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.