Primate Evolutionary Tendencies

Primatology
Study of Primates
Why Primates are Mammals?
• Primates belong to sub-class of mammals that show the
presence of placenta (
• Presence of hair or fur on the body
• Presence of mammary glands.
• Presence of sweat and sebaceous glands
• Four types of teeth – Incisors, canines, premolars and

molars
Why Primates are Mammals?
• Presence of diaphragm which separates body cavity into
anterior thorax and posterior abdomen
• Presence of external ear-pinna
• Aneucleated and circular RBCs
• Warm blooded nature – homeothermy
• Four chambered heart

• Vivipary, the development of young ones take place in
uterus
CLASSIFICATION OF ORDER PRIMATES
GUISHING PROSIMI FROM ANTHROPOIDEA

Primate Evolutionary Tendencies
What makes a primate a primate?
Why Study
Evolutionary Trends?
• What makes a primate a primate?
• Defining primates like other taxonomical groups on the

basis of morphological or anatomical characteristics is
extremely difficult - Why?
• Primates lack distinguishing bodily specializations like other
mammalian groups
• Primates exhibit amazing variety of forms and grades of
organization - Size, Habitat, Behavior etc..
• The best and most useful solution to the problem of a

definition was devised by one of the foremost primate
anatomists, Sir Wilfred E. LeGros Clark.
Nature of Trends
Though there are ten trends, there are related to three
principle areas…
1. Limbs and extremities (1-3)
2. Head‐ eyes, brain and dentition (trends 4‐8)
3. Life cycle‐reproduction, growth, and longevity (trends 9 & 10)
• These are trends and not characteristics. Hence are not

uniformly present, but are expressed to varying degrees
among the members of the order.
• As a rule, except for the first one, these trends are less well
developed in the living prosimians and in fossil forms than
in the more advanced, modern Higher Primates.
Nature of Trends
• They are all interrelated and adaptive to a mode of
life which has been the outstanding factor in
primate evolution‐the arboreal habitat.
• Other mammals have taken up arboreal life but
none have done it in exactly the same way.
• Many of man's characteristics are simply
refinements of a basic primate pattern that evolved
millions of years ago in response to the necessities
of arboreal living.
Evolutionary Trends
1. The preservation of a generalized structure of the limbs -
like primitive pentadactyly, and the retention of certain
elements of the limb skeleton (such as the clavicle) which
tend to be reduced or to disappear in some groups of
mammals.
2. An enhancement of the free mobility of the digits,

especially the thumb and big toe (which are used for
grasping purposes).
3. The replacement of sharp compressed claws by flattened

nails, associated with the development of highly sensitive
tactile pads on the digits.
!
Clavicles
Power & Precision Grip
Thumb & Opposobility
Nails & Friction Ridges
Various levels of opposability
Primate Trends
4. The progressive abbreviation of the snout or
muzzle.
5. The elaboration and perfection of the visual
apparatus with the development to varying
degrees of binocular vision.
6. Reduction of the apparatus of smell.
Reduction in Sense of Smell &
Increase in visual cortex
Binocular Vision
Stereoscopic Vision
Front-facing orbits
Primate Trends
7. The loss of certain elements of the primitive
mammalian dentition (3:1:4:3), and the
preservation of a simple cusp pattern of the molar
teeth.
8. Progressive expansion and elaboration of the
brain, affecting predominantly the cerebral cortex
and its dependencies.
n fit in when the mouth closes. In animals with large canines there is usually a gap or
he upper second incisor and the upper canine for the large lower canine to fit. The cro
premolar is sectorial (slanted back with a sharp edge) so that the tip of the upper c
Dentition
and is sharpened or honed by the grinding that occurs.
Dental Formulae & Number of Teeth in Various Living Primates

Dental Formula No. of
Group
Permanent Teeth
Lemuridae 2‐1‐3‐3/2‐1‐3‐3 36
Indridae 2‐1‐2‐3/2‐0‐2‐3 30
Lorisoidea 2‐1‐3‐3/2‐1‐3‐3 36
Tarsioidea 2‐1‐3‐3/1‐1‐3‐3 34
Cebidae 2‐1‐3‐3/2‐1‐3‐3 36
Callithricidae 2‐1‐3‐2/2‐1‐3‐2 32
Cercopithecoidea 2‐1‐2‐3/2‐1‐2‐3 32
Hominoidea 2‐1‐2‐3/2‐1‐2‐3 32
Dental Comb in Lower Primates
Diastema
The diastema is a tooth gap found in Old World monkeys and apes.
A diastema is located between the upper second incisor and the upper canine
to accommodate the large lower canine so the jaw can close comfortably.
Molar Cusps
Old World monkeys
have four cusps and
apes and humans
have five. It would
seem that the
increased number of
cusps would be for a
specialized diet of
more plant material.
Raised surfaces of the molar teeth are cusps. When the upper and
lower surfaces of these teeth come together they provide an excellent
grinding surface for tough and fibrous, food-like plant material.
Legacy haunts…
Increasing brain size & complexity
in cortical area
Brain
Primate Trends
9. Progressive and increasingly efficient
development of those gestational processes
concerned with the nourishment of the fetus
before birth.
10. Prolongation of postnatal life periods.
Anthropology Paper 01 ‐ Volume
have multiple nipples for nursing their young; the Higher Primates typically have a single pair located o
the chest. Since only one infant is usually born at a time, its survival is more critical and features th
Growth & Development
enhance its chances of survival have evolved. One of these is a more efficient type of placenta that permi
a closer contact between the fetal and maternal blood supplies. Going from the Lower to the High
Primates and from monkeys to apes to man, there is a regular and well‐marked trend for a lengthening
the period of growth and development and an accompanying delay of maturation. As a result, there is
longer gestation period, an increasing immaturity of the infant at birth, a longer postnatal growth perio
and a later attainment of sexual maturity. The extreme expression of this trend is seen in man who
growth period lasts for about twenty years.
Comparative Data on Growth & Development
Age at sexual
Species Gestation Length of growth period
maturity
Rhesus Monkey 5 ½ months 2‐3 years 7‐8 years
Chimpanzee 7 ½ months 8‐9 years 11‐12 years
Man 9 months 13‐15 years 20‐21 years
This Table gives some comparative figures for a cercopithecoid monkey (the rhesus macaque), an ap
(the chimpanzee), and man. There is also an apparent increase in longevity that goes with the lengthenin
of the pre‐adult phases of life, but this is difficult to document in wild primates.
The fact that the Higher Primates are helpless and immature at birth and take a long time to rea
adulthood means that their learning period is greatly expanded. The delayed maturation also affec
Post Natal Dependence

Primate Evolutionary Tendencies

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Primatology

• Presence of hair or fur on the body

• Presence of mammary glands.

• Presence of sweat and sebaceous glands

• Four types of teeth – Incisors, canines, premolars and

• Presence of external ear-pinna

• Aneucleated and circular RBCs

• Warm blooded nature – homeothermy

• Four chambered heart

GUISHING PROSIMI FROM ANTHROPOIDEA

• Defining primates like other taxonomical groups on the

• The best and most useful solution to the problem of a

• These are trends and not characteristics. Hence are not

2. An enhancement of the free mobility of the digits,

3. The replacement of sharp compressed claws by flattened

Dental Formulae & Number of Teeth in Various Living Primates

Comparative Data on Growth & Development

Rhesus Monkey 5 ½ months 2‐3 years 7‐8 years

Chimpanzee 7 ½ months 8‐9 years 11‐12 years

Man 9 months 13‐15 years 20‐21 years

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