urochordata
The class Mammalia is divided up into three infraclasses:

1. Metatheria: marsupials
2. Prototheria:
monotremes

(platypus and echidna)

3. Eutheria: placental mammals
The infraclass Eutheria includes about twenty
different Orders, one of which is Primata.
Common Primate Traits
Eight Anatomical Traits

1. Grasping hands with opposable 1st and 2nd digits

Prehensibility
2. Flattened Nails
3. Forward-Facing Eyes
Stereoscopic
Vision
 Why?

+ +
Arboreal Hypothesis
(Wood-Jones and Elliot-Smith, 1920s)
Visual Predation Hypothesis (Cartmill 1970s)
Problems with the
Visual Predation
Hypothesis
4. Generalized Body Plan
Wide Variety of Habitats
Types of Primate Locomotion

Vertical Clinging and Leaping

Arboreal
Quadrupedalism
 Brachiation
(also called ‘suspension’)
Terrestrial
Quadrupedalism
Bipedalism
“facultative
bipedalism”

“habitual” and “obligate” bipedalism

5. Generalized Dentition

incisors

canines

‘Bunodont’
molars

canines
incisors
6. Reduced Olfactory Systems
(reduced sense of smell)

Fox

Chimpanzee

plus: colour vision

and diurnal living
Aye-Aye
Nocturnal primate
7. Enclosed Bony Eye Orbits

Open eye sockets

Post-orbital closure
Post-orbital bar
8. Large Brains

Mouse
Elephant

Dog

Chimpanzee

“Encephalization”
Human
Patterns of Encephalization
 Life History Traits

1. Single Offspring
K-selected
reproductive
strategies

r-selected
reproductive
strategies
2. Extended Ontogeny
(development stages in the growth of an individual)

Average Animal Life-Spans

Mammals Birds
Humans 70 Vulture 120
Elephant 70 Swan 100
Chimpanzee 40 Parrot 80
Lion 30 Eagle 55

Reptiles
Tortoise 150
Box Turtle 125
Alligator 70
Cobra 30
Stages of Ontogeny
 Altricial vs Precocial

In altricial species, babies are born

underdeveloped and dependent on
mothers for extended periods.

In precocial species, babies

are relatively well-developed
and mobile at birth.

Primates are typically precocial,

but there is wide variability in
this - e.g., humans!
Behavioural Traits

Complex Sociality
Advantages of Living in Social Groups?

• Ready access to potential mates

• Cooperation in finding food

• Cooperation in rearing young

• Cooperation in avoiding or defending against

predators

• Reduced chance that any one individual will

be the unlucky meal for a predator
4.2 Primate Evolution: the Big Picture
Adaptive Radiation:
‘Rapid’ speciation (divergent evolution) within a lineage
to fill different ecological niches — usually follows a
major change in environmental circumstances.

Explosion of flowering
?
plants 80 mya …

… following appearance
?
of insect pollinators
Explosion of mammal
diversity …

… following the
extinction of the
dinosaurs
 65 mya

Mammals appeared
by 200 mya (million
years ago)

Dinosaurs
disappear 65 mya

By 45 mya
mammal diversity
reached the level
we see today
Another example:

1 monkey species
arrived in S. America
from Africa 35 mya …

… and diverged into

150+ different species.
 … and Darwin’s
Galapagos finches

seed
eaters
cactus
feeding

insectivores

Tree
Ground finches Warbler-like
finches

Original ancestral Arrived ≈2 million

species years ago
 Similar traits shared by different species?

Homologies or Homologous Traits

Traits shared by different species due to a common ancestry:

spinal cord in vertebrates

Monkeys having a tail
Apes not having a tail
Parallel Evolution: Independent evolution of
a similar trait in different species

An especially large
brain in humans
and dolphins

95 mya: mammal
with small brain
Convergent Evolution: Different species with very
different evolutionary lineages evolve similar traits
Similar traits shared by different species that resulted from
convergent or parallel evolution (evolved independently of
each other) are called Analogies or Analogous Traits

Insects
Birds
Bats

>500 mya:
wings and flight wingless Rag
Worm
 Complex eyes

Mollusks

Vertebrates

>500 mya:
eyeless Rag
Worm
Working in the Geologic Time scale
 250 mya Pangaea

Eurasia

N.
America

S.
America Africa

India

Antarctica

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGcDed4xVD4
150 mya
100 mya
Earth’s continents
and climate 70 mya
Early primate distribution

70 mya?

55 mya

60 mya?
 Major Trends in
Primate Evolution
Between about 80 mya and 10 mya there have
been five major stages in primate evolution.

