Ch 9

While flipping through the channels, you stop on a television program about primate evolution. The host says that there is a 6-million-year gap in the fossil evidence between the latest Oligocene catarrhines and the earliest Miocene proconsulids, which could mean that primates disappeared from Earth and evolved anew some time later. Your roommate comes running when you start yelling at the television,

"The resemblance between the Fayum catarrhines and the Miocene proconsulids in skull form and dentition suggests an evolutionary relationship, even if the direct fossil evidence isn't there!"

The following are alternative hypotheses are regarding the presence of platyrrhines in South America. Which are supported by available evidence?

-Platyrrhines evolved from an anthropoid in Africa that migrated south (mainly) on land to Antarctica and then to Patagonia, at the southern tip of South America -Platyrrhines evolved from an African anthropoid and migrated across the Atlantic to South America

Although Cuvier did not correctly identify Adapis, which of the following did he accomplish?

-he influenced how later scientists classified fossils -he helped document the process of primate evolution -he planted the seeds for asking key questions about primate evolution -he meticulously described Adapis

Based on genetic analysis of living primates calibrated by the fossil record, it is estimated that apes and Old World monkeys diverged into separate lineages around:

25 mya

During which epochs do scientists believe the first primates may have evolved?

56 mya in the Eocene, 66 mya in the Paleocene

The common ancestor of all later catarrhines, Old World monkeys, and hominins was likely:

Aegyptopithecus

Which of the following is NOT a hypothesis for how anthropoids got to South America?

African ancestors reached South America by using the Bering Strait between Asia and North America

Which continents have scientists found primate fossils?

All but Antarctica and Australia

Eocene primates differ from Paleocene primates in the following way(s):

All of the above are correct

The short calcaneus bone of Eosimias demonstrates that

All of the above are correct

This phylogenetic chart of catarrhine origins indicates that:

All of the above are correct

This skull indicates Plesiadapis was not a true primate because:

All of the above are correct

Higher primates most likely evolved from

Anthropoids

Which continents were fossils of basal anthropoids found?

Asia and Africa

Unlike other plesiadpiforms, _______ had a number of characteristics that make it a potential euprimate ancestor

Carpolestes

Basal anthropoids are:

Eocene primates that are the earliest anthropoids

The similarity of the foot bones between _________ and the living anthropoids makes it the likely first true primate.

Eosimias

What were the first true primates called?

Euprimates

The best-accepted hypothesis for the dispersal of African monkeys to the New World is:

Europe and Asia

From 12 to 8 mya, Dryopithecids were found in _____________ while Sivapithecids were found in _____________.

Europe, Asia

True or False: Scientists have a very good idea of which Miocene apes are the direct ancestors of humans, as well as all the other modern apes

False

True or False? Of all of the alternative hypotheses about how anthropoids first reached South America, scientists are most certain that the ancestors of New World primates rafted across the sea on islands of floating vegetation.

False

True or False? The first primate fossil ever discovered was correctly identified as a primate.

False

The largest primate that ever lived, named for its massive size, was

Gigantopithecus

Drag and drop the name of the epoch to the timeline of primate evolution:

In order from left to right: Eocene, Oligocene, early Miocene, mid Miocene, Pleistocene

Which of the following middle Miocene fossil primates is most likely the most direct ancestor of modern orangutans?

Khoratpithecus

When did the first apelike primates arise?

Miocene

When did the first monkeys reach South America?

Oligocene

Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

Platyrrhines likely descended from an early African anthropoid ancestor

Paleocene organisms that may have been the first primates were:

Plesadapiforms

Is an Eosimias' foot structure long or short?

Short

What was the climate of the Fayum Depression like during the Oligocene?

Warm, wet, and somewhat seasonal

The most distinctive feature of ape dentition, which clearly distinguishes apes from Old World monkeys, is:

a Y-5 molar pattern.

