Primate Evolution

Common Ancestor

• A common ancestor is the ancestor of two or more species.

• Shared derived characteristics are traits that species inherited from a common ancestor.

Classification

Phylogenetics tries to trace the origins and ancestry of various type or organisms.

Family Tree of Mammals

Linnaean Classification

• Kingdom

• Phylum

• Class

• Order

• Family

• Genus

• Species

Binomial Nomeclature

• All organisms are given a binomial (two-name) designation. This includes their genus and species.

• Homo sapiens = Humans

• Felis catus = House cat

Animals

• Animals are the Kingdom of organisms that:

• Are multi-cellular

• Are independently mobile

• Have sense organs

• Eat food (as apposed to photosynthesize).

Kingdom:AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: Mammalia

• Warm blooded (maintain constant body temperature)

• Have Hair at some point in their life cycle.• Have mammary glands (provide milk for

young)• Give birth to live young

Kingdom:AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass:MammaliaOrder: Primates

• Adapted to living in trees• Grasping Hands• Large Brains• Stereoscopic vision

Primates

Primates are a group of mammals that are adapted to living in trees through stereoscopic vision, grasping hands and large brains.

Evolution

• Evolution is change in allele frequencies in populations over time.

• Evolution occurs through mutation, natural selection, gene flow and genetic drift.

Primate Evolution

Primates emerged around 58 million years ago and can be divided into a number of families.

Darwinius masillae ~47 million years

Primate Evolution

Primate Families

• Prosimians

• New World Monkeys

• Old World Monkeys

• Hominoidea (Apes and Humans)

Prosimians

• Live in Africa, South and South-East Asia (many in Madagascar)

• Have moist noses (like dogs and cats).

• Large eyes

• Limited opposability in their thumbs.

• Least “human-looking” of the primates.

Ring-tailed Lemur

Slender Loris

New World Monkeys

• Live in the Americas (Mexico, Central and South America)

• Have widely spaced nostrils separated by a thick septum.

• Many have prehensile tails (they can use their tails like an arm to grab things)

Golden Lion Tamarin

Capuchin Monkey

Squirrel Monkey

Old World Monkeys

• Live in Africa and Asia

• Downward facing nostrils

• Tails that aren’t prehensile

Rhesus Macaque

Rhesus Macaque

Langur

Hominoidea

Hominoidea is a category that contains both humans and apes.

Hominoidea

• Both Apes and Humans are classified in this group

• Tail-less primates

• Largest, most complex brains of any primates

• Good suspensory climbers

Great Apes

There are four members of Hominidae that are commonly called the Great Apes.

Orangutans

Bonobo

Gorilla

Chimpanzee

Gibbon: a “lesser ape”

Siamang: a “lesser ape”

Chimpanzees

• Of all extant primates, we share the most similarities genetically with chimps.

• Our DNA sequences are more than 98% identical with those of chimps.