Chapter 14:
PRIMATE EVOLUTION
PRIMATES
What is a primate?
Features that are unique to primates:
-Present in primates
-Absent in closely related groups
Outgroup Ingroup
Character A present
Character A absent
Synapomorphy
What is a primate?
•Arboreal life:
Grasping hands and feet
Opposable thumb and big toe
Movable arms
Nails
•Visual system:
Depth perception
Large brain size
•Reproductive biology:
High parental investment
Single-offspring births
Long infancy
Delayed sexual maturation
Loris
Tarsier
Lemur
New World
monkeyOld World
monkey
Ape Human
Primates: main transitions
70 Mya
60 Mya
50 Mya
40 Mya
30 Mya
20 Mya
10 Mya
Present
Insectivore or
dermopteran
ancestors
? Purgatorius †
Adapis †
Lemurs, lorises
Tarsiers
New World monkeys
Aegyptopithecus †
Old World monkeys
Proconsul †
African apes
Humans
•Arboreal life
•Nocturnal
•Insectivorous diet
•Encephalization
•Temporal lobe
•Binocularity
•Grasping hands-feet
•Diurnal
•Insectivorous and
•frugivorous diet
•Expansion of neocortex
•Fovea
•Vegetarian diet
•Sexual dimorphism
•Ground dwelling
•Vegetarian or omnivorous
•Large body size
•Long life span
? Plesiadapiformes †
?
Primate taxonomy
Order: Primates
Suborder: Prosimians
-Lemurs
-Lorises,
galagos
-Tarsiers
(Tropical forests
of Asia, Africa)
(Tropical forests of
Borneo, Sumatra,
Sulawesi, Philipines)
(Madagascar)
Autosomal gene-sequencing data
60 Mya
50 Mya
40 Mya
30 Mya
20 Mya
10 Mya
Present
New World monkeys
Old World monkeys
Gorillas
Humans
57.5 Mya
31 Mya
Chimpanzees
8 Mya
4.5 Mya
Order: Primates
Suborder: Anthropoids
-Platyrrhins
-Catarrhins
Cercopitecines
Apes
Humans
Primate taxonomy
South America
Africa, Asia, Europe
Asian apes
Gibbon
Siamang
Orangutan
Asian apes: distribution
Siamangs
African apes
Gorilla
Chimpanzee
Bonobo
Great apes: current geographical distribution
Southeast Asia
Central Africa
What is an ape?
Relative to monkeys, apes:
•Lack an external tail
•Have a more vertical posture
•Have highly flexible limbs
•Have broad chests, short lower backs, mobile hips and ankles
•Have a larger body size
•Exhibit retarded growth and reproduction
•Have larger brains than monkeys
Miocene apes (5-23 Mya)
Ape evolution
Macaques
*Proconsul
Siamangs,
Gibbons
Orangutan
*Sivapithecus
25 Mya
19 Mya
16 Mya
14 Mya
9 Mya
7-5 Mya*Dryopithecus
*Ouranopithecus
Gorilla Chimpanzee,
Bonobo Humans
Lesser apes
superfamily: Hominoidea
family: Hylobatidae Hominidae
subfamily: Ponginae Gorillinae Homininae
tribe: Panini Hominini
species: gibbons
siamangs
orangutans gorillas chimpanzees
bonobos
humans
What is a hominin?
A hominin is a bipedal ape.
Chimpanzees HomininsForamen magnum
Occipital condyle
Vertebrate column
Feet
Pelvis, lower back
Brain size
Face
Canines
Diastema
~5 Mya
Pliocene
Miocene
Behind skull Beneath skull
C-shaped S-shaped
Grasping Flat
Long Short
345-505 cm3 400-1350 cm3
In front of brain Beneath brain
Long Short
Yes No
Posture
Posture
Posture
Posture
Brain evolution
Brain evolution
Sexual behavior
Diet
Trait Function
Divergence between African apes and hominins
EARLY HOMININS
Chimp Bonobos
5-7 Mya
Sahelanthropus
tchadensis
?
?
Ardipithecus
ramidusOrrorin
tugenensis
Homo
sapiens
Bipedalism
Early speciments of uncertain hominin status
Sahelanthropus tchadensis:
*~6.5 Mya
*From Chad, central Africa (not eastern Africa!)
