Primate Evolution Final

Chororapithecus

10 million years old Possible Gorilla ancestor Diverged from the rest of the Miocene Apes

Daubentonia robusta

2-5x larger than an extant aye-aye.

Oreopithecus

A genus of oreopithecids found in Italy that was extinct within a million years of its appearance.

Evolution

CHANGE in ALLELE FREQUENCY in a POPULATION over TIME.

Fossil Pan

HOLOCENE 500 kya, Lake Baringo, Kenya, More similar to common chimp than bonobo.

Gigantopithecus

MIOCENE A genus of Miocene pongids from Asia; the largest primate that ever lived.

Sivapithecus

MIOCENE A genus of Miocene sivapithecids, proposed as ancestral to orangutans.

relative dating

Method of determining the age of a fossil by comparing its placement with that of fossils in other layers of rock.

molecular clock

Model that uses DNA comparisons to estimate the length of time that two species have been evolving independently.

Propliopithecoidea

OLIGOCENE - Superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Africa and Arabia in the early oligocene. 5 species, similar in size to howler monkeys. - Aegyptopithecus big one here.

Carpolestes

PALEOCENE - Grasping hands & feet, opposable thumbs and big toes - Nail on end of first digit - NO stereoscopic vision

Plesiadapis

PALEOCENE-EOCENE - Name means "near-adapis" - 2.1.3.3 (rodent-like) - Low cusp molars

Plesiadapiformes

Plesiadapiformes first appear between 65 and 55 million years ago, most extinct before the Eocene. May have been first mammals with fingernails. Not literally extinct, as primates appear to be derived plesiadapiforms. - 2.1.3.3. - Low cusp molars - Grasping ability - Small brain - No PO bar - Insectivorous - Questionable bulla

Paleoprothicedidae

Sloth lemurs. More suspensory than other indriids.

Tarsiiformes

Tarsiers. Sister family to omomyids, but they could be their direct ancestor. The nature of this lineage is very controversial. Did anthropoids descend from this group, or adapiform primates?

Eocene-Oligocene Boundary

The end of the Eocene (33.9 mya) and the beginning of the oligocene is marked by a massive extinction event, caused by global cooling, not clearly caused by any single major impact or volcanic event.

Arboreal Hypothesis

The proposition that primates' unique suite of traits is an adaptation to living in trees. Grasping hands and feet, binocular vision, greater intelligence. PROBLEM: Lots of mammals are arboreal. Very few have these traits.

Paleomagnetism

The study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rock, specifically as it relates to determining the historical patterns in earths magnetic field; also the magnetic properties that rock requires during formation.

Homoplasy

Trait gained or lost independently in separate lineages.

Eocene

Turning point in primate evolution. Plesiadapoid primates go extinct, first euprimates appear.

Taphonomy

the branch of paleontology that deals with the processes of fossilization.

Monophyletic

(of a group of organisms) descended from a common evolutionary ancestor or ancestral group, especially one not shared with any other group.

Principles of Stratigraphy

1. Original horizontality 2. Superposition 3. Cross-cutting relationships 4. Faunal succession: As strata get older, so too do the fauna.

Main Types of Fossils

1. Permineralized fossil (bones and teeth) 2. Endocast (skull) 3. Trace fossils (footprints)

Conditions Necessary for Fossilization

1. Rapid burial 2. Anaerobic/anoxic environment (peat bogs are great because low oxygen) 3. Not hot and humid

Eocene

56-33.9 million years ago. Very warm, dense tropical forests. Emergence of the first euprimates. Primates resembling modern prosimians emerge (think lemurs, lorises, tarsiers). There were the adapidae (like lemurs and lorises) and the omomyidae (like galagos and tarsiers). These primates reach Madagascar. By the end of the eocene, many of theses prosimian species had become extinct.

Paleocene

66-56 million years ago. Warm, tropical or subtropical and seasonality more wet-dry than hot-cold. The first epoch of the modern Cenozoic era. Primate-like mammals or proto-primates emerge, similar to tree shrews in size and appearance. These primate-like mammals were plesiadapiformes.

Endocast

A cast of the inside of a skull; used to help determine the size and shape of the brain. Can be a fossil.

