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Chapter 28
Class Mammalia
Kittis hognosed bat from Thailand weighs 1.5 g. Blue whales exceed 130 metric tons.
The earliest synapsids radiated into diverse herbivorous & carnivorous forms the pelycosaurs.
The only synapsid group to survive into the Mesozoic. Limbs positioned under the body.
One branch of cynodonts eventually led to the early therians (marsupial and placental mammals).
Cynodonts evolved:
A high metabolic rate that supported a more active life. Enhanced jaw musculature A secondary bony palate permits breathing while holding prey or chewing food.
The jaw was remodeled during the evolution of mammals from nonmammalian synapsids.
Two of the bones that formerly made up the jaw joint were incorporated into the mammalian middle ear.
Living lineages of mammals originated in the Jurassic, but did not undergo a significant adaptive radiation until after the Cretaceous.
Skin is composed of the thinner epidermis and the underlying, thicker dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals.
Hair
Coarse, longer guard hair for protection from wear and coloration.
Hair
Hair
Whiskers, vibrissae, are sensory hairs that provide tactile sense to many mammals.
Horns, like those of sheep & cattle, are hollow sheaths of keratinized epidermis with a core of bone.
Antlers, like those of deer, are branched and composed of solid bone.
During growth, they have a highly vascular soft skin called velvet covering them. Usually only males have antlers.
Glands
Mammals eat a wide variety of food. Dentition often reflects the food they eat. Heterodont dentition
Mammals also have adaptations that help them digest the different types of foods they eat.
Migration
Some terrestrial mammals, like caribou and bison, migrate twice annually between summer and winter ranges.
Migration
Many mammals can glide from tree to tree. Not powered flight. Gliding & flying evolved independently.
Bats have evolved true flight. Mostly nocturnal or crepuscular. Echolocation is used to navigate and locate food.
Territoriality
Many mammals defend a territory that includes resources such as food, shelter, or mates that is defended from others usually of the same species (conspecifics) those that would utilize the same resources.
Territoriality
A mammal usually has a larger, undefended home range that may overlap with the home range of conspecifics.
Monotremes
Monotremes are a small group of egg-laying mammals consisting of echidnas and the platypus.
Monotremes
Monotremes are oviparous mammals. Eggs have a thin, leathery shell. Babies hatch in a relatively undeveloped state. Echidnas have an abdominal pouch where they keep the young. Young feed on milk secreted by the mothers mammary glands.
Marsupials
Marsupials
Before it is a born, an embryonic marsupial receives nourishment by absorbing nutrient secretions in the uterus.
Marsupials
A marsupial is born very early in its development and completes its embryonic development while nursing within a maternal pouch called a marsupium.
Convergent Evolution
In Australia, convergent evolution has resulted in a diversity of marsupials that resemble eutherians (placental mammals) in other parts of the world.
Young eutherians complete their embryonic development within a uterus, joined to the mother by the placenta.
Primates
Primates
Most primates have hands and feet adapted for grasping. Primates also have:
A large brain and short jaws. Forward-looking eyes close together on the face, providing depth perception. Well-developed parental care and complex social behavior. A fully opposable thumb.
Living Primates
The lemurs of Madagascar and the lorises and pottos of tropical Africa and southern Asia form one group.
Living Primates
Living Primates
Primate Evolution
The oldest known anthropoid fossils are about 45 million years old.
Primate Evolution
The fossil record indicates that monkeys first appeared in the New World (South America) during the Oligocene (~36 mya). The first monkeys evolved in the Old World (Africa and Asia) about 40 mya.
Primate Evolution
New World and Old World monkeys underwent separate adaptive radiations during their many millions of years of separation.
Primate Evolution
The other group of anthropoids, the hominoids, consists of primates informally called apes. Hominoids diverged from Old World monkeys about 20 25 million years ago.
Primate Evolution
African apes chimpanzees & gorillas have been moved into the family Hominidae to more accurately reflect relatedness.
Homo sapiens is about 200,000 years old which is very young considering that life has existed on Earth for at least 3.5 billion years.
Human Origins
The study of human origins is known as paleoanthropology. Paleoanthropologists have discovered fossils of approximately 20 species of extinct hominoids that are more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees.
Human Origins
October 2, 2009 issue of Science is full of articles on Ardipithicus ramidus. Available for free! http://www.sciencemag.org/ ardipithecus/
Human Origins
Hominins (modern humans and their extinct ancestors are placed in the subfamily Homininae) originated in Africa approximately 67 million years ago. Early hominins had a small brain, but probably walked upright, exhibiting mosaic evolution (different traits evolving at different rates).
Human Origins
Human Origins
Australopiths are a paraphyletic assemblage of hominids that lived between 4 and 2 million years ago.
Human Origins
Some species walked fully erect and had human-like hands and teeth. Australopith brains were smaller than modern humans, but larger than chimps.
Bipedalism
Hominins began to walk long distances on two legs about 1.9 million years ago.
Tool Use
The oldest evidence of tool use cut marks on animal bones is 2.5 million years old.
Early Homo
The earliest fossils that paleoanthropologists place in our genus, Homo, are those of the species Homo habilis, ranging in age from about 2.4 to 1.6 million years. Stone tools have been found with H. habilis, giving this species its name, which means handy man.
Early Homo
Early Homo
Neanderthals
Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis lived in Europe and the Near East from 200,000 to 30,000 years ago.
Large, thick-browed hominins. Became extinct a few thousand years after the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe.
Homo sapiens
Homo sapiens
The rapid expansion of our species may have been preceded by changes to the brain that made symbolic thought and other cognitive innovations possible. Binocular vision, visuotactile discrimination and manipulative skills that resulted from our arboreal ancestry likely played a role as well.