Primates : Humans And Humans

Monkeys and humans have been compared for years, we have all heard the expression “Monkey see, Monkey do”. Analyzing individual primates at the Santa Ana Zoo was quite an experience because when I use to hear monkeys I use to only picture one certain appearance and that was a brown monkey with a light brown face, and a long tail. Moneys are not just monkeys, humans aren’t just humans, and apes aren’t just apes they are all primates which is a mammal that has certain characteristics such as: flexible fingers and toes, opposable thumbs, flatter face than other mammals, have eyes that face forward and spaced close together, large and complex cerebrum, and they are also social

There are manifold stone tool industries, however there are two especially prevalent technocomplexes; the Oldowan and the Acheulean. Although perhaps not the most intricate instances of implement development, they are the oldest and describe their creators’ lifestyles; information that would otherwise be all but lost. The gradual evolution of these tools over millions of years portray a clear change in the users acclimatisation to new and varied environments, as well as their cultural adaptations. This essay will aim to analyse, through comparison, the varying behavioural adaptations of early Homonins, taking into account the factors of diet, ranging patterns, and the development of social behaviour.

In the quest to explain human origins it is necessary to find a species that bridges modern man (Homo sapiens) with the apes. To fill this gap evolutionists have set forth Homo erectus, who lived approximately 400,000 to 1.6 million years ago (Johanson and Shreeve1989). Although the distinctions are somewhat vague, below the neck, Homo sapiens and Homo erectus are practically Identical and Homo erectus was responsible for pioneering the use of standard tools (such as the hand axe), big-game hunting, and the use of fire (Johanson and Shreeve1989).

Back in the Stone Age, the early man created tools to help them do everyday tasks they needed to survive. In document #2, figure 2 shows a variety of tools and weapons created by early man such as bows, arrows, and spear throwers and so on. The materials needed to make these include bones, antlers, and teeth because they were durable. Some types of tools that early man made was sharper blades for hunting, fishhooks for fishing, and needles for sewing. In document #5, a picture shows a group of people doing tasks to help out with the community. One woman is crafting fur/skin into clothes, another woman is taking care of a child and the men are hunting for food. Without tools, these tasks would take a longer time to accomplish and would be even harder to do. Depending on the group, the cultures could be different, which could effect on how they make a

An observational study conducted, concluded that wild capuchins use anvils and stone pounding tools as a means to facilitate nut-cracking . In the study, a group of ten wild capuchin monkeys where observed in a habitat that is scarce in food, aside from palms. There are different types of palm nuts, larger ones with an oval shape and smaller ones that are as small as 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter. It is interesting to note that many different anvil sites were observed, and what is more interesting is that on the anvil sites, river pebbles were seen and since these are not usually found in the area, it can be assumed that capuchins transport their stones to the anvil sites. An abundance of palms, yet otherwise limited food, has contributed to tool use for nut-cracking becoming a common routine. As a result of the study, wild capuchins were directly observed using anvils as tools for stone pounding. Additionally, characteristic depressions on anvils as well as palm shells and stone pounding tools leftovers indicate nut-cracking. Capuchin monkey choose anvil sites that provide a flat surface to facilitate nut-cracking, often the anvils used by capuchins are made of sandstone or siltstone, but they can also be boulders and fallen trees Essentially anything in the capuchin’s vicinity, that could provide a suitable substrate. When capuchins crack palm nuts, they typically hold the selected stone using both hands and stand in a bipedal

[pic]we also noticed the different types of tools used to hunt from the lowest level to the most current level and retouched flakes prevailed during all periods we have determined by our excavations. This was a favorite weapon to hunt and perhaps used to hunt larger preys found in the area. The use of end scraper also prevailed for many years and it was probably used to tear up the skin to cover themselves in the cold winter time. Other tools were also found, but a significant lower number.

Primates have some features that support them for the arboreal life. First, primates have developed grasping extremities with the divergent hallux and nails instead of claws. These features help them grasping branches better. Second, primates have enhanced vision with the optic convergence, which helps them look straightforward. They also have postorbital bar to protect the eyes. Third, primates reduced the olfaction that is not useful for arboreal life. Fourth, comparing to the other mammals, primates have large brain consider to the body size. The large brain helps them to process the complicating reactions, and thinking. Haplorrhines primates have some unique derived traits: the loss of tapetum lucidum, which enhances the vision in the darkness; and haplorhini, which is dry external nose. The anthropoid primates have developed some derived traits. They have postorbital bar with closure, and this makes a complete bony ring surrounds the eyes. They also have fused mandibular symphysis. The Platyrrhines have the dental formula 2.1.3.3/2.1.3.3. The Catarrhines have dental formula 2.1.2.3/2.1.2.3. The Cercopithecoids have the bilophodont molars to enhance the chewing ability. The hominoids are the most developed primates, which have some derived unique traits. They have larger brain, loss of tail, longer arms than legs, broad thorax with more muscles, and highly mobile shoulder.

