This week was focused on primatology, which gave us an insight into how primates have provided vital information about human evolution. I found it interesting to see scientific evidence from the articles, lectures notes, and videos of supporting physical and behavioral traits between the human species and non-primates. These similarities help us understand today why some traits exist in humans, and they help distinguish biological and cultural influences on behavior. Yet, it had me wary of things and, admitting it has to do with my religion. It is not that I do not believe these scientific findings it just has me feeling some sort of way if, you know what I mean..
Other than that, it was very interesting to see how closely related we are (exactly 98%) and the characteristics we shared with no-primates. Based on those distinctions and similarities we have created 6 branches of primates:
Lemuroidea – This literally includes lemurs from Madagascar and it is pretty much by the name. They have five discinct families!
Lorisoidea- Are small prosimians that are located across West Africa and central and souther portions of the continent. The small nocturnal creatures include galagos, brushbabies, and lorises
Tarsioidea- They are located in islands from the Southeast Asia (i.e. Philippines, Sulawesi, and Java). These small primates shares several features to anthropoid primates.
Ceboidea- Basically, these monkeys (called Platyrrhini) are found in the New World like America. They actually have five subfamilies and they vary from one another.
Cercopithecoidea- They are also known as Old world monkeys,which is the opposite of the other group. These group has two major groups like the Colobines.
Hominoidea- We are in the sixth group this includes apes. This group has several other species within this group but are called lesser apes.
One of many instances that really stood out to me is in the film titled; “The New Chimpanzee”. Even though it was disturbing to watch how chimps eat monkeys including their own, really surprised me. It had me thinking of a rabbit that I use to have. If you touched their offsprings and/or if they were born with complications. The mother rabbit will eat their offspring, which at the time mortified me (I was literally crying). So seeing how a baby chimp was being killed/eaten was so sad for me that I had to fast forward it. With that, you could see the mother chimp in distress and even grieving for her loss. Similarly, to a human what a mother would show when losing a child which I thought was interesting to see.
In another scene in this film that stood out was the ground composition, how resourceful they are by utilizing tools to catch their food, interactions between themselves and other groups, knowledge, and practices were very interesting to see. The similarities went on unnoticed and could easily be related to some sort of humans characteristic. As mentioned before we already have these groups that separate us but also have similar practices in one way or another. I think it is vital to learn from non-human primates because it teaches us the traits we carry with us now.
Hey Silvia!
First off i want to say that i think you did a great job with this post! being able to read your post and be reminded about the six different branches of primates was really useful because i do most of the reading/activities at the beginning of the week! I also like how you related the way that baby chimps are eaten by the mother to your own experiences. It was really interesting to hear that rabbits that are able to live in a house do that to their own kids! Pretty sad, but it shows what lengths mother nature has brought certain species to in order to better the family/species.
In addition, the way you pointed out the tool making or resourcefulness of certain species was interesting as well. Based on our lectures, this ability is due to our cerebrum being so different than many other species!
Hello! I liked the fact that you were able to focus on the primates and the different phases they have. With you mentioning how the movie “The New Chimpanzee” stood out to you because of their habits and ways of living. I have to say I agree too. A lot of things we have learned in this lecture and week as a whole have been very eye opening. We may not have know the dynamics of relation to humans and chimps, but I have to say again that I agree that a lot of this caught me by surprise as well. I do believe that the traits that the non-humans give do help to understand the day to day of humans and the society around us. We may have never really looked into this topic to try to understand many similarities as there are a lot given in this weeks lecture. Overall your post was great.
Hello! I enjoyed reading your blog post. I liked how you classified 6 branches of primates that was resourceful and reminded me again about the lecture. I also wrote about chimpanzee’s use of tools to collect food, and more interestingly, I was impressed when the mother chimpanzee slows her motion to show his baby how to use the wooded club to break the nuts , and baby instantly learn and imitate how his mother showed him even the grip of the club. I did not know that other primates could educate their children like this. Yes, I have to agree that the relation of human primates and other primates were not all new shocking idea to me, but I had learned more details and aspects of looking Chimpanzees reflecting human primates behavior pattern. It was really cruel when the father Chimpanzee kills his own baby with a bite, and I am sorry about your rabbit. I had a hamster with a same accident when I was little too. After this weeks learning, I have to agree with your idea that it is important to learn from non-human primates because it teaches us the traits we carry with us.
Hi,
I enjoyed your post on how you provided 6 branches of primates. I learned a lot through your post as you gave each branch an example and a little explanation on how that branch of primates varies from others. Also I enjoyed your reflection on “The New Chimpanzee” and related to your surprised reaction to chimpanzees eating other monkeys and instances of cannibalism. It is crazy that they would result into doing this and found it interesting that the mother would grieve for her child in the same fashion that a human would do. I did also find it interesting in how primates use tools similarly to humans to catch food but still in a very primitive manner.
Hey Silvia,
I really enjoyed you blog post. You did an amazing job summarizing the key points of this week’s lesson. You explained things so well, you may have helped some students understand things a lot better than before, because I did myself after reading your post. Also, I agree with you all the way. It’s been very difficult to learn about evolution because it contradicts everything the bible teaches. I’ve learned not to be bias and look at things from multiple perspectives, but its glad to know I’m not the only one. On another note, the film “the new chimpanzee” was extremely astonishing. I too was mortified and saddened to know that mothers eat their offspring. This was something I’ve never heard before, but it was interesting to know the reasoning behind why they do that.
Very insightful post Silvia. Looking forward to reading more from you.