These notes are meant to accompany labs 15 and 16. In terms of primate locomotion, you will find just about all the information you need in the lab manual. However, there's no primate taxonomy in the manual, and I also wanted to give you a synopsis of the material I presented on hominoids as a background to lab 16.
Primate Taxonomy
Note that there are two different versions of the primate taxonomy, depending on the two suborders recognized. The older classification is presented here, which is the one you are probably more likely to come across in most of the textbooks currently on the market. The newer classification identifies the two suborders as Strepsirhini and Haplorhini rather than Prosimii and Anthropoidea; the chief difference is in the place given to the tarsiers. Under the old system, they are placed with lemurs and lorises as prosimians within Prosimii; the new system places them with monkeys and apes within Haplorhini, discarding the term "prosimian." (There is still debate over whether tarsiers are in fact more like monkeys and apes than they are like lemurs and lorises; a few people would even propose giving them their own suborder, in recognition of their mix of prosimian, anthropoid, and unique characteristics.)
Primates
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Prosimii
Anthropoidea
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Platyrrhini
Catarrhini
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Lemuroidea
Lorisoidea
Tarsiioidea Ceboidea
Cercopithecoidea
Hominoidea
(Lemurs)
(Lorises, galagos) (Tarsiers)
(NWM) (OWM)
(Apes, humans)
Within the Hominoidea, we have:
Hominoidea
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Hylobatidae
Pongidae
Hominidae
(Gibbons, siamangs)
(Orangutan, gorilla, chimp, bonobo) (Humans)
Hominoid Information
Apes and Humans, Superfamily Hominoidea
Live in Africa, SE Asia (global distribution in case of humans)
15-300+ lbs; mature 10-15 years; live up to 40 (60 in captivity)
No tails, short trunk with wide chest, mobile shoulders with long arms
Complex brains, long infant dependency.
Gibbons, Family Hylobatidae -- Gibbons
and siamangs. Pair bonded,
little dimorphism; eat fruit, some leaves,
flowers, insects. Brachiation. Live
SE Asia. 11 species, one genus (Hylobates)
with four subgenera.
Orangutan, Family Pongidae -- Two species,
one on Borneo, one on
Sumatra (SE Asian islands). Highly
mobile joints; mostly frugivorous.
Fist-walking when on the ground. "Four-handed"
locomotion. Arboreal.
Solitary. Highly dimorphic. Pongo
pygmaeus.
Gorilla, Family Pongidae -- African forest
dwellers, three subspecies
(mountain, eastern and western lowlands).
The largest primate; folivorous; terrestrial with
knuckle-walking; groups have one male, several
females, babies ("female choice" social system). Highly dimorphic. Gorilla
gorilla.
Chimpanzee, Family Pongidae -- African forests.
Smaller than gorilla;
less dimorphic. Quadrupedal (knuckle-walking)
on ground, suspensory in
trees. Omnivorous. Three subspecies.
Up to 50 in groups; highly complex social organization. Very intelligent;
hunt and use tools in the wild.
Pan troglodytes.
Bonobo, Family Pongidae -- Only in Congo, south of Congo
River. Diet
similar to chimp. Not smaller than chimp, but more
slender. Relationships
develop among all combinations of group memebers; less
aggression
than in chimps. Very frequent copulation.
Locomotion like chimp, but more
frequently stand on two legs. Pan paniscus.