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Chapter 43Mammals
Section 4
Primates & Human Origins
Primate Characteristics• Prehensile appendages- hands,
feet, and tails can grasp• Large brain- allows for complex
skills- interacting socially, parental care, using hands, interpreting visual information
• Acute color vision- forward facing eyes for depth perception
Primate Characteristics• Generalist teeth- herbivorous and
omnivorous diet
• Communication- facial and vocal structure
• Infant care- infants require care- usually one pair of mammary glands on the chest
Primate Characteristics• Manual dexterity- opposable thumbs,
flattened nails protect finger pads• Social organization- live in social
groups• Characteristic skeletal structure- sit
upright, cling to trees
Anthropoids• Anthropoid primates- gibbon- New
World monkeys, Old World monkeys, apes, and humans
• Adaptations: rotating shoulder, elbow joints, opposable thumb- can touch other fingers
• Grasping feet
New World monkeys- orangeOld World monkeys- red
Anthropoids• Humans, apes, and Old World
monkeys- similar dental structures
• Anthropoids have a larger brain structure
• Great apes- orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans
Anthropoids• DNA sequence- humans are more
closely related to chimpanzee than chimpanzee related to gorilla
• DNA & fossil evidence suggest that humans and chimps share a common ancestor
• Humans did NOT descend from chimps- evolved from common ancestor
Modern Humans• Bipedalism- tendency to walk upright
on two legs• Bowl-shaped human pelvis • S-shaped spine• Toes are aligned • Large brain, smaller jaw• Apes communicate & humans reason
with communication
Hominids• Hominids- humans and extinct
humanlike anthropoid species
• Bipedalism
• All other primates are quadrupedal
Fossil Hominids• Paleontologists & anthropologists
(scientists who study humans) found fossil evidence of humanlike species
• 1974- Afar Valley region of Africa by Donald Johanson and colleagues founded a bipedal fossil of early human ancestor
Australopithecines• Australopithecus afarensis- “Lucy”
• Additional fossils of Lucy have been discovered in the same area
• Australopithecines- subfamily
Many Hominid Species• 1995- Mary Leakey- found
Australopithecus afarensis
• Similar to Lucy and chimpanzees
Humans• Humans- extinct and living
members of this genus (Homo)
Homo habilis & Homo erectus
• 1960s- hominid skull- larger brain capacity than Lucy- Homo habilis
• Homo erectus- (“upright human”)- brain capacity of 2/3 modern human size- scientists think these were the first humans to travel out of Africa
Homo sapiens & Homo neanderthalensis
• Neanderthals- Europe & Asia
• Lived in caves & made tools out of stone
• May have interacted with Homo sapiens
• H. Sapiens- first humans- France (first fossil)
Modern Humans• Mitochondrial DNA suggests
humans originated from Africa
• Interbreeding of humans helped populate the world full of the human race
REVIEW!!!• Identify which characteristics
humans share with primates and which are unique to humans.
• What kind of evidence shows that chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans?