Evanth Final Exam: Primate Evolution/Ecology

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Early Primates

1. What is the midden-gliding hypothesis and why is it important

   1. Length of isolated finger bones discovered suggested that plesiadapiforms may have glided and therefore, more like flying lemurs than primates. However, it was later discovered that these bones actually consisted of foot/finger bones, and therefore, was disproven.

2. Which were the first adaptive radiation of primates

   1. Plesiadapiforms

3. What skeletal characteristics are associated with leaping:

   1. Grasping extremities and long legs

4. Describe the improvements to the visual system for euprimates:

   1. Bigger eyes that are closer together, reduced smell

5. Identify carpolestidae:

   1. Early plesiadapiforms that were found in North America from middle paleocene to early eocene

6. What does purgatorious demonstrate about primates from the earliest records? What modern primates serves as a good record for them:

   1. That they were arboreal, tree shrews

7. What features common to all living primates do plesiadapiforms lack:

   1. Nails instead of claws on digits (only for MOST species, not ALL)

8. What are the distinguishing facial features of adapoidea: Postorbital bar and long snout

9. What are the distinguishing post cranial features of adpoidea: Long legs, short arms, robust extremeties

10. What does the omamyoid hypothesis propose about anthropoid origins? Is this the one we perceive to be correct?

    1. Omamyoid are stem happlorines and adapoids are stem streppsorhines. This hypothesis is likely correct.

11. What does the adapted hypothesis propose about anthropoid origins?

    1. Both omamyoids and adapoids are happlorhines

12. What primates make good models for adapoids? How about European adaptations?

    1. Sifaka and slow loris

13. What primates make a good model for omamyoids?

    1. Mouse lemurs and tarsiers

14. What are the distinguishing features between adapoids and omamyoid

    1. Adapoids have larger canines and spatulate incisors and omamyoids have larger orbits, shorter snouts, and more elongated ankle bones

15. Identify omamyoids

    1. Small primates, lived from early eocene to oligocene

16. Identify amamyoids

    1. Medium primates, all over world

17. What kind of primates are Euprimates? What does this mean?

    1. Crown primates, have all the defining features of modern primates

18. What environmental shift accompanied the evolution primates?

    1. Climate became very warm

19. What is Darwinius and why is it important?

    1. lacks grooming claw and tooth comb, likely stem streppshrines, disproves adapted hypothesis

20. What kind of primates are plesiadapiforms? What does that mean?

    1. Stem primates, lack all modern features

21. What are the defining anatomical traits of carpolestidae?

    1. mitten shaped premolars, increasing complexity of molars to tackle fruits/nuits, diverging big toe.

22. What are the big four euprimate characteristics?

    1. improvements to the visual system

    2. fruit molar eating

    3. grasping extremeities

    4. leaping characteristics of skeleton

23. What is Purgatorious? Why are they important? 5Ws:

    1. Earliest adaptive radiation of plesidapiforms, first to appear in fossil record

24. What were the first euprimates and when did they appear?

    1. adapoidea/omamyoida, 56 mya

25. What are the defining anatomical traits of carpolestidae?

    1. mitten shaped premolars to eat fruits and nuts

    2. diverging big toe w/ a nail. associated with grabbing onto smaller supports

26. What is Purgatorious? Why is important? Where/what of last specimen?

    1. most primitive group of plesiadapiforms, first primate to appear in the fossil record, single specimen from last Crectaceous

27. Plesiadapiforms are __________ from the _________ that gave rise to all living primates

    1. primitive offshoots, stem

28. T/F: stem primates gave rise to plesiadapiforms and euprimates

    1. true