The Proliferation And The Demise Of Primate Species From The Paleocene Epoch

“A minority disputes this theory, arguing that other events-such as volcanic eruptions, sea-level changes or a series of impacts-were to blame for the spectacular loss of species that occurred at the transition between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods…”

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.

What makes a primate a primate? A primate is defined by its many incredible features. A primate is a mammal that has certain characteristics such as: flexible fingers and toes, opposable thumbs, flatter face than other mammals, eyes that face forward and spaced close together, large and complex cerebrum, and social animals. What makes a primate a primate is its characteristics. Some of the physical features primates are identified by is their teeth, snouts, eyes, ears, arms, legs, fingers, and toes. Human evolution is a big part of humans being primates, and having similar features and characteristics make humans to be considered to be a primate, but both humans and non-humans have differences.

For this assignment, I have decided to design an enclosure about the primate, Mandrill. I will, in words, describe an enclosure that will prevent these nonhuman primates from not being suited to their natural habitat needs. Throughout this assignment, I will design my very own version of a perfect enclosure that secures these primates by critically thinking of any psychological or physical problems that can occur. What also will need to partake is considering the perspective of the nonhuman primates, the zookeepers, and the visitors as well. Designing an enclosure has to be precise and detailed. I will do the best I can to be as detailed as I can be when designing this enclosure.

The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About

Within Lynne Isbell’s article The Vervets ' Year of Doom she explains the significant decrease within the vervet, an Old World monkey, population within its natural environment in Amboseli Nation Park, Kenya (Isbell, 1994, p. 128). The piece explains that the diurnal monkey’s prominently live in trees, fever trees to be specific and because of the short life span of the trees there is a strong correlation between the decreasing amount of fever trees and the large decline of

This section gave detailed explanation of how humans have changed from primates and how we are able to survive. DNA is what affects what our bodies can handle compared to what our primates could handle. Mankind is twice split off from apes and the mutation of the human apoE gene is what helps us be able to eat meat. A second mutation appeared 220000 years ago which helped humans be able to break down fats and cholesterol. DNA and the mutation of our genes is what helped us survive. This section also talks about extinction, and how Jean Leopold Nicolas Frederic Cuvier,one of the greatest naturalists believed in it, despite many people not believing in the impermanence of a species. William Buckland, a biblical geologist who

During the Eocene epoch, 47,000,000 years ago, one of our ancestors lived in what is now Germany. She was still young, her baby teeth still intact and probably less than a year old. This little girl came to a lake’s edge for a drink of water; cupping the water with her hand she slowly drank the water while holding onto a branch with her other hand. Our ancestor died there when she was overcome by an underground gas bubble that erupted, the fumes leaving her unconscious; she fell into the water and drowned. Her body slowly drifted to the bottom of the lake with a myriad of other creatures. The lake where she was buried eventually filled with mud and algae that turned into oily shale

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

The beginning of the Jurassic brought a new climate. The weather changed from arid, dry, and seasonal to humid, hot, and stable. The weather allowed for lush jungles to flourish, and with the lush jungles, the dinosaurs. The weather change was due to the supercontinent Pangea breaking apart. Two new smaller supercontinents were formed, Gondwana and Laurasia. The supercontinents now had more area that was touching the ocean. This meant the water from the ocean made the supercontinents more humid than before. The dinosaurs thrived in this climate. New species are being discovered to this day from the Jurassic Period due to the immense diversity amongst them.

Kavanagh, M. & Morris, D. (1983). Complete guide to monkeys, apes and other primates. London: Viking Press.

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum was a period of time around the Paleocene-Eocene boundary during which the Earth experienced a significant rise in temperature. As we discussed in class January 27-February 3, the PETM period conveniently coincides with primate evolution and dispersal worldwide. This period of thermal increase is important to primate evolution because this rise in temperature worldwide created an ideal, survivable environment for primates globally. This rise in temperature encouraged primates to expand their territories into areas not previously inhabitable, such as the Arctic Circle. Additionally, I believe that the PETM may have encouraged primates to evolve into broader adaptive radii in order to exploit more tropical food sources and landscapes. In general, it is acknowledged that the PETM allowed primates to become more pervasive worldwide.

While it is important to understand the significance of each hypothesis, the questions surrounding the Neanderthal extinction takes on assorted factors that are not mutually exclusive. Numerous studies have been conducted focusing exclusively on climate, competition or disease as a function of Neanderthal extinction. However, conflicting conclusion suggest that there are several factors involved that overlap and/ or arising from one another. This paper will attempt to better understand how climate, competition, and disease might operate together to account for Neanderthal extinction. First by summarizing each argument of the three arguments and identifying the potential implications for father research. Secondly, aim to develop a framework that will include the most relevant hypothesis.

Jurassic is a period of time with Dinosaurs, rodents and birds. There were also island seas consisting of sharks, sea monsters and blood-red planktons. The existing plants in that period were cycads, ferns and conifers. The Mesozoic era was about 245 million years ago to 65 years ago, so it almost lasted about 180 years in total. The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Mesozoic era means middle animals and it is the era, which the word’s fauna has changed from what is in the Paleozoic era and the most famous organisms of this era are dinosaurs. In the Mesozoic era, the extinction of more than 90 percent of species in the earth was observed and the reason behind it was mostly volcanic eruptions and climate changes. On the other hand, this era had massive changes that represented ecological niches and rise to new creatures such as rodent-size mammals and first dinosaurs. In Triassic, which was the first period of Mesozoic, the mammals and first dinosaurs existed. Later than that, the second period was Jurassic, which giant shaped dinosaurs and other kinds of dinosaurs were developed. Besides that the first flowering plants and primitive birds, with long teeth appeared in that era as well.

However, such mass extinction opens up speciation – when new species are developed. After the K-Pg extinction, new groups of organisms were on the rise. Giant boid snakes (12 – 15 meters) began appearing on land and the teleost fish (diverse class of ray-finned fish) filled marine niches left vacant. Most significantly, “Paleocene mammals would spread and evolve into the many ecological niches left open by the extinction of the dinosaurs,” (“Cretaceous: Extinction of the Dinosaurs”).