Name: _____________________________ Score: ____________ Spring 2015

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Pasadena City College, Department of Anthropology

Anthropology 001: Physical Anthropology (3.0 Unit)

Week 11: Overview of the Fossil Primates (Pre-Great Apes) The Cenozoic era represents the broad period when most of the primates evolved. It is the age of mammals. This period is divided into seven epochs, the oldest of which is called the Paleocene (66 mya). For each of epochs, we can roughly attribute a particular phase of primate evolution and development. Know which primates correspond to each time period/epoch:

• Paleocene (66 – 56mya): Plesiadapiforms

• Eocene (56 – 34 mya): Adapoids and Omomyoids

• Oligocene (34 – 23 mya): Oligocene primates/adapoids

• Miocene (23 – 5.3 mya): Proconsuloids

• Pliocene (5.3 – 1.8 mya): Early hominin

• Pleistocene (1.8 – 10,000 ya): Early homo

• Holocene (10,000 ya – present): Modern humans Plesiadapiforms (Paleocene), and/or plesiadapis consist of early mammals with certain primate-like characteristics. Some researchers consider plesiadapiforms to be the first primates because of their petrosal bulla (skeletal casing in the middle ear), more rounded molar cusps, and arboreal features of the postcranial skeleton. Fossils are known from North America, Europe, and China. WHATS IMPORTANT! First known archaic primates…

Plesiadapis Adapoids and Omomyoids primates (Eocene), the “true” primates of North America, Europe, and Asia, more than 80 species, with a dental formula of 2.1.4.3. WHATS IMPORTANT! Ancestors to Old World monkeys. Two well-known species are Adapis and Necrolemur. Oligocene primates (Oligocene), apidium, and aegyptopithecus known as the true primates! Fossils found in Africa and Egypt. Apidium had a dental formula is 2.1.3.3; thereby suggesting it had a diverse diet. Researchers believe Oligocene primates represent the last extinct primate lineage before the split into early human primates. WHATS IMPORTANT! Supposed ancestors to the hominoids and the first to exhibit the Y5 molar cusp pattern (see page 3, this handout).

Name: _____________________________ Score: ____________ Spring 2015

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Dental formulas: Apidium (2:1:3:3), Aegyptopithecus (2:1:2:3)

Aegyptopithecus

Proconsuloids (Miocene), proconsul lived in Africa and Asia 20–17 mya. Large cranium when compared to apidium and aegyptopithecus. Displayed arboreal and terrestrial abilities, with ape-like heads and a body with a mixture of ape-like and monkey-like features, about 5 feet long and 50-75 pounds, with no tail. An Asian form of the Proconsuloids is known as sivapithecus from India and Pakistan. WHATS IMPORTANT? Proconsuloids have a bilophodont molar pattern (4 cusps), where as humans have a Y-5 molar pattern. Extinct cousin of chimp?

Dental formula: Proconsul (2:1:2:3)

Name: _____________________________ Score: ____________ Spring 2015

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Left: bilophodont, Right: Y5 molar cusp pattern Proconsul skull

Left to right: Chimpanzee, Sivapithecus (a Proconsuloids), and Orangutan