Primates

Primates

Basically arboreal adaptation

Binocular vision

Padded digits w/nails

Color vision

Primates

Order: Primates

Superfamily: Ceboidea Cercopithecoidea Hominoidea New World Monkeys Old World Monkeys Apes and Humans

Family: Pongidae Hylobatidae Hominidae Asian Great Apes Small Apes African Great Apes, Humans

Orangutan Gibbon Pan, Gorilla

Genus: Australopithecus

species: robustus, afarensis, africanus

Genus: Homo

species: habilis, erectus, sapiens

Suborder: Anthropoidea

Of all primates, Chimps and Gorillas are most like human beings.

Primates

How much are apes and humans alike?

A lot!

Comparison of Apes and Humans

Skull

Mastoid Processes

Foramen Magnum

Post cranial skeleton - pelvis, foot, femur, articulation of tibia/femur

Bipedalism: The Defining Criterion

Foramen Magnum (toward rear)

Foramen Magnum (tucked underneath)

Chimpanzee Human

Comparison of Apes and Humans

Skull capacity and type of brain

Other significant differences:

General features of skull

Facial Prognathism Pronounced

Minor

Other Skull Features

Pronounced Mid-sagittal crest

No Mid-sagittal crest

No conical mastoid process

Conical Mastoid Process

Pronounced Supraorbital torus

No Pronounced Supraorbital torus

Skull capacity:

Human 1500cc

Gorilla 500cc

Type of brain:Human brain has much larger cerebral cortex

Type of brain: