PRIMATE DIVERSITY

The story begins with our primate

heritage
• Humans are members of an order of
mammals, the primates
– Primates first appeared about 65 million years
ago
• The first primates lived in trees, and we have
inherited some of their characteristics
– Limber joints

– Sensitive grasping hands

– Short snout

– Forward-pointing eyes that enhance depth

perception
• There are two groups of living primates
– The prosimians, such as lorises and lemurs

Figure 19.1A, B
– The anthropoids, which include monkeys, apes,
and humans

Figure 19.1C, D
 Millions of years ago

Lemurs, lorises, and pottos

Tarsiers
PROSIMIANS

New World monkeys

ANCESTRAL PRIMATE
Old World monkeys
MONKEYS

Gibbons

Orangutans

Gorillas
APES
ANTHROPOIDS

Chim-
panzees

Humans
Figure 19.1E
 19.2 Apes are our closest relatives
• Humans are most closely related to the apes
– These primates lack tails and have forelimbs
longer than their hind limbs
• Lemurs

Figure 19.1Bx
• Old World (left) and New World (right)
monkeys

Figure 19.1x
• Apes: gibbon, orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee

Figure 19.2x
• The apes include
– Gibbons

– Orangutans

Figure 19.2A, B
– Gorillas

– Chimpanzees

Figure 19.2C, D
HOMINID EVOLUTION

The human branch of the primate tree

is only a few million years old

• Apes and hominids probably diverged from a

common ape-like ancestor
– This occurred between 5 and 7 million years ago
– Where the bipedal begin to evolve
• We share more than 97% of our genes with
chimpanzees
– They are our closest living relatives

• Our behavior also has some similarities

– Chimpanzees make and use simple tools

– They seem to have a sense of self

Bipedalism
 Bipedalism
Bipedalism - on two feet.

•The single most distinctive feature

of Hominids
•Hominid bipedalism is habitual and
required
•Different from others: reptiles,birds,
some mammals.
Body Changes: knuckle
walkers vs. bipedalists
 Body Changes: knuckle
walkers vs. bipedalists
foramen magnum
Circular hole at the bottom
of the skull where the
medulla oblongata (spinal
cord) enters and exits the
skull
The foramen magnum is
farther underneath the skull,
so the head is more or less
balanced on the spine.
 Body Changes: knuckle
walkers vs. bipedalists

spine
The spine has two
distinctive curves—a
backward (thoracic) one
and a forward (lumbar)
one—that keep the body
and weight centered
above the pelvis.
 Body Changes: knuckle
walkers vs. bipedalists
pelvis

The pelvis is shaped

more in the form of a
bowl to support
internal organs.
 Body Changes: knuckle walkers
vs. bipedalists

Hip bones
The hip bones are
shorter and broader,
stabilizing weight
transmission.

a) Homo sapiens.
(b) Early hominid (Australopithecus)
from South Africa.
(c) Chimpanzee. Note especially the
length and breath of the iliac blade
and the line of weight transmission
(shown in red).
 Body Changes: knuckle walkers
vs. bipedalists
legs

Lower limbs are

longer.

In humans the thigh

comprises 20% of
body height, while in
gorillas it comprises
only 11%.
 Body Changes: knuckle walkers
vs. bipedalists
Femur and knee action

The femur is angled

inward, keeping the legs
more directly under the
body.

Modified knee anatomy

also permits full
extension of this joint.
Body Changes: knuckle walkers
vs. bipedalists

feet

The big toe is enlarged and brought in line with the

other toes

An arch forms, helping absorb shock and adding

propulsive spring.
 The Bipedal Adaptation

• Efficient bipedalism among primates is

found only among hominids.

• All the major structural changes required

for bipedalism are seen in early hominid
fossils.

• Some researchers believe these early

humans also spent considerable time in the
trees.
 Disadvantages of Bipedalism

Difficult childbirth

Hernias Varicose veins Lower back pain

Why Hominids Became Bipedal

Many theories to explain why bipedality evolved.

Probably a combination of factors occurring over a

great deal of time.

Theories:
• Carrying • Visual surveillance
• Long distance walking • Male provisioning
• Hunting • Thermo-regulation
• Gathering • Feeding from bushes
 Theories:
Carrying
upright posture freed the arms to
carry various objects.
 Theories:
Long-distance walking
(Energy efficiency model)
Covering long distances is more
energy effective for a biped than for a
quadruped.
 Theories:
Hunting
carrying weapons and energy efficient
long-distance walking made hunting
more practical.
 Theories:
Gathering
(Bipedal harvesting model)
feeding on seeds and nuts occurred
standing upright.
 Theories:
Feeding from bushes
upright posture provided access to seeds,
berries, etc., in lower branches
 Theories:
Visual surveillance
(Vigilance model)
By elevating head, helped our ancestor
to locate potential sources of food and
danger.

This model only addresses upright posture, not necessarily upright locomotion
 Theories:
Male provisioning
males carried back resources to
dependent females and children.
 Theories:
Thermoregulation (Heat dissipation model)
for body cooling. Vertical posture exposes
less of the body to direct sun.

Suitable at savanna but not for the forest

 Theories:

Display Model
Upright display posture during dominance
confrontation or sexual display conveys
meaning because:
it makes the individual seem larger,
directly related to mating success.
Each of these models has logic
and evidence.
Single model might work but
combinations were more possible
 Humans and Chimpanzees
• Morphologically humans and apes are distinct from one another. 
– Based on molecular data, isozyme polymorphisms and sequences
of mitochondrial and genomic DNA, humans and apes, in particular,
chimpanzees are quite similar. 
– Humans and chimpanzees share 52 % of the same alleles. 
– Humans and Chimpanzees share the same Blood Type
Phenotypes (ABO SYSTEM)
– Nucleic acid differences are even less, 1.1 percent difference. 

• Was the common ancestor to humans and chimpanzees separated by

the Great Rift Valley in Africa, leading to allopatric speciation?  Humans
probably evolved in response to changing environmental conditions as
forests gave way to savannas.  Some evidence supports this
hypothesis, but it is far from conclusive.
• According to the Chimpanzee Genome Project, both human (Ardipithecus,
Australopithecus and Homo) and chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes and
Pan paniscus) lineages diverged from a common ancestor about 5-6 million
years ago, if we assume a constant rate of evolution.
TRENDS IN PRIMATE EVOLUTION
• Change in overall skeletal structure and mode of locomotion -
bipedalism (able to move on 2 appendages for extended periods of
time; with minimum energy loss).
• Modification of hands - humans can cup hands and possess a
opposable thumb.
• Less reliance on sense of smell and more reliance on sense of daytime
and color vision, and depth perception.
• Change in dentition - primates moved from eating insects to more fruits
and vegetables to becoming omnivorous - adaptation of teeth is
probably caused by natural selection, so that the kinds of teeth best
able to accommodate a particular diet become enhanced over time.
• Brain expansion - more elaborate.
– Gorilla 600 cm3
– Humans 1350 cm3
• Higher intelligence may have resulted from tool making, need for better
memory, or to increase ability to anticipate jumps (from branch to
branch) or throws (weapons and spears).  Once you let go of
something, you don't have any way to control its motion.
• Behavioral and cultural evolution- ability to learn and mimic behavior. 
ex. language.