A Comparative Analysis Of Catarrhine And Platyrrhine Cranial Base Flexion

Foreheads began to develop in the later members of the species, most likely as a result of an expanding frontal lobe (that part of the brain that we believe controls many of our higher functions such as reasoning, foresight and concentration) (Johanson and Shreeve 1989). Homo erectus had a lighter jaw than did Homo Habilis (Johanson and Shreeve 1989).

Primates are some of the best-adapted animals in the planet. Throughout time their dentition has evolved into different patterns and forms, best fitted for their environment. From the early prosimians, to the modern men, the changes are a prime example of how diverse primates are. Throughout primate evolution, the changes in diet can be correlated with the changes in dentition patterns; however, dentition pattern can be different between male and female, and hold other purposes.

Primates first evolved from the trees of tropical forests, later to the ground. Through the times of promisians to human, many characteristics has been represented due to the adaptations to new environments and resulted in evolutionary changes. The Earth has encountered several geological and climatic changes over time. For the primates existed at that time had to adjust itself especially in body configurations and locomotion in order to better survive. It is important to be aware of this information since we are the part of occurring changes as well. Throughout the evolution owing to

There is a circumstance that has beset the understanding of evolution over time that there is no general theory involving primate evolution. Most of the theories are just mere speculation. Over the years, primates like gorillas, chimpanzees, and baboons all happened to have their turn in evolution. It was previously presumed that the taxon of interest happened to have the exact similar physiology and ecology as the analog taxon (Rafferty, 2010).The majority of the first primate species theories have been utilized because they solely share one fundamental characteristic with the hominines with the chimpanzees as the phylogenetic cousins. This paper addresses the different ecological conditions that handled the evolution of primates. It

According to the data collected, the Intermembral index for each of the six primates observed from highest to lowest is: Gibbon (127), Howler monkey (102), Baboon (94), Macaque (89), Marmoset (74), Human (69). From this grouping, the Gibbon is the primate whose IM at 127 is the highest percentage, and this indicates that their upper limbs are significantly longer than their lower limbs. In contrast, the Human, with an IM of only 69 serves as the lowest percentage of the examples given, and this instead serves to demonstrate that their upper limbs are shorter than their lower limbs. This difference in limb length between the Gibbon and the Human is significant because it helps to show how species are adapted to best fit the environments

Afropithecus is a fairly large extinct ape- 50kg, characterized by a lack of a prehensile tail, long snout with procumbent incisors, generalized limb proportions and thick molar enamel. The braincase of Afropithecus is fairly small in size compared to other Miocene apes and Old World Monkeys from the same area. The primitive characteristics of Afropithecus suggest a relation to early catarrhines- such as Aegyptopithecus. And the post-cranial fossil record suggest that it was both arboreal and quadrupedal, similar to the proconsul that Afropithecus is categorized

Primates come from the order of mammals and are defined based on the morphology of the group of animals. Morphology is the branch of biology that concerns the study of the structures and forms of various organisms based on their structural features. The study involves both the internal and external primary functions of the structures of an organism including the parts. According to the identification of primate’s family they are divided based on the generalized and the specialized features of the organisms (Russell 2015). The generalized features of the organisms are the common traits that identify the organisms to the specific family of primates. These are the characteristics that the entire organism that is considered to be primates possess

There are many species that belong as a part of the Primates; not only in today’s world, but also in a world before Homo Sapiens became advanced enough to be able to differentiate anthropomorphic traits in other species. To identify these species, specific analyses of a wide variety of characteristics had to occur. One of these characteristics being detention, or “the sizes, shapes, and number of an animal’s teeth” (Lavenda and Schultz 100). Looking at skulls of Primates that are no longer around, or maybe even still existing, can sometimes be hard to distinguish; at least if you are still learning about the shapes and sizes of each species. When unsure of which group the skull of a Primate belongs to, looking at the number and shapes of

One of the main reasons why we are so interested in the other primates is that by looking at them we can obtain some ideas of what our ancestor must have been like a few millions years ago. Even though, we are not descended from any modern-type monkey or ape, our lineage does appear to have gone through stages in which we were a medium-sized, reasonably intelligent creature with good binocular vision, hands that were good at manipulation and the ability to climb trees. An evolutionary trend in primates involves the development of offspring both before and after birth and their integration into complex social systems. Another trend in primate evolution has been toward a more elaborate brain. In addition to brain size and gestation periods,

Robert McCarthy’s reconstructed vocal tract. The basicranium is a technical term referring to the base of the skull that is necessary for speech production. The basicranium can tell us quite a bit about the position of the larynx in the vocal tract. In the recent La Chappelle cranium reconstruction of H. neandertal the cranial base angle is at 137.5°, which fits into the range of modern human variation (Mahathey). A fully arched basicranium would suggest that the H. neandertal vocal tract is anatomically modern and that they would have the full range of vowels needed to speak a modern language. This is because the basicranium flexion allows the larynx the space to emit and modify sounds(Ash and Robinson, 2011).

In the article, “Sperm Whales and Killer Whales with the Largest Brain of All Toothed Whales Show Extreme Differences in Cerebellum” the author Sam H. Ridgway studies the cerebellums of the most widest distributed whales in the world. The killer whale and the sperm whale both have huge brains, but this study suggests why the killer whales have a significantly larger cerebellum than that of the sperm whale. After collecting, measuring, and preserving the species, the skull was ready to be chipped away and the brain ready to be taken from the massive cranium. Once extracted, the brain was measured to determine the cerebellar volume: (length of cerebellum base × width of the base × height × 1/3).

Cranial kinesis describes the movement of skull bones in relation to each other in addition to movement at the joint between the upper jaw and the braincase. Anthony Herrel, Peter Aerts and Frits De Vree conducted an investigation at the University of Antwerp in Belgium on cranial kinesis. The purpose of their study was to examine the functional implications of cranial kinesis in geckos.

It wasn’t until late into my Masters that I realized how much I enjoyed Zooarchaeology. The primary inspiration behind this new-found love was a zooarchaeological project I conducted on the proximal and distal humeri in non-human primates. This investigation was conducted under the direction of Dr Christopher Stimpson and Dr Ryan Rabett at the University of Cambridge.

Male and female bottlenose dolphins shared the same or similar allometric growths in nearly all body parts and changes in body part PBMs in each stage of maturity, but the integument, shoulder and breathe muscle groups, pelvic bones, ribs, urinary bladder, fluke lobes, and head parts did not keep similar PBM in both genders; the integument, pectoral flippers, and brain grew at faster rates in females; and the axial and total muscle, lungs, and liver grew at faster rates in males, contradicting the hypothesis. A better execution to this study would have been to make a hypothesis for each body part and mass individually. With such a large amount of data originating from a broad range of sources, it is difficult to sum it up into a simple, truthful

Nelson, J. S. (2006). Fishes of the World (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. pp. 601 pp. ISBN 0-471-25031-7.