Five major adaptive radiation events when earlier

primate species underwent major changes to adapt
to new conditions … and new lineages evolved.
1. First radiation in the Late Cretaceous (80–65 mya):
• Appearance of first ‘primates’ from common ancestor.
• Slight divergence from insectivore ancestor.
• Tooth shape indicates broadening of the diet.
2. Second radiation in the Paleocene (65–55 mya):
• Emergence of true primates: fundamental primate traits
• grasping hands
• nails instead of claws
• vision begins to dominate over smell
• 2 major lines: lemur-like and tarsier-like forms
3. Third radiation in the Early or Mid-Eocene (55–45 mya):
• Primitive monkeys appear
• Increased arboreal quadrupedalism
• Larger brain and increased reliance on vision
4. Fourth radiation in Late Oligocene/Early Miocene (30–20 mya):

• Split into two main groups: monkeys and primitive apes

• Difference is diet: monkeys eat leaves, early apes eat fruit
• All still arboreal
5. Fifth radiation in the Late Miocene (after 17 mya):
• Appearance of first true apes
• Large, barrel-like torso
• Limbs designed for hand-over-hand climbing
• Some terrestrial adaptations
 A Sample of Fossil Primates from 55 to 5 mya

Following the second radiation,

from 55 to 35 mya, primates were
dominated by 2 major prosimian
(‘primitive’) families: Adapidae
and Omomyidae.

Lemur-like

Tarsier-like
 Oligocene Primates
35–25 mya

Oligocene fossils from the Fayum

include 6 different genera with
common characteristics:

• Mouse-sized to cat-sized (all quite small)

• Frugivorous - based on dentition
• Arboreal quadrupeds
• Small eye orbits suggest diurnal adaptation
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

• Averaged about 7 kg
• Might be ape ancestor, but still essentially a monkey
• Had a tail (like living monkeys)
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis
Combination of primitive and
advanced features:

Primitive:
• Relatively long snout
• Larger brain but smaller than living monkeys
• Eye orbits still a bit laterally facing

Advanced:
• Substantial sexual dimorphism
• Reduced olfactory structures
• Eye orbits closed off with postorbital plates
• Larger visual cortex in brain
 Miocene Primates
(25–5 mya)

Primitive apes first appear in

fossil record of East Africa
around start of the Miocene.

≈15 mya, Africa collided with

Eurasian continent resulting in
radiation of monkeys and early
apes between these regions.

Early in Miocene, apes became abundant, but then diversity

decreased and monkeys become more abundant - by end
of Miocene, apes became rare.
 Miocene
climate

Global climate began

to slowly change in
late Miocene towards
cooler, drier conditions
Early Miocene
Primates
20–15 mya
Ekembo
textbook still
uses old name:
‘Proconsul’
• Early ape
• Resembled living apes
• Forward facing eyes
• Smaller snout
• Larger brain
• Lacked a tail
• Frugivorous dentition
• Arboreal quadruped
• But could suspend
Middle to Late
Miocene Primates
(15–5 mya)

Dryopithecus
14–8 mya

• Very similar to Ekembo

• Lived in Europe
• 2 to 4 different species
• Chimpanzee-like
• Much more ape-like body
• Orthograde posture
• Sexually dimorphic canines Chimpanzee
Sivapithecus
(12–7 mya)
Sivapithecus

Modern orangutan
• Orangutan-sized
• Woodland dweller
• Large incisors and canines: ate roots/tubers
• Resembles modern orangutan
 Gigantopithecus
7.0–0.5 mya

• Most fossils come from Siwalik

Hills, but some from China

• Largest primate ever, but no

postcranial fossils

• Very similar dentition to

Sivapithecus, just MUCH bigger!
Gigantopithecus
• Had to be terrestrial Gorilla
Human
 Based on body size, which
is based on jaw and tooth
size
 Unit 4 Primates
Part 4.3 The Living Primates
Modern Primate Taxonomy
 Modern Primate Taxonomy
Suborder: Strepsirrhini (‘Prosimians’)
2 Superfamilies: Lemurs, Lorises

Suborder: Haplorrhini Tarsiers, monkeys, apes, humans

Infraorder: Tarsiiformes Tarsiers

Infraorder: Anthropoidea all monkeys, apes, humans

Parvorder: Platyrrhini New World monkeys

Parvorder: Catarrhini Old World monkeys, apes, humans

Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea Old World monkeys

Superfamily: Hominoidea apes and humans

Superfamily: Hominoidea apes and humans

Panini Meal Hylobatidae

Family: Deal lesser apes (gibbons)
Hominidae great apes and humans

Subfamily: Pongine orangutans

Gorilline gorillas
Hominine chimps, bonobos
and humans

Tribe: Panini chimps, bonobos

Hominini humans (living

and fossil species)

“Hominin”
Current Global Distribution of (Non-Human) Primates

New World
Monkeys

Equator
Old World
Monkeys,
Apes, and
Prosimians
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
The “Prosimians”

Lemur

Loris
 Dental comb

‘Toilet Claw’
for grooming
 Lemurs

Mouse Lemur

Indri
Madagascar

Ringtailed Lemur Aye-Aye

Ruffed Lemur
Lorises
 Lorises

Slow
Loris
Slender
Loris

Potto Galago or Bush Baby

Suborder: Haplorrhini
tarsiers, monkeys, apes, humans

Infraorder: Tarsiiformes
Tarsiers
 China

Tarsier Distribution

Australia
Infraorder: Anthropoidea
Monkeys and apes

Parvorder: Platyrrhini
New World monkeys

Parvorder: Catarrhini
Old World monkeys and all apes
New World monkeys

Earth 40
million
years ago

Accidental rafting or ‘Jump Dispersals’

Infraorder: Platyrrhini
The New World monkeys
3. They have three premolars
1. They have small bodies

2. They are all arboreal

Prehensile tails among some New World monkeys.
Five families in Platyrrhini
1. Atelidae
monkeys with fully prehensile tails
25 species

Spider
Monkey

Howler Monkey

Woolly
Monkey
2. Cebidae
29 species

Squirrel
Monkey

Capuchin Monkeys (slightly prehensile tails)

 3. Pitheciidae
44 species

Uakari

Saki

Red Titi Monkey

 4. Callitrichidae
47 species

Golden Lion
Tamarin

Goeldi’s
Marmoset

Pygmy
Marmoset Emperor Tamarin
5. Aotidae
Night Monkey
11 species

diurnal monkey

nocturnal monkey
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Old World monkeys and apes
Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea

1. Greater size range than New World monkeys.

Talapoin—c. 1 kg Mandrill—up to 30 kg
2. Greater degree of sexual dimorphism.
3. Old World monkeys have ischial callosities.
Some Old World Monkeys

Langurs in
India and
Southeast Asia
Proboscis monkeys in
Southeast Asia
Guenons in Africa
Vervets in Africa
Macaques in Asia, Africa, and Europe
Colobus
Monkeys
in Africa
Patas Monkeys
in Africa
Snub Nosed Monkeys
in Asia
Baboons
in Africa
Mandrills in Africa
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Apes (including humans)

Families: Hylobatidae Gibbons – the ‘lesser apes’

Hominidae Great apes and humans

Hylobatidae
 Hominidae

This currently includes four living genera:

orangutans 3 species

gorillas 2 species

chimpanzees 2 species

and

humans 1 species
Orangutans
Sumatran Orangutan
Tapanuli Orangutan
Borneo Orangutan
Birute Galdikas
SFU ARCHAEOLOGY
Western
Gorilla
 Western Gorilla

Western Lowland Gorilla (female) Cross River Gorilla (female)

Eastern Lowland

Mountain Gorilla
Eastern Lowland Gorilla
Mountain Gorilla
Dian Fossey
Pan troglodytes
Jane Goodall
‘Habitual’ or ‘Facultative’ Bipeds
Nest Building
Tool Use
 UNIT 4: Primates
4.4 Primate Social Behaviour
 Modern Primatology

Jane Goodall
Biruté Galdikas
(SFU Archaeology Dept.)

Dian Fossey Louis Leakey

Studying Primates

Captive Studies
Semi-Free-Ranging
Field Studies
Part 1:

Why Are
primates
so socially
complex?

1. Reproduction
2. Food
3. Protection from Predators
1. Reproduction: Access to Mates
Reproductive Asymmetry: difference
between male and female reproductive potential

1/ Once pregnant, a female

cannot get pregnant again
for the duration of the
gestation period.

2/ Primate infants are dependant on

their mothers for a significant time
after they are born.

This extends further the minimum

time between pregnancies:
Interbirth Intervals
3/ Primates tend to
give birth to single
offspring at a time
 A female can only have a
limited number of babies
over her lifetime …

...for each male there

is no technical limit.
 Reproduction and Group Living:

The issue for males??

… competition for access to females!

Sexual
Dimorphism
Reproduction and Group Living:

The issues for females?

