Primate Behavior And Human Primates

Primates are one of the most interesting mammals on earth, not only because of their complex social structures, but because they hold so many similar characteristics to humans. Primates are often cited as our closest living relatives and on two separate occasions I observed four separate species of primates at the San Diego Zoo that can justify their use of their physical characteristics and behaviors that may be similar as well as different to the other primates and ours.

The fundamental physical prerequisites of people , just like all organisms , are : water, for various metabolic process; foods, to provide energy, raw materials for developing entirely new living matter, as well as chemical substances required for vital reactions; oxygen, to discharge energy from foods materials; heat, to enhance chemical effects; and also pressure, to enable inhaling and exhaling” This like this article and think that it relates to . To be able to understand how humans evolved from early existence forms, we can quickly take a look at our closest relatives, the primates. Primates consist of us (Homo sapiens), the apes, the monkeys, as well as prosimians, for example, the lemur. We can easily be familiar with primate behavior

The Australopithecine are some of the earliest known hominids and they embody many characteristics that are associated with bipedalism. Bipedalism is a highly specialized and unusual form of primate locomotion that sets modern humans apart from all other living primates as we are the only extant obligate bipeds. Many evolutionary biologists and paleoanthropologists have devoted innumerable research hours to attempting to understand this unique form of locomotion and how it evolved. A number of interdependent morphological adaptations occurred over a long period of time to solve challenges posed by habitual bipedalism. As a result, there are obvious differences that exist between early and late hominin species.

Chimpanzees (Figure 1) are the closest living relatives to us, and they share 99 percent of our DNA (1). Chimpanzees have distinct group territoriality. Male chimpanzees “patrol” near the boundary between the two ranges, at that time they move very carefully and quietly, and they can cease to listen and observe the range of their neighbors. Patrolling individuals are likely to face cruel and violent

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

During my research of Orangutans and Mandrills I observed them in captivity at the San Diego Zoo. My observations included a 20 minute observation of each primate as it cohabitated with other Primates and with other members of its own species. My findings will support the research of Orangutans and Mandrills through firsthand observations.

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,

Approximately 4 million years ago a wonderful evolutionary phenomenon was happening in Africa. Early hominids, man’s ancestors, were beginning a giant leap in their evolution. These hominids were moving out of the forest and beginning to walk upright, out on the open plains (Fagan, 98). This change from quadrupedalism was the most significant adaptation that ever happened to these early hominids. It caused many adaptations that make man what he is today. This process occurred in early hominids for many different reasons, each reason helping to perfect the upright walking posture. Bipedalism is thought to have occurred because of changes in environment, feeding habits, thermal regulation, and

Throughout the conceptual yet acknowledged theories surrounding human evolutionary traits and behaviours, the exact forces that specifically promoted bipedalism are still difficult to determine. Controversy lies with the suggestion that bipedalism arose from as early as 5.8 million years ago, in the late Miocene era, but it can be scientifically defined that the first definite bipedal hominin was the Australopithecus anamensis in the Pliocene. These findings suggest that at 3.9-2.9 million years ago, bipedalism was evolving; certain conditions acted as influences upon the hominins to develop bipedality. As such, specific selection pressures have since been proposed during evolutionary studies to indicate the exact circumstances which

There has been much debate concerning the origins of bipedalism. Bipedalism, or the ability to move on two legs (eLucy, 2007) was said to have emerged due to climate change in East Africa, for sexual display purpose, to reduce exposure to sunlight, the need to use weapons and tools and many more (NOVA, 2013). There are numerous arguments associated with bipedalism as no one can be entirely sure as to what constituted to the emergence of this trait, which was first present in hominins Australopithecus Afarensis. Anthropologists claim that there is a missing link in the evolutionary lineage that makes it hard to confirm the real cause of bipedalism emergence. However, there are some models which are widely accepted by scientific world, such

“One cannot look deeply into the eyes of an animal and not see the same depth, complexity, and feeling we humans lay exclusive claim to.” - Nan Sea Love. This demonstrates how humans and animals share the same emotions and humans fail to realize it. Humans and animals interact with each other by sharing similar characteristics that include learning specific cultures, caring for others, loving one another, and many more positives qualities. Animals are able to display common human characteristics in ways that differ from the way humans do.

The first of our ancestors who had a distinct evolution of bipedalism were the A. Afarensis. By studying the bones of A. Afarensis, their bone structures from neck down are very similar to modern humans today. Their body structures like the knee joints, pelvis is adapted for walking in an upright position, and the feet have a slight arch show us that they were adapting to bipedal locomotion. “Approximately 3.7 Ma, 3 A. Afarensis individuals walked through a muddy layer of volcanic ash that preserved their foot prints after the ash hardened. A. Afarensis walked with an upright posture, with a strong heel strike and follow-through to the ball of the foot, with the hallux making last contact with the ground before push-off” (Efossil). With the

There is debate as to why our species began to walk upright. The extinction is a physical factor, as the thinning of forests and emerging of grasslands allowed the shapes of ape’s bodies to be changed to compensate for this transformation of the landscape. As with most pre-history there

Evolution is a process in which living organisms develop across a period of time (Bourrat, 2014). It also shows how one species is genetically linked to another or how it has common attributes to other organisms (Bourrat, 2014). Throughout their course of life each species will go through a process known as natural selection. Natural selection serves as an ability to pass on better genes on to the offspring in order to maintain an increasingly higher genetic code (Bourrat, 2014). Evolution in most species occurs when the organism adapts to a constantly changing environment (Bourrat, 2014). This increases not only their chances of surviving, but also their ability to reproduce (Bourrat, 2014). Throughout the constant change of hominin species it has been said that humans evolved from apes. Although, humans may not be genetically linked to apes they do share some common characteristics which is bipedal locomotion (Bourrat, 2014). Furthermore, this research paper will discuss all the different ideas that helped identify the evolution of early and modern hominins, and how the origins of bipedalism came to be.

Humans, formally known as Homo sapiens, are some of the most fascinating creatures to inhabit this planet. We as human animals possess many traits unique to our species, but one of the most remarkable traits is our upright posture and inherent inclination to walk on two legs. We share this rare trait with few organisms, who even so only express limited bipedal behaviors. Human ancestors first initiated the transition to bipedalism approximately 6 million years ago through the upright steps of the Sahelanthropus. However, Homo erectus was the first human ancestor to express full bipedality, which occurred only 1.9 million years ago. Some of the preceding forms of locomotion used by human ancestors included quadrupedalism or pronograde posture, suspensory locomotion, and knuckle-walking (Watson, 2008). These forms of motion were used not only by human ancestors such as the Australopithecus afarensis, but can also be observed in modern times in some of our close relatives, apes and chimpanzees. This transition to bipedalism was facilitated by structural changes comprised of an angled thigh bone, a more sturdy and broad pelvis, a wider patella, an S-shaped spine, and long femurs. The compilation of all of these adaptations allowed hominids to not only support their entire body weight while standing upright, but efficiently take long strides, therefore allowing them to travel greater distances. Though much is known about the implications for the transition to bipedality, the