ANTH Chapters 6-9

Why study primates?

1. primates are physically and behaviorally similar to humans. ex: forward facing eyes and grasping hands, which indicate common ancestry.

2. primates, like humans, are remarkably diverse and show ability to adapt to a variety of environments.

3. Helps us study and cure diseases in humans.

4. Primate diversity reflects the diversity of animal species. Reduction in primate diversity is a barometer of the "health" of the animal kingdom.

What is a primate?

Primates are arboreal mammals with highly flexible diets and invest a lot of time into their young. They are generalized.

What is a primate's physical characteristics?

Adapted to life in the trees, great mobility, dexterity, highly developed vision, hearing and smell are de-emphasized.

What is a primate's diet like?

varied diet, fruits, insects, or leaves, shown by dentition and distinctive tooth types.

What kinds of primates are there?

The more than 200 primate species living today are subdivided into two suborders: strepsirhines and haplorhines. Strepsirhines are the lesser, or lower, primates. are the higher primates. Tarsiers are included in the haplorhines but retain a significant suite of primitive characteristics.

Strepsirhines

A subdivision within the primate order based on shared genetic characteristics; includes lemurs and lorises. These are lesser/lower primates.

Haplorhines

A subdivision within the primate order based on shared genetic characteristics; includes tarsiers, New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes (including humans).

Which is not an arboreal adaptation shared by most primates?

rigidly connected, identical verte- brae in the backbone

Which evolutionary adaptation provides primates with depth perception?

convergent orbits (forward facing eyes)

____________ retain more primitive characteristics than other primates, such as a partially enclosed eye orbit.

Strepsirhines,

___________ have a dental formula of 2/1/2/3 and hook-shaped nostrils.

catarrhines

Which feature is shared by both apes and Old World monkey?

canine-premolar honing complex

What are five key features of a primate?

1. Grasping hands and feet, opposable thumb and nail instead of claw.

2. Enhanced color vision and convergent orbits.

3. reduced olfaction

4. increased brain development and surface area in brain.

5. post-orbital bar

Why are primates social?

Advantages: Access/Protection against predators

Disadvantages: Competition/Violence/Visibility

What is special about primate societies and social behavior?

most live in a social environment Male reproductive strategies emphasize competition between males for access to reproductive-age females. Female reproductive strategies emphasize care of young and access to food for mothers and their offspring.

How do primates acquire food?

through a wide variety of food-foraging strategies

Primates rely entirely on their bodies for acquiring and processing food for consumption. Humans rely on material culture to acquire and process for food.

How do primates communicate?

through vocalizations that serve a range of functions and contexts

Vocalizations serve a range of functions and vary in different contexts; they include the transmissions from one individual to another or one group to another

Humans are the only primate to have speech, but use of symbols by apes in experimental contexts provides important insight into their cognitive abilities.

In primates, males and females pri- marily differ in

body size and canine size

How do male and female primates differ in reproductive strategies?

Males compete for mates, while females compete for resources.

A primate's feeding success would be increased by?

Memorizing locations and seasonal availability of food patches.

Which statement is false regarding chimpanzee material culture?

Chimpanzees depend on tools to survive

Which feature of communication is found only in humans?

physical ability to produce speech