 Mate Selection! I can’t feel
my face when
I’m with you

In general:
males go for quantity and females go for quality.
 Estrus: Period of fertility and sexual
receptivity among females.

Sexual Swelling Scenting

 Sexually
Receptive
Behaviour

“Tail raising”

“Presenting”
2. Accessing Food
 Intra-Group
Competition for food
Matrilineal Clusters
3. Avoiding Predators
Group size and predators
Primate size
and predators
 Part 2:
Types of Non-Human Primate Societies

Primate Social Systems

Solitary Living: Groups limited to no more
than two adults and their offspring.
Monogamy: A male and female live as a
‘bonded pair’ for an extended period of time.

Social Monogamy
vs.
Reproductive Monogamy
Polygamy
Polygyny
One-Male Polygyny: 1 male and multiple females
Multi-Male Polygyny: Multiple males and multiple females

Polyandry: 1 female and multiple males

One-Male Polygyny: Multiple females and 1 male.

Infanticide

‘Extragroup males’
in ‘bachelor groups’
Multi-Male Polygyny:

Rather than competing for sole

access to females, males compete
for priority of access.

This produces a dominance

hierarchy …

… with alpha male at top.

Fission-Fusion Polygyny:
Temporary formation of small groups that come
together and split apart repeatedly.

Foraging Parties

Food distribution: patchy even

Chimp war parties
Polyandry:
A single female living
with multiple males.
 .. more on Reproductive Strategies

Dominance
Parental Investment
(on the part of males)
Grooming
Female Philopatric and Male Philopatric
Patterns of group membership
Social status
and rising in
the ranks?
Social behaviour
is changeable
Dominance and
Reproductive Success ?
That’s the end of the formal lecture on primates.

The next several slides are just for fun,

“Girl gorillas go ape for
French pinup hunk”

Mjukuu

Effie

Zaire
Sickly Bobby “Ziggy”
Yaboah, young male gorilla at a French zoo

Yeboah’s Facebook profile: “very charming, fun loving

and intelligent gorilla."
The female gorillas were given posters of their
prospective boyfriend before he arrived.

Zaire shrieked! … with delight ??

Effie..
Mjukuu…
… then ate it.
 The story continues:

2010 Yaboah got Mjukuu pregnant

2010 Yaboah dies!!
2010
Mjukuu gives birth to Tiny
2010
Zoo brings in new male from Dublin zoo: Kesho
2011

Kesho ‘accidentally’ kills Tiny!

2011

Kesho is quietly sent away

2013 New male, Kumbuka arrives
Dec. 2014

Kumbuka and Mjukuu

had a baby girl, Alika
Dec 2015

Kumbuka and Effie had a baby boy named Gernot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUbBRG2nhqw
Oct 2016

Kumbuka escaped … drank 5 litres of blackcurrent juice

Oct 2019

Kumbuka died at age 22

Jan. 2020

‘Ziggy’ (Zaire) died at age 45

And the soap opera continues …

UNIT 5: An Introduction to Early
Fossil Hominin Sites in Africa
Major Fossil Hominin Sites in Africa
Early Fossil Hominin Sites
in South Africa

Sterkfontein

UNESCO World
Heritage site: Malapa
Cradle of Humankind

Kromdraai

Swartkrans

Taung
South African Fossil Hominin Sites

Dolinas
Breccia
Sterkfontein
Sterkfontein
Sterkfontein
 Removing a hominin
skeleton from breccia
at Sterkfontein
Malapa
Malapa
Malapa
Malapa fossil
East African
Rift Valley
East African Rift Valley
(eastern and western branches)

Lake
Turkana

Lake
Victoria

Lake
Tanganyika
 Hadar
Kada Gona

West Turkana Koobi

Fora
Early Fossil Olduvai
Hominin Sites Gorge Laetoli

East Africa
 Olduvai
Gorge

Ngorongoro Crater
N. Tanzania

Lake Eyasi
Olduvai Gorge 2 million years ago
Olduvai Gorge 2
million years ago
Olduvai Gorge today

Louis and Mary Leakey

1959
Laetoli
N. Tanzania
 Laetoli
N. Tanzania

3.7 my old
footprints

Mary Leakey
(SFU Museum of Archaeology)
Laetoli 3.7 mya (million years ago)
 Koobi Fora

N. Kenya
West
Turkana
stone tools dating
to 3.3 mya ?

N. Kenya
 Afar
Depression
 Hadar

Kada Gona
Kada Gona

Stone tools, dated to 2.6 mya

Hadar, 2015