Primates and Their Relatives in Phylogenetic Perspective

Primates and Their Relatives in Phylogenetic Perspective PDF

Author: Ross D.E. MacPhee

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1489923888

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This unique volume investigates the relationships of primates at the ordinal and higher classificatory levels from a variety of interdisciplinary viewpoints. Individual chapters examine the origin and evolution of gliding in early Cenozoic Dermoptera, the ontogeny of the tympanic floor in Archontans, the role of the neurosciences in primate evolutionary biology, and many other subjects. The work will be of particular interest to primatologists, zoologists, and systematists.

Phylogeny of the Primates

Phylogeny of the Primates PDF

Author: W. Luckett

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 488

ISBN-13: 1468421662

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The past decade has witnessed a tremendous surge of interest in varied aspects of primate biology, encompassing virtually all disciplines of the biological sciences. Regardless of whether these studies have been approached from a paleontological, morphological, developmental, biochemical, neuroanatomical, or behavioral point of view, one under lying theme has been a common interest in the possible phylogenetic relationships suggested by the results of such studies. In some cases, sound taxonomic principles have not been followed in the interpretation of these data, and this has led to skepticism among many taxonomists with regard to the validity of some of the genealogical relationships and conclusions suggested by comparative studies of living primates. It is generally agreed that the fossil record alone provides the essential time dimension for directly observing changes in characteristics, but unfortunately this record is limited both in the number of genera represented and particularly in the incomplete nature of the available preserved material. On the other hand, extensive comparative analyses of numerous characteristics in living primates have provided additional insight into possible phylogenetic relationships, despite the lack of a time dimension. Such studies of both fossil and living primates are enhanced considerably by a cladistic analysis of the probable primitive (ancestral) or advanced (derived) condition of each character state discussed, based upon their distribution (and ontogeny, wherever possible) in a wide variety of primate and nonprimate taxa, including other eutherian mammals, marsupials, mono tremes, and reptiles.

Primate Phylogeny from a Human Perspective

Primate Phylogeny from a Human Perspective PDF

Author: Klausdieter Bauer

Publisher: VCH Publishers

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

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Comparative Determinant Analysis of 69 primate plasma proteins reveals 321 antigenic determinants for phylogenetic inference. These determinants, which are discrete characters with innate phylogenetic polarity, suggest paraphyletic cladogenesis of strepsirhine prosimians and of New World monkeys, and firmly establish the chimpanzee as man's closest relative. Divergence dates of primate clades are estimated by the molecular clock approach.

Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution

Primate Origins: Adaptations and Evolution PDF

Author: Matthew J. Ravosa

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-01-05

Total Pages: 846

ISBN-13: 0387335072

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This book provides a novel focus on adaptive explanations for cranial and postcranial features and functional complexes, socioecological systems, life history patterns, etc. in early primates. It further offers a detailed rendering of the phylogenetic affinities of such basal taxa to later primate clades as well as to other early/recent mammalian orders. In addition to the strictly paleontological or systemic questions regarding Primate Origins, the editors concentrate on the adaptive significance of primate characteristics. Thus, the book provides the broadest possible perspective on early primate phylogeny and the adaptive uniqueness of the Order Primates.