Plesiomorphy

A primitive or ancestral character state.

symplesiomorphy

A shared ancestral character shared by two or more taxa, but also with taxa linked earlier in the clade.

synapomorphy

A shared derived trait.

geologic time scale (GTS)

A system of chronological dating that relates geological strata (stratigraphy) to time.

absolute dating

A technique used to determine the actual age of a fossil. Radiocarbon dating would be an example.

autamorphy

A unique derived trait.

Afradapis

EOCENE - Adapiform - Caenopithecine of Northern Africa - Lost anterior premolar, giving it a 2.1.2.3 formula - Folivorous - Moved slowly like a loris

Omomyinae

EOCENE Subfamily of the omomyidae, containing Shoshonius.

Anthrasimias

EOCENE Tiny primate, in the family northarctidae.

Parapithecidae

EOCENE-OGLIOCENE - 2.1.3.3/0.1.3.3 - Sister group to catarrhines - Smaller olfactory bulbs compared to Oligopithecids & closer to modern anthropoids - Foliverous - Family of primates which lived in Egypt and possibly south Asia.

Proteopithecus

EOCENE-OGLIOCENE - First eocene anthropoid for which postcranial remains were found. Platyrrhine like body, running likely. - Fayum primate, post cranial remains suggest acrobatic form of locomotion.

Proteopithecidae

EOCENE-OLIGOCENE - Family. First eocene anthropoid for which postcranial remains were found. Platyrrhine like body, running likely. - Found in Egypt.

Euarchonta

Grandorder of mammals containing treeshrews, colugos, the extinct plesiadapiformes, and the primates.

Karanisia

Lorisiform prosimian species found in the Fayum.

Tarsius thailandica

MIOCENE Tarsier from Thailand.

Aegyptopithecus

OLIGOCENE A propliopithecid genus from the Oligocene, probably ancestral to catarrhines; the largest primate found in the Fayum, Egypt.

Euprimates

The first true primates from the Eocene: the tarsier/galago-like omomyids and the lemur/loris-like adapids.

Angiosperm Hypothesis

The proposition that certain primate traits, such as visual acuity, intelligence, and grasping hands and feet, occurred in response to the availability of fruit and flowers following the spread of angiosperms. PROBLEM: First primate ancestors were most likely insectivorous.

Visual Predation Hypothesis

The proposition that unique primate traits arose as adaptations to preying on insects and on small animals. The first primates specialized in hunting in the tree branches or forest undergrowth. Binocular vision and grasping hands would have helped. PROBLEM: High rates of frugivory today. Traits retained.

nasolacrimal canal

Canal that drains into the nasal cavity. Orientation important for determining whether an animal had a wet rhinarium.

Archicebus achilles

EOCENE - 2.1.3.3. - Emerged close to split between haplorhines and strepsirhines - Ankle bones resemble a monkey. Lots of leaping. - Very small, size of the palm of your hand. - Diurnal. - Insectivorous. First haplorhine primate ever discovered, most closely related to tarsiers and fossil omomyids. Diurnal. Discovered in China. Supports the hypothesis that primates originated in Asia. Named oldest known primate for it's heel bone.

Darwinius masillae

EOCENE - Adapid (see adapid traits) - Lack of specialized lemur traits lead some to (likely wrongly) place them as an ancestor to anthropoids. - Famous "Ida" fossil. The most complete nonhuman primate fossil ever discovered. - Arguably unethical publicizing of finding without proper context or scientific scrutiny. Got its own hype-documentary. - Wrongly (or, perhaps almost certainly wrongly) claimed to be a direct ancestor to humans.

Biretia

EOCENE - Bicuspid premolars - 2.1.3.3. - Small body large eyes - One species nocturnal, documenting shift in lifestyles for anthropoids - Fruit or gums A later basal anthropoid genus found in the Fayum, Egypt, that may be ancestral to anthropoids.

Northarctus

EOCENE - Description of this animal forever changed paleontology - Adapid (see adapid traits) - Rat-like body - Flexible spine - Long fingers for clamping branches - Thumb

Oligopithecidae

EOCENE - Extinct basal Catarrhine family from late Eocene of Egypt - 2.1.2.3 - Probably insectivorous diet based on molars - Big olfactory bulb and unfused mandibular symphsysis making it a bit more prosimian - Auditory bulla similar to platyrrhines

Omomyiformes (omomyoids/omomyids/Omomyidae)

EOCENE - Smaller than adapids - Insectivorous - Short snout - Tarsier-like - Nocturnal - Larger brains - Nails - Opposable 1st toe (hallux) - PO bar - Reliance on vision - 2.1.3.3. - Possibly stem haplorhines or stem tarsiiformes

Eosimias

EOCENE - Tarsal, calcaneus very anthropoid like - Moved in trees like monkeys - Snout very monkey-like - Insects and nectar, 2.1.3.3 - Some diurnal, some nocturnal A genus of very small basal anthropoids from the Eocene.

