Recording-2025-03-12T13:16:44.898Z

Discoveries in Primate Paleontology

• New Discoveries: The field of primate studies is continually evolving with new findings.

• Example (2013): Discovery of a well-preserved skeleton of a tiny tree-dwelling primate named Arcebus achilles.

  • Significance: This is the oldest known fossil primate skeleton, dating back approximately 55 million years, found in what is now Central China.

Distribution of Non-Human Primates

• Current Distribution: Primate populations are confined primarily to tropical regions (shown in brown on maps).

  • Most primates live in tropical areas; some outliers exist in temperate zones (e.g., Chinese snub-nosed monkeys, Himalayan langurs).

• Absence in Australia: No natural populations of non-human primates exist in Australia; humans are the only primates present there.

Defining Traits of Primates

• Ancestral Traits: Traits retained from ancestral groups that are common across many species.

  • Examples:

    • Vertebrae: A characteristic retained from vertebrate ancestors.

    • Homeothermic: Ability to maintain body temperature, shared with birds and mammals.

    • Hair and Mammary Glands: Traits inherited from mammalian ancestry.

• Derived Traits: Traits that have newly arisen within a specific taxon (species or genus).

  • Importance of derived traits: Primates exhibit a diversity of shared derived characters, though not all primates share every derived trait, allowing for exceptions.