Species, Species Concepts and Primate Evolution

Species, Species Concepts and Primate Evolution PDF

Author: William H. Kimbel

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-12-18

Total Pages: 561

ISBN-13: 1489937455

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A world of categones devmd of spirit waits for life to return. Saul Bellow, Humboldt's Gift The stock-in-trade of communicating hypotheses about the historical path of evolution is a graphical representation called a phylogenetic tree. In most such graphics, pairs of branches diverge from other branches, successively marching across abstract time toward the present. To each branch is tied a tag with a name, a binominal symbol that functions as does the name given to an individual human being. On phylogenetic trees the names symbolize species. What exactly do these names signify? What kind of information is communicated when we claim to have knowledge of the following types? "Tetonius mathewzi was ancestral to Pseudotetonius ambiguus. " "The sample of fossils attributed to Homo habzlis is too variable to contain only one species. " "Interbreeding populations of savanna baboons all belong to Papio anubis. " "Hylobates lar and H. pileatus interbreed in zones of geographic overlap. " While there is nearly universal agreement that the notion of the speczes is fundamental to our understanding of how evolution works, there is a very wide range of opinion on the conceptual content and meaning of such particular statements regarding species. This is because, oddly enough, evolutionary biolo gists are quite far from agreement on what a species is, how it attains this status, and what role it plays in evolution over the long term.

Functional Affinities of Man, Monkeys, and Apes

Functional Affinities of Man, Monkeys, and Apes PDF

Author: S. Zuckerman

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-07

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1000063704

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Originally published in 1933 Functional Affinities of Man, Monkeys and Apes gives a taxonomic and phylogenetic survey and the findings of diverse experimental investigations of lemurs, monkeys, and apes. The book discusses the inter-relationships of different Primates and emphasizes seldom-used approaches to the question of primate phylogeny. The book attempts to show how little they have been systematically tried, and argues for a regard to the proper place of functional investigations in the study of the classification and evolution of Primates. This book will be of interest to anthropologists, scientists and historians alike.

Primate Origins and Evolution

Primate Origins and Evolution PDF

Author: Robert D. Martin

Publisher:

Published: 1990

Total Pages: 804

ISBN-13: 9780691085654

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This unique book carries out a comprehensive reconstruction of the evolutionary history of living and fossil primates. The text takes a comparative approach and covers the broadest possible spectrum of evidence. Although emphasis is placed on reviews of the anatomical characteristics of such species seen in a functional context, attention is also given both to evidence from the chromosomal level and to comparative molecular evidence. The tree-shrews, once thought to provide an approximate model for the ancestral primates, are repeatedly shown to differ from them significantly in key features. The primary objective throughout the book is the identification of such key characteristics in the earliest primates and investigation of the fate of these features during the subsequent evolution of the group. The major events of human evolution are examined in a broad evolutionary context, thus avoiding the ad hoc arguments that commonly result from narrow comparisons. This book will be of special interest to advanced students of anthropology and zoology, in particular to primatologists and evolutionary biologists and those concerned with mammals generally. Since technical terminology has been explained throughout, the book will also be accessible to a wide audience of people interested in primate evolution.

Primate Societies

Primate Societies PDF

Author: Hans Kummer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1351496654

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In this book, Hans Kummer, one of the world's leading primate ethologists, examines the patterns of social interaction among primates. He examines this social behavior from the fundamentally biological viewpoint of evolutionary adaptation as part of the survival mechanisms for the species. Recognizing that all activity is constituted in part of genetic programming and in part of adaptive behavior, he explores the borderline area between the genetic and the "cultural." By use of astute observation and clever experimentation he shows that many aspects of social behavior are inherited, and differentially inherited among various primate groups. These data also show, however, that the individuals and troops learn much in primate social life and that these forms are responsive to particular ecological situations. Drawing heavily on knowledge gleaned from his own well-known studies of the Hamadryas baboon, Dr. Kummer introduces the reader to the daily life of a particular primate society. From this sample case, he proceeds to a more general characterization of primate societies, using as examples the great apes and monkeys of Africa, Asia, and South America and particularly the widely studied terrestrial monkey species. The particularities of primate communication, social structure, and economy are described and special attention is devoted to the primate counterparts of kinship and age groups-behavioral differences based on age and sex, and mating and grouping systems. This is followed by a chapter dealing with the ecological functions of the major parameters of primate social life, such as group size and the coordination of activities within it-dominance, leadership systems, and spatial arrangements. The second part of the book is concerned with the origins of behavioral traits of primates, discussed from phylogenetic, ecological, and cultural points of view, again using data-based examples. Dr. Kummer explains why some traits have not evolved that would have been ada