By examining Neanderthal tools and utensils one can gain an understanding of the complexity of

Each and every primate’s exhibit changes for climbing trees and shrubs and has evolved into two major groups: Prosimians and also Anthropoids.

Primate life on earth began about 50-55 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch, although it is unknown how many different living species of primates there on earth. One likely fact is that the major groups of primates have been discovered, two of who are the Pongo Orangutan and the Pan Paniscus Bonobo. The word Orangutan translated from Malay means “Person of the forest” this is so because there are only two places you can find an Orangutan’s: Malaysia and Indonesia. The orangutan is an official state animal of Sabah in Malaysia. There are two different types of Orangutan’s; the Bornean Orangutan, which found on the island of Borneo and the Sumatran Orangutan, which is found on the Sumatra Island. Orangutans are known as the world’s largest tree climbing mammals, unlike other primates they spend the majority of their lives on trees. Orangutan habitat consists of primary tropical rain forest and old secondary forest at low elevations. Orangutans prefer high-density climate due to their diet, which consists 65% of fruit. Bonobos have been considered humankind’s closest relative and share 98% of our DNA. Bonobos can only be found in one country: the Democratic Republic of the Congo also known as DRC. Bonobos inhabit the second largest rainforest on earth, the Congo Basin. Bonobos prefer swampy rainforests and similar to the Orangutans, Bonobos are arboreal which are adapted to living on

While the production of tools can be done by other primates, such as chimpanzees, it is nowhere near as complex as man-made tools. Other primates repurpose objects without actually creating anything. Humans can create advanced tools and use them for multiple purposes. The most basic stone tools have been dated to 2.3 million years ago in Lokalalei, Kenya. Humans started hunting large animals with wooden spears around 500,000 years ago.

However, when looking at their skulls, it was harder than expected. New World monkeys have “3 premolars and 2 or 3 molars” (O’Neil, paragraph 4). The last molar can sometimes be particularly small, or even nonexistent (Lavenda and Schultz, pg 103, Figure 4.6). We noticed that the New World monkey that we examined in class had only 2 molars, and we could clearly identify the 3 premolars. This is different from Old World monkeys, considering they “have 2 premolars and 3 molars” (O’Neil, paragraph 4). It was harder to differentiate the premolars from the molars of the Old World monkey, because most all of their molars were dull. The premolars on the New World monkey were sharper, so that made it a bit easier to distinguish premolars from molars, and therefore easier to differentiate Old World from New World. Through our thorough examination of the detention of the New and Old World monkey, we were able to conclude the true identity of the skulls.

The eight primates whose sequences were used are: Homo sapiens sapiens (modern human), Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (Neanderthal), Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee), Pan paniscus (bonobo), Gorilla gorilla (gorilla), Pongo abelii (Sumatran orangutan), Pongo pygmaeus (Bornean orangutan), and Hylobates lar (gibbon). Based on morphological similarities, it is hypothesized that Neanderthal is the most closely related species to humans. For instance, both species walk up right, have large brains, were able to develop and create tools and had spoken language—although more research is still needed to say for certain that Neanderthals did have spoken language. Additionally, it is also hypothesized that modern human and Neanderthal are both more closely related to the sister group of bonobo and chimpanzee, then to gorilla, then to the sister taxa of Sumatran orangutan and Bornean orangutan, and lastly the gibbon (the outgroup of this data). Hence, by developing the order of these eight primates through genetic data and phylogenetic character analysis, we can gain a new insight into the evolution of

Primatology has shown just how similar we are to non-human primates, who are capable of a lot more than we originally thought. From a young age primates learn from adults how to make and use tools to help them with hunting or doing a certain activity. For instance, it was stated in the textbook that Chimpanzees have been known to put long sticks into a termite hole, wait a few minutes, and then pull the stick out to eat the termites that attached to it. All of these require dexterity, which is often seen as a human trait. They also use twigs to clean their teeth, very similar to the way humans use dental tools to clean their teeth.

Homo habilis is thought to have mastered the Lower Paleolithic Olduwan tool set which used stone flakes. These stone flakes were more advanced than any tools previously used, and gave H. habilis the edge it needed to prosper in hostile environments previously too formidable for primates.