Evolution of Primates

Chapter 6, Section 3

Primates

Group of mammals including humans, monkeys, and apes.

Characteristics of Primates

Opposable Thumb– Allows grasping

Binocular Vision– Allows depth perception

Flexible shoulders and rotating forelimbs

2 Major Groups of Primates

Prosimians– Includes lemurs and tarsiers

Anthropoids– Includes monkeys, apes, and humans

Hominids

Humanlike primatesAppeared between 4 and 6 million

years ago

Characteristics of Hominids

Ate both meat and plantsWalked upright on two legsShared characteristics with

gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees

Had a larger brain than apes

Early Hominids

Early 1920’s – a skull with a small brain case but

humanlike jaws and teeth was found in South Africa

– named Australopithecus– One of the oldest hominids discovered

Early Hominids

1974– an almost complete Australopithecus

skeleton was found in northern Africa– named Lucy– Indicated that Lucy walked upright

Early Humans

Homo habilis– Found in Africa in the 1960’s– Even more similar to modern humans– Also found simple tools– Estimated to be 1.5 to 2 million years

old– Thought to be an early human

ancestor

Early Humans

Homo erectus– Thought to be a descendant of homo

habilis– Thought to live 1.6 million years ago– Had a larger brain than homo habilis– Thought to have traveled from Africa

to Southeast Asia, China, and possibly Europe

Humans

Homo sapiens– Evolved about 400,000 years ago

Humans

Neanderthals– Lived about 125,000 years ago– Physical characteristics:• short, thick bones, small chins, heavy

browridges

– Lived in family groups in caves and hunted large animals with stone tools.

– Disappeared from the fossil record about 30,000 years ago.• May have been a side branch on the

human evolution tree

Humans

Co-Magnon Humans– Lived from about 10,000 to about

40,000 years ago.– Lived in Europe, Asia, and Australia– Physically resembled modern humans– Lived in caves, made stone carvings

and cave drawings, and buried their dead

– Thought to be the direct ancestor of early humans, Homo sapiens.

Humans

Modern species:– Homo sapiens sapiens