Catopithecus

EOCENE -member of Oligopithecidae -postorbital closure -early catarrhine

Eosimiidae

EOCENE A family of extinct haplorhine primates believed to be the earliest simians.

Northarctidae

EOCENE Family of primates containing Northarctus, and Anthrasimias.

Shoshonius

EOCENE Found in Wyoming. Omomyid of the subfamily omomyidae. Specimens in Wyoming. Similar to modern-day tarsiers in cranium. Haplorhine like nasal canal. Postcranium implies generalized arboreal quadraped behavior.F

Rooneyia

EOCENE One known specimen, _________ viejaensis. An omomyid primate, related to tarsiers, monkeys, and apes.

Teilhardina

EOCENE Possible first euprimate. Omomyid within the subfamily anaptomorphinae. Marmoset-like animal that lived in Europe, North America, and Asia during the Early Eocene epoch, about 56-47 million years ago.

Anaptomorphinae

EOCENE Sub-family of omomyidae containing Teilhardina. Remarkable for traditional fossil sites in Wyoming.

Adapiformes/Adapoids (Adapids/Adapidae)

EOCENE The "lemur-like" group of Eocene primates. - A family of extinct primates, including Northarctus - Larger than omomyids - Frugivorous/Folivorous - Long snout - Lemur-like - Diurnal - Larger brains - Nails - Opposable 1st toe (hallux) - PO bar - Reliance on vision - 2.1.3.3. - Fairly likely to be stem strepsirrhines (ancestors of lemurs, lorises, bushbabies) based on wrist and ankle, based on groove for the flexor fibularis tendon on the talus, the presence of a sloping talo-fibular facet) - Lacked many anatomical specializations of modern strepsirrhines (no toothcomb, no toilet-claw, no reduction in the size of the promonotory branch of the internal carotid artery)

Amphipithecidae

EOCENE-OLIGOCENE - Simian primates that lived in south Asia. - Arboreal quadrapeds. - Deep mandibles and low broad crowns on molars suggest they are simians.

Caenopithecidae

EOCENE-OLIGOCENE Subfamily of adapidae found in Europe and North Africa from Eocene to Oligocene.

Afrotarsius

EOCENE-OLIGOCENE Tentatively classified as a tarsier, but this was so controversial they just called them afrotarsiidae.

Fayum

Home of the record for the early anthropoid lineage, and the earliest undisputed anthropoid fossils (some earlier, though more controversial, specimens, exist in Asia and Africa). This region was excavated and an array of fossil anthropoids were revealed. Many fossil primates of strepsirrhines, tarsiers, monkeys and apes present.

Archaeoindris

Largest subfossil lemur

Apidium

OLIGOCENE - A parapithecid genus from the Oligocene, possibly ancestral to anthropoids. - Most abundant land mammal in the Fayum.

Parapithecus

OLIGOCENE - Early anthropoid primate from Egypt - Closely related to Apidium - Larger olfactory bulb than modern anthropoids - Likely greater dependence on olfaction - three premolars

Propliopithecidae

OLIGOCENE Family of catarrhine primates that inhabited Africa and Arabia in the early oligocene. 5 species, similar in size to howler monkeys.

Saadanius hijazensis

OLIGOCENE Known from a single partial skull found in Saudi Arabia near Mecca. - 2.1.2.3 - Catarrhine (Bony tube in inner ear which modern catarrhines have) - arboreal quadraped - frugivorous

Propliopithecus

OLIGOCENE Oligocene propliopithecid genus, member of the propliopithecidae, aamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Africa and Arabia in the early oligocene. Gibbon-like animal. Possibly the same creature as Aegyptopithecus.

Purgatorius

PALEOCENE - 2.1.4.3 - Insectivorous - Ankle bone a bit like primates - Bit squirrel like in shape and size - Earliest primate genus