Transcript Evolution of Primates - Power Point Presentation

Evolution of Primates
Including Humans
First mammals – about 200 million years ago (about time of 1st dinosaurs)
Large eyes = nocturnal
About size/lifestyle of modern shrew
Little change for 130 million year other than divergence into
three major groups
Monotremes – lay eggs (eg. duck-billed platypus)
Marsupials – pouched mammals (most now restricted to Australia)
Placentals – have placenta – circulatory connection to fetus throughout
pregnancy
Early Evolution of Primates
Paleocene (65 mybp) – first primate Purgatorius in what is now
Montana --- mouse sized, probably insectivore
Eocene (55-34 mybp) – origin of ‘euprimates’ (modern-like,
‘true’ primates) in Africa, spread to N.America, Europe, Asia
Two families – both similar to modern prosimians
(like lemurs & tarsiers)
Oligocene (34-22.5 mybp) – first anthropoid primates. Fossils from
north east Africa – two families
Propliopithecid likely ancestors to Old World Primates
Parapithecid – likely ancestor to New World Primates
At about this time, anthropoids start showing up in New World
recurring land bridges, continents much closer then
Miocene Hominoid evolution
23 – 5 mybp
Hominoids – lesser apes (e.g. gibbons), apes & humans
Primitive hominoids include animals like Proconsul a ‘dental ape’
Several animals of this time are likely ancestors to modern apes
Sivapithecus – very similar to modern orang utan
Pliopithicid – possible ancestor to gibbons
Gigantopithecus (8mybp)– largest primate at 2-3x gorilla size (Asia)
Ouranopithecus (9mybp) – ancestor to Australopithecus
Early Hominids (people)
Pliocene-Pleistocene (5 – 1 mybp
Australopithecus anamensis (4.17 – 4.07 mybp)
Australopithecus afarensis “Lucy” (3-4 mybp)
A. africanus – (1.5 – 2 mybp)
Australopithecus/Paranthropus boisei (1 - 2.5 mybp)
Homo
Homo habilis (2mybp) – first stone tools – (species?)
probably a transitional animal between Australopiths and Homo erectus
Homo erectus (1.8 – 0.3 mybp) – migrated out of Africa – occurred in
Java & China, Soviet Union, Europe – improved stone tools – FIRE!
Homo continued…
Archaic Homo sapiens (including Neanderthal) complicated & varied
stone tools 400,000 – 33,000 yrs ago – larger brain than moderns,
no chin (none before modern) – likely not capable of speech as we
know it.
Fully modern Homo sapiens – 200,000 yrs ago (mitochondrial DNA)
Another hypothesis = gradual evolution from several interbreeding site
Moderns – first member of group to bury dead
Recent evidence
Anatomically modern humans in Israel 100,000 yrs ago (Stringer)
This would pre-date some Neanderthal populations – thus
Neanderthal may not be in our direct lineage