*Less prognathism (typical of hominids)
*Bipedalism uncertain
Orrorin tugenensis:
*~5.8 Mya
*From Kenya, eastern Africa
*Lower jaw fragment
*Bipedalism uncertain
Early speciments of uncertain hominin status
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC9aIth1ah4
Duration: 9.59 min
Ardipithecus ramidus: oldest known hominin VIDEO
Ardipithecus ramidus: oldest known hominin
Ardipithecus ramidus:
*4.4 Mya
*From Ethiopia, eastern Africa
*Bipedal locomotion
*Grasping bit toe
*Small brain
Ardipithecus ramidus: oldest known hominin
Long arms,
suggest
arboreal life
Relatively
small brainHeight:117-124 cm
Weight: 51 Kg
Opposable
big toe
Long pelvis
Relatively
small canines
Long flexible
lower back
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypEaGQb6dJk
Duration: 9.33 min
“2001, A Space Odyssey: The Dawn of Man”
(Directed by Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
VIDEO
Chimp Bonobos
5-7 Mya
Bipedalism
Australopithecus
anamensis
Australopithecus
afarensis
Robust
australopithecines
Gracile
australopithecines
*4.1 Mya
*Kenya
*3.0-3.6 Mya
*Tanzania, Ethiopia
Lucy
Basal australopithecines
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju-HoJtPkJ8
Duration: 7.27 min
Lucy VIDEO
Australopithecus
afarensis
Australopithecus
aethiopicus
Australopithecus
robustus
Australopithecus
boisei
*1.8 Mya
*Kenya
*2.5 Mya
*Kenya
*3.0-3.6 Mya
*Tanzania, Ethiopia
Robust australopithecines
*2 Mya
*South Africa
Australopithecus afarensis
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus garhi
Homo
Gracile australopithecines
*3-2 Mya
*South Africa
*3.0-3.6 Mya
*Tanzania, Ethiopia
*2.5 Mya
*Ethiopia
HOMO
Chimp Bonobos
5-7 Mya
Bipedalism
Australopithecus
anamensis
Australopithecus
afarensis
Robust Gracile
*4.1 Mya
*Kenya
*3.0-3.6 Mya
*Tanzania, Ethiopia
Homo
Stone tools
Cranial capacity > 600 ml
*2.3-2.5 Mya
*Tanzania, Ethiopia
Early Homo
Hominin evolution: a brief survey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HphLBNGCBNk
Duration: 9.30 min
Evolution - Becoming Human (Donald Johanson)
VIDEO
Oldowan technology (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, Africa)
Gracile
australopithecine
Homo habilis
H. rudolfensis
??
*1.6-1.9 Mya
*Tanzania, Kenya
H. ergaster *1.8-1.9 Mya
*Kenya
Early Homo
Homo ergaster
Homo ergaster: Acheulean technology, 1.4 Mya, Ethiopia
H. ergaster
H. erectus
*1.8-0.2 Mya
*Asia: Georgia, Java, China
*Oldowan technologyH. antecessor
*0.8 Mya
*Spain
H. heidelbergensis *0.6-0.2 Mya
*Zambia, Europe
*1.8-1.9 Mya
*Kenya
Archaic humans
Homo floresiensis
Flores Island
(Indonesia)
H. ergaster
H. erectus
H. heidelbergensis
H. sapiens
H. floresiensis
Homo floresiensis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqCZpeWd5yQ
Duration: 3:24 min
VIDEO
Homo floresiensis VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewI3i5v0LzE
Duration: 3:10 min
Island evolution
Homo neanderthalensis: reconstruction
H. heidelbergensis
H. neanderthalensis H. sapiens
*130-28 Kya
*Europe, Middle East
*Mousterian technology
*<200 Kya
*Ethiopia, South Africa,
worldwide
Recent hominid evolution
*0.6-0.2 Mya
*Zambia, Europe
Homo neanderthalensis: Culture
•Europe, Middle East
•Intentional burials
•Clothing
•Fire
•Care of the injured
•Hunting
•Brain size: 1,200-1,750 cm3
•Mousterian technology
Sapiens Neanderthal
Neanderthal Sapiens
Homo neanderthalensis: Mousterian technology, < 100 Kya, Europe
H. heidelbergensis
H. neanderthalensis H. sapiens
*130-28 Kya
*Europe, Middle East
*Mousterian technology
*<200 Kya
*Ethiopia, South Africa,
worldwide
Recent hominid evolution
*0.6-0.2 Mya
*Zambia, Europe
Denisovans
*40 Kya
*Siberia
Neanderthals, Denisovans, and Humans
https://www.ted.com/talks/svante_paeaebo_dna_clues_to_our_inner_neanderthal#t-808119
Duration: 17.01 min
VIDEO
Multiregional hypothesis
Africa AsiaEurope
Anatomically
modern H. sapiens
genes arise in
many populations
H. erectus
disperses from
Africa
Homo sapiens: the “out-of-Africa” hypothesis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSSzn4bIwZg
Duration: 3.27 min
The human lineage VIDEO
Recent discoveries
Oldowan-like stone tools
2.12 Mya, China
Zhu et al., Nature, 2018,
559, 608-612.
Oldowan stone tools
2.4-1.9 Mya, Algeria
Sahnouni et al., Science, 2018
(10.1126/science.aau0008).
Oldowan stone tools
2.5 Mya, Ethiopia, Tanzania