Match each taxonomic group of early haplorphine primates to its description: a) propliopithecids b) parapithecids c) oligopithecids

a) This is a somewhat diverse group of fossil primates. Although they were larger in body size, they still showed signs of arboreal quadrupedalism. They had a 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 dental formula and ate mainly fruit. b) This is a relatively diverse group of fossil primates, the largest of which were the size of a guenon (African forest monkey); the smallest were the size of a marmoset. They had a 2.1.3.3/2.1.3.3 dental formula and unspecialized, primitive teeth. c) These primates share many primitive features with the Eocene strepsirhines. However, they also share some derived features with contemporary haplorhines. Only some members of this group have a 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3 dental formula. Members of this group may have ranged beyond the Fayum into North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Match the following hypotheses about the evolution of unique primate traits to their predictions: a) angiosperm radiation hypothesis b) visual predation hypothesis c) arboreal hypothesis

a) the grasping hands, grasping feet, and visual acuity of primates were mostly adaptations for eating fruit and other foods made available by modern groups of flowering plants b) unique primate traits arose as adaptations for preying on insects and other small animals c) primates' defining characteristics were adaptations to life in the trees

Match each taxonomic group of fossil apes to its description: a) oreopithecids b) dryopithecids c) sivapithecids

a) this was a group of Miocene apes that was found in Europe. They were medium-sized, with a tiny brain, adaptations for arm swinging, and teeth that were highly specialized for eating leaves b) this was a group of early Miocene apes that was found in Europe. They were larger than earlier apes, with larger brains, adaptations for arm swinging, sharp canines, and cheek teeth adapted for chewing fruit c) this was a group of early Miocene apes that was found in Asia. They had robust jaw bones and thick-enameled teeth adapted for eating hard, tough-textured foods such as seeds and nuts

Monkeys underwent massive _______ in the Pilocene and Pleistocene

adaptive radiation

Monkeys underwent massive__________in the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

adaptive radiation

A rapid temperature increase about 55 mya created tropical conditions around the world, resulting in the:

adaptive radiation of Euprimates.

The skeletal anatomy of Proconsul indicates it can be classified as

an ape

During the Miocene epoch of the Cenozoic era, there was an adaptive radiation of which kind of primate?

apes

Put the following hypotheses in the chronological order in which they were proposed (oldest to most recent)

arboreal hypothesis, visual predation hypothesis, angiosperm radiation hypothesis

The onomyids and adapids:

are Eocene forms whose exact phylogenetic relationship to later primates is unknown

As a corollary to the idea that primates emerged as an adaptation to an arboreal environment, Matt Cartmill proposed that

catching small prey was more important in primate evolution than living in the trees

The angiosperm radiation hypothesis proposes that:

certain primate traits were responses to the acquisition of fruit during the Cenozoic

Apes went extinct in southern Europe (including France, Spain, Italy, and Greece) during the late Miocene, probably as a result of:

climate change

The shift from the Miocene, which had greater diversity of ape species and fewer monkey species, to a living assemblage with greater diversity of monkey species and fewer ape species may be the result of:

differences in ability to exploit the habitats that resulted after a change in global climate.

Euprimates represent the:

first true primates

What are angiosperms?

flowering plants

Robert Sussman's angiosperm radiation hypothesis is based on the finding that

fruit was a newly available food source in the Cenozoic era

The arboreal hypothesis of primate origins explains that:

grasping hands and feet were necessary for living in trees

The arboreal hypothesis proposes that defining primate characteristics were adaptations to life in the trees, such as:

grasping hands and feet, developed vision, and greater intelligence

The arboreal hypothesis proposes that defining primate characteristics were adaptations to life in the trees, such as:

grasping hands and feet, developed vision, and greater intelligence.

Which anatomical feature would you expect to find in the fossil remains of a nocturnal species?

large eye orbits

Place the following groups of early anthropoid primates in chronological order: propliopithecids, parapithecids, oligopithecids

oligopithecids, parapithecids, propliopithecids

The visual predation hypothesis proposes that:

primate traits arose as adaptations to preying on insects and small animals.

What was the first major group of catarrhine primates in the Miocene called?

proconsulids

Aegyptopithecus was one of the most common __________:

propliopithecids

Plesiadapiforms are also called:

proprimates

Climatic changes in the late Miocene _____ hominoid diversity in Asia and Europe

reduced

Your classmate, whose part-time job entails reorganizing the paleoanthropology lab on campus, asks you to take a look at a skeleton that she thinks is from a primate. After noting the absence of a postorbital bar, nails, and an opposable thumb, you tell her that:

she should label this skeleton as a plesiadapiform rather than as a primate

Gigantopithecus:

stood ten feet tall and weighed 660 pounds.

The majority of primate species alive today reside in:

the southern hemisphere

A valid criticism of the idea that anthropoids evolved independently in Africa and South America is that:

there are striking similarities between Old and New World primates not only in phenotype but also in genotype

Plesiadapiforms most likely _____ the first primates

were not