Insectivore mammals {primate} include prosiminan, New World monkey, Old World monkey, ape, and human. Primates can learn new behaviors, are curious, are vigilant, have short attention span, easily distract, and have many stereotypical activities that last for long periods.
evolution
Primates arose from primitive insectivores in early Eocene, 65 million years ago.
Strepsirhines arose 60 million years ago. They include loris, lemur, and galago.
Haplorhines {anthropoid apes} arose 55 million years ago. They include tarsiers, bush babies, monkeys, apes, and humans.
Prosimians include Strepsirhines and early Haplorhines.
Haplorhine monkeys became Old World monkeys {Catarrhini} and New World monkeys {Platyrrhini} 40 million years ago. New World monkeys include spider monkeys. Old World monkeys (Cercopithecidae) include rhesus monkeys, capuchins, macaques, and baboons.
Old World monkeys and gibbons (Hylobates) separated 30 million years ago.
Gibbons and anthropoid apes (great apes) (hominids) (Hominidae) separated 17 to 19 million years ago. Anthropoid apes include Pongo pan with orangutans, Gorilla with gorillas, Pan troglodytes with chimpanzees, Pan paniscus {pygmy chimpanzee}, and Homo with humans. Note: An older classification put humans into a hominid family (Hominidae) and all hominids except humans into pongid family (Pongidae).
Orangutans began 16 million years ago.
Gorillas separated from orangutans 8 to 9 million years ago.
Chimpanzees separated from gorillas 6.2 to 6.7 million years ago.
A family (hominins) (Homininae) with genuses Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Ardipithecus, and Homo began 6 million years ago.
Genus Homo began 2 million years ago.
food
Primates were predators, but some are now savanna vegetarians.
society
Primates live in territorial groups of 100 or less, with males dominating females. The six species vary greatly in social organization. Primates have long maternal care of young. All primate societies have aggressive dominance systems, scaling in behavior, socialization, matrilineal social organization, and game playing.
society: signals
Social organization depends on signaling. Primates have rudimentary vocal-signal languages. For example, gibbons have 12 standardized, meaningful calls.
hands and feet
Primates can have prehensile hands and feet. They have opposing thumb and can have opposing toe. They have nails instead of claws. They have grasping hands. They developed better hand movements and hand-eye-body coordination.
movement control
In primates, posterior parietal lobe is for movement control.
DNA transposition
Primate DNA-transposition rate is lower than mice rate.
brain
Neocortex has enlarged occipital and temporal lobes.
senses
Primates have olfactory systems similar to those in other placental mammals.
senses: vision
Primates have large eyes in front in large bony sockets. They have fovea high ganglion-cell concentration.
Optic tectums see only visual-field contralateral half, unlike other vertebrates. Primates integrate binocular input in optic tectum, laminated dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, and primary visual cortex maps.
Primates have dorsolateral visual area (DL), adjacent to medial temporal lobe. They have fusiform gyrus on occipital-lobe underside.
Nocturnal visual predators, such as owls and cats, orient body so prey is in front and then move forward, using forelimbs and jaws to attack. Stereoscopic vision detects prey distance and discriminates camouflaged prey from background.
Biological Sciences>Zoology>Kinds>Primate
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Date Modified: 2022.0224