evolution of primates chapter 6, section 3. primates group of mammals including humans, monkeys, and...
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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