Physical Anthropology Exam 2

Front 1

Primate Adaptations (3)

Back 1

primate unique set of trait are adaptation to:

• Arboreal Hypothesis(living in tree)
• Visual Predation Hypothesis(preying on insect)
• Angiosperm Radiation(response to available fruit and flower)

Front 2

Arboreal Hypothesis

Back 2

Stereoscopic vision and grasping hands are adaptations to life in the trees

Front 3

Visual Predation Hypothesis

Back 3

Stereoscopic vision and grasping hands are adaptations for catching small insects and moving prey

Front 4

Angiosperm Radiation

Back 4

Stereoscopic vision and grasping hands are adaptations for feeding on small fruits, seeds, and berries

Front 5

Life History Traits

Back 5

Primates are on a much slower trajectory (even in smallest primates)

Expansion of neocortex- much larger than other mammals (primates have larger brains)

Single offspring

Front 6

Lemuroidea (Lemurs)

Back 6

Only native in Madagascar
o Cheirogalidae (dwarf lemurs)
o Lemuridae (true lemurs)
o Indriiae (sifakos and indri)
o Doubentoniidae (aye-eye)

Front 7

Lorisoidea (Lorises and Galagos)

Back 7

Native to tropical Africa, India
o Lorisdae (Lorises)
o Galagonidae (galagos aka “bush babies”)
o Nocturnal and solitary

Front 8

Superfamily Toarsioidea (Tarsiers)

Back 8

o Found in Indonesia and the Philippines
o An “in between speices”
o Both primitive and derived traits
• Nocturnal
• Highly carnivorous (insects, snakes, lizards)

Front 9

Platyrhine Characteristics

Back 9

• Small body size
• Three premolars (2-1-3-3) dental formula
• Ectotympanic ring
• Arboreal
• Prehensile tails (precision grip)

Front 10

Jane Goodall

Back 10

• Later Studies of chimpnzee
o 1960-
o More focused on social structure and ecology

Front 11

Behavior Ecology

Back 11

Relationship between behavior and natural environment
Biological systems have evolved together
Certain behaviors increase reproductive fitness

Front 12

Social Structure

Back 12

o Composition, size and sex ratio of a group of animals
o Varies depending on environmental factors
• Result of natural selection
• Influences social relationships and interaction

Front 13

Body Size and Diet

Back 13

o Body size influences diet
o Type of diet influences behavior
• Insectivores
• Frugivores
• Folivores
• Omnivores
• Gumivores

Front 14

Distribution of Resources

Back 14

Amount of food resources available
Seasonal availability
Patchy vs. plentiful
Availability of water

Front 15

Predation

Back 15

o Vulnerability to predation
o Number of predators
*both may determine group size

Front 16

Activity patterns

Back 16

o Diurnal
o Nocturnal

Front 17

Solitary Social Structure

Back 17

*Ancestral trait
Females and males occupy different, but overlapping territories

Benefits:
Males provide essential services for the females (e.g. Territorial and food defense, protecting offspring)
Females tolerate males in territory
Reduced feeding competition

Front 18

One male Polygynous Group

Back 18

o 1 resident male with many females
• Female hierarchies within the group
• Other males form “bachelor” male groups
• Attempt to access females during breeding season

Benefit: Potentially increase a male’s reproductive fitness

Downside: Must constantly fend off intruding males
• Infanticide

Front 19

Multimale Polygynous Groups

Back 19

o Many males and many females

Social dominance hierarchies
Dominant males have priority access to fertile females
Lower ranking males still mate

Benefit: Don’t have to fend off individual males

Front 20

Fission-Fusion Polygyny

Back 20

o Most complex social system
• No large cohesive groups
• Instead—temporary associations, for foraging

Benefits:
• Reduced food competition in patchy forests

Front 21

Polyandry

Back 21

o One female and multiple males
• Rare in nonhuman primates
• Tamarins and Marmosets

Benefits:
• Males can assist with caring
• Anti-predator defense (i.e. tamarins and marmosets are small in size and produce twins)

Front 22

Reproductive Strategies

Back 22

• Behavioral patterns that contribute to the individual reproductive success
o K-selected vs. R-selected
• K-Selected= few young with a lot of parental investment (typically female)
• R-Selected= many young little or no parental investment (typically male)
o Sexual selection
o Infanticide

Front 23

Primate Social Behavior

Back 23

o Dominance
o Communication
o Aggressive interactions
o Affiliative interactions

Front 24

Dominance

Back 24

Heirarchical social organization
Influenced by a number of factors:
• Higher ranking individuals
• Greater access to food and mates
• Potential for increased reproductive fitness
• Low ranking individuals mate frequently
• Developed strategies for increasing mating opportunities
• Rank can change (e.g. death)

Front 25

Communication

Back 25

Conveys meaning to other individuals
-Autonomic (hair on back)
-Intentional

Primates communicate in many ways
• Gestures
• Facial expressions
• Displays
• Vocalizations

Front 26

Aggressive Behaviors

Back 26

o Usually within the context of dominance hierarchy
• Intragroup aggression
• Displacement

Front 27

Affilitive Interactions

Back 27

o Grooming
• Allogrooming (grooming of others)
o Physical contact (hand holding)

Front 28

Mothers, Father and Infants

Back 28

o Mothers and Infants
• Basic social unit
• Infants learn social and maternal behaviors
• Alloparenting (other females caring for young; learning maternal instincts)

Front 29

Primate Cultural Behavior

Back 29

o Cultural behavior is learned (nut cracking; ORGUTANS termite fishing; JAPANESE MACAQUEwashing sweet potatoes; rice in water)
• SHARED LEARNED BEHAVIOR on to others in the group THRU OBSERVATION
• Varies regionally

Front 30

Termite fishing

Back 30

• CHIMPNZEE modify twigs and leaves
• Even before a mount is in sight
• Insert the twig into a termite mound
• Twigs are covered with termites
• Juveniles watch and learn how to “fish”

Significance
• Forethought and planning
• Modification of natural objects

Front 31

Orangutan fishing

Back 31

• Orangutan sanctuary in Borneo
• Orangutans frequently watch local fisherman
• Used the fisherman’s pole to attempt to catch fish and stab floating fruit
• Another male in the group also used a fisherman’s pole to stab fish caught in fisherman’s lines
o Significance
• Shows learning behavior and innovation

Front 32

Primate Cultural Behavior:
Capuchins

Back 32

• South America
• Use leaves to extract water from cavities in trees
• Use twigs to probe into trees

Use stones to:
• Smash foods
• Crack palm nuts
• Break open hallow tree branches and logs
• Dig for tubers

Significance: Demonstrates cultural behaviors similar to chimpanzees

Front 33

Altruism

Back 33

A behavior that benefits another while involving some risk to the performer

• Majority of acts are mothers protecting infants
• There are cases where altruistic acts occur between non-relatives
• More likely to occur if the recipient and performer share genes (even if the performer dies, that individuals genes will get passed on, and he will have increased fitness)