Anthropology Daily Notes.docx - Anthropology Notes...

Anthropology Notes
Primatotology-The study of fossils and living organisms like moneys apes, including thier social
life and behavior. GOALS: 1. An interest in and of itself. 2. To help understand human evolution
Primatologists-Scientists who study the evolution, anatomy.
THE ORDER OF PRIMATES
Humans belong to the order Peomates.
All living primates including humans evolved from earlier primates.
Anthropologists were interested in researching primatets that were similar to human-kind.Mainly
primates who lived in the ground rather than trees. Terestrial moneys and Terestrial apes.
Bipedalism-traits just to humans
Common Primate Traits
Grasping Hands and feet, opposable thumbs
Rotating forarm
Collarbone
Large Brained
Social Living
Stereopsis
Omnivorous (eat anything)
Common Primate Skeletal Features
Mostly reflect an arboreal adaptation or heritage
Grasping hands and feet to climb branches
Clavicles provides great freedom of shoulder movment to aid in tree canopy life
Stereopisis (stereoscopic vision) allows depth perception to judge branch to branch distance.
Romer’s Rule-
A trait that evolves to maintain an existiong life form (culture) can play a major role in changing
that life form (culture).
Common Primate Hand Features
Primate hands extremely flexible and prehensile(grasping)
Nails are broad and flat instead of claws
Sensitive tactile pads on fingers, toes, heels, and palms for gripping and touch
Opposable thumbs for precise and powerful grip
Finger pads and nails help primates securely hold tree branches. The claws of non-primate
mammals enable them to dig into tree bark.
Important Secondary Effects: hand for feeding & exploring world(hand-eye coordination);
clinging to mom; grooming
Opossable big toes, give a firm grasp by nonhuman primates. A chimp foot looks like our hands.
Common Primate Vision Features

.Vision is key to survival and this sense grew at the expense of the olfactory sense.
Primate characterized by stereoscopic vision allowing accurate depth perception.
Most have color vision. Colof differentiation of fruit ripeness, sexual displays, etc.
Ehnhanced Vision-Overlapping Visual Fields(Stereoscopic)
A fully enlosed orbit helps us protect our eyes.
Smaller less projecting snouts of most primates, indicate a decreased reliance on smell
RHINARIUM-Wet nose. Animals that have this are keen on their sense of smell
Baboon’s snout remains large, because of their oversized canines(teeth) used for posturing and
defense in male-male competition.
Primate Limbs and Location
Depends on wheter adated to living in trees or on the ground:
Arboreal:tree dweling. New world monkeysd
Teresstrial:Ground-dwelling
Forelimb/Hind limb ratios vary according to mode of locomotion:
Vertical clinging and leaping
9-13-17
230 species of primates, new primates are still being discovered
Diffrence in new world and old world monkey
Platyrhini-flat nosed
Catarrhini-down-nosed
New World Monkeys
Besides nose shape and nostril position, New World Monkeys have:
3 premolars instead of 2
Prehensile tail (some not all species