Class Slides Set 14
Primates: A Closer Look at
the Great Apes
Tim Roufs’ section
Pongids:
”The Great Apes”
Primate taxonomic classification
Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 123
Hominoidea
Family
Genus / Species
Hylobates
gibbon
Pongids
orangutan
chimpanzee
gorilla
(“great apes”)
Hominids
Pongids (Great Apes)
• orangutan
(Pongo)
• chimpanzee
• gorilla
(Gorilla)
(Pan)
Prehistoric Primates
The three “great apes”
(chimpanzees, orangutan, gorillas)
probably share a common
ancestor with hominids . . .
Prehistoric Primates
. . . although scientists still
debate
• The approximate time of
separation
• The physical nature of the
ancestral lineage
Prehistoric Primates
The chimps and gorillas
probably split from the
human line
ca. 7-5 mya
(and the orangutans ca. 16-13 mya)
Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 33
Apes
Apes are quite variable:
A. Physically . . .
B. Behaviorally . . .
Apes
A. Physically . . .
apes differ in size, ranging
from the small gibbon to
the huge gorilla . . .
gibbons
humans
bonobos
orangutans
chimps
gorillas
Campbell and Loy, Humankind Emerging, 8th ed, p. 138f
Apes
Some apes, like the gorilla,
have considerable “sexual
dimorphism” -- other apes
have only a little . . .
Glossary
Sexual dimorphism –
characteristic anatomical
(and behavioral) difference
between the males and the
females of a species
Apes
B. The apes vary
behaviorally:
• some are “open” others are
“closed” groups
• some are “territorial” some
are not
Glossary
Confusing concepts:
“territory” . . .
“home range” . . .
“home base” . . .
Glossary
Confusing concepts:
“territory” . . .
• the area occupied and
defended by individuals or
groups of animals against
“conspecifics”
Glossary
conspecifics —
members of the same
species
Glossary
Confusing concepts:
“territory” . . .
“home range” . . .
“home base” . . .
Glossary
home range = total area used
The area a primate group uses
for foraging, sleeping, and so on
in a year
Home Range
Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 142
Chimpanzee and Bonobo Habitats
Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 155
Glossary
Confusing concepts:
“territory” . . .
“home range” . . .
“home base” . . .
Glossary
Home base = camps
where hominid groups gather
at evening for socializing,
food sharing, and sleeping
Apes
Apes
(for the most part)
are “vegetarians” . . .
(actually they’re “frugivors” / ”herbivores”)
Prehistoric Cultures
Diet classifications:
• herbivorous (plants)
• insectivorous (insects)
– frugivorous
(fruits)
– graminivorous
• carnivorous
• omnivorous
(grasses)
(chiefly meats)
(all of the above)
Apes
but chimpanzee has been
observed hunting and eating
meat . . .
Apes
Gombe chimpanzees devote
about 10% of their time to
the pursuit and consumption
of game
Apes
chimpanzees usually hunt
cooperatively and share their
game
Apes
in fact, if a chimpanzee can
not get others to join in, it
will abandon the hunt
-- Marvin Harris 1989, p. 38
Apes
three to nine chimpanzees
surround the prey animal
Apes
throughout the killing,
distributing, and consuming
prey animals, chimps display
an unusual level of social
interaction and excitement
Apes
chimpanzees hunt twentythree species of mammals
...
Apes
. . . including monkeys,
baboons, galagos [“bush baby”],
bush ducks, brush pigs, duikers
[small African antelopes], mice, rats,
squirrels, shrews, mongooses,
and hyraxes
-- Marvin Harris 1989, p. 37
Apes
Why?
Apes
. . . to consume nutritious
food on the ground not
exploited effectively by fourhanded, tree-dwelling apes
-- Marvin Harris 1989
Apes
Baboons prefer
• meat first
• roots, seeds, fruits, and
flowers second
• and leaves and grass third
-- Marvin Harris 1989, 37
Apes
and chimps have been
known to kill and eat other
chimp’s children
Apes
aggression . . .
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050209_warfrm.htm
Glossary
REM: “aggression” is always
against conspecifics —
members of the same
species
Apes
Aggression?
“Nature” – Biology
(inherited)
“Nurture” – Culture
(learned)
Apes
many major evolutionary
trends relate to “brachiation”
/ semi-brachiation, and
upright orientation
Glossary
brachiation —
an arboreal locomotor pattern
featuring manual swinging from
branch to branch
Glossary
arboreal —
living in or among trees
Skeleton of a brachiator (gibbon)
Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 121
Brachiation
The Primates, Time-Life (1974), p. 72
White-handed gibbon
Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 131
Brachiation
Ape and Monkey Arm Movements
Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 108
Primate (Macaque) hand
Skeleton of a vertical clinger and leaper (indri)
Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 121
Skeleton of an arboreal New World monkey (bearded saki)
Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 121
Ape Locomotion
Knuckle-walking
Next: Bipedalism
Legs/Feet and Pelvis