Your Inner Monkey

Exam 3 Video 1

Where is your coccyx and why is it present in humans?

• The coccyx is the tailbone located at the base of the spine

• Our primate ancestors had tails

Are the monkeys featured in the film new world (Platyrrhini) or old world (Catarrhini)? How do you know?

• New world

• Gripping tails

List at least 3 features found in primates but not present in other mammals

• Opposable digits for grasping

• Front-facing eyes

• Flattened nails

What is the name of the earliest known primate? When did it live, where was it found?

• Notharctus

• 50 mya

• Wyoming territory

What skeletal features gave it an advantage?

Opposable thumbs that form an angle with the index finger

How did color vision evolve? How many colors can most humans see?

• Early Primates had 2 opsin genes, which detect color. With the duplication of a 3rd opsin, we were able to detect many more colors.

• Humans can see hundreds of colors

How many genes do we have that detect smell? Compare our genes to a dog’s genes for smell.

• We have 1 thousand genes dedicated to detecting smell, but only about 400 work

• A dog has roughly the same number of dedicated genes (1k), but its sense of smell is a thousand to a million times better because more of them work.

Describe the two fossils that shed the most light on bipedalism

• Lucy - a 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor who looked like an ape, but was bipedal

• Ardipithecus - a 4.4 million-year-old bipedal ape who lived in the woodlands (disproved the theory of why we became bipedal)

What are the most obvious consequences of being bipedal? Why do we suffer these consequences?

• The spine goes wrong very often

• The spine had to evolve an S-shaped curve to keep us balanced, putting odd pressure on points in our back.

What is the significance of tools in human evolution?

• Indicated good vision, fine motor skills, and a large brain

What is object permanence, and who is better at it, the baby monkey, or the baby human? Why?

• Object permanence is the understanding that an object still exists even if it is out of sight

• Baby monkeys are better at this because that area of their brain wires much faster than ours, as humans have a very long childhood

What are the benefits of a long childhood?

During childhood, our brains are being shaped by our environment/experience. Extending this phase gives us longer to learn/pick up new skills

What are the three parts of all brains?

• Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain

How long ago did the first brains begin to evolve?

500 mya