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The
Diversity of The World of Life
Mammals
& Their Ancestors (Mammalia & Other Synapsida)
Primates
(Primates)
Biology
Representatives
Lemurs,
Galagos, Lorises, etc. (Strepsirhini)
Tarsiers
(Tarsii)
New World
Monkeys: Howlers, Capuchins, Squirrel Monkeys, etc.
(Platyrrhini)
Old World Monkeys, Apes, & Human
Beings (Catarrhini)
Old World
Monkeys: Mandrills, Baboons, Macaques, Rhesus,
Guenons, Langurs, Colubus, Proboscis Monkeys, etc.
(Cercopithecidae)
Lower
Apes: Gibbons (Hylobatidae)
The Great
Apes, "Ape People", & Human Beings (Hominidae)
Orangutan (Pongo)
Gorilla (Gorilla)
Chimpanzee &
Bonobo
(Pygmy Chimpanzee) (Pan)
Australopithecus
Human Beings (Homo species)
Homo habilis
Homo erectus
Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis)
Modern Humans (Homo sapiens)
Biology
ENVIRONMENTS
Primates originally evolved
for life in the treetops, relatively safe from the many predators on the
ground.
DESCRIPTION
Primates have five fingers and toes, usually with
"opposable" (grasping) thumbs and finger- and toe-nails.
The usually large eyes face forwards, for "stereoscopic"
(3-D) vision, particularly important for navigating through the
treetops. The snout is usually small; moreover, the development of
portions of the brain originally devoted to the sense of smell (more
important for species down on the ground than up in the air) are typically
overtaken by the development of portions of the brain devoted to higher
thinking.
"Catarrhines" (Old World monkeys, apes, and
people) have a large brain, an at least partially hairless face, nostrils
that lie close together and point downwards, two "premolar"
teeth, and no "prehensile" (grasping) tail (as in New World
monkeys).
Old World monkeys (such as macaques, baboons, and
mandrills) walk on all fours, when not sitting on the hard, often colorful pads
on their rump. Their teeth
are often adapted for grinding tough foods; but there are also large, pointed
"canine" teeth, used for defense.
Apes (gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees) have
very large brains, particularly in relation to their body size. Although
they have no tail, apes are well adapted to their life
in the rainforests: Their feet readily grasp limbs; and their long
arms, with long-fingered hands, and broad, muscular chests are highly
effective for swinging through trees.
The powerful skulls and muscular jaws of apes are especially
adapted for chewing-up plants and other coarse foods; and formidable "canine"
teeth serve well in defense.
Human beings have feet, legs,
and an elegantly curved backbone especially adapted for an upright stance and a "bipedal
gait" (walking on two feet).
Our
skull is less massive than that of apes (or of extinct "ape
people") -- we often soften our foods by cooking them: Humans,
and only humans, have harnessed the power of fire, for various profitable
purposes.
We use our grasping hands to
fashion all sorts of tools, with which we make even more complicated
tools, including such defensive (and offensive) weapons as knives, guns, and nuclear weapons
-- the
canine teeth of human beings are much smaller than those of apes.
Although human beings often
focus on their "racial" differences and although cultural differences do exist, there is
actually more variation within so-called races of human beings than
between
so-called races of human beings: Genetically
speaking, there are no such things as races of human beings -- we are all
of the same species, Homo sapiens.
FEEDING HABITS
Human beings are
"omnivorous" -- we can eat almost anything edible -- a
distinct advantage for a species that evolved in a difficult environment
(the African savanna, according to most of the fossil evidence).
COORDINATION
Pound for pound, primates -- and, in particular, human beings
-- have the largest and perhaps most
complicated brains in the Animal Kingdom
(Only the brain of a dolphin or other cetacean is perhaps more complexly
folded).
Human societies coordinate the behavior of individuals over space and
time by such means as languages: The beginning of a
civilization is generally dated from its invention of writing.
Although arthropods
(particularly the insects) are the most dominant group of animal
life on Earth, ours has become the most dominant single species on the
planet.
Additionally, as
evidenced by the fossils of prehistoric Neanderthals, truly human beings have always tended to care for the sick or old amongst
our numbers; and even after the death of loved ones, most people have
naturally shown a concern for their well-being, as by providing
burial grounds and ceremonies for an "afterlife".
At
our best, we human beings are the most humane species on Earth; at our
worst, the gravest threat to the very existence of all life on Earth.
I
am happy to be human, and I hope you are too.
Representatives
Mammals
& Their Ancestors (Mammalia & Other Synapsida)
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