HUMANS AMONG

OTHER ANIMALS
The Place of Humankind in
Nature

Origins
by Richard Leakey and Roger
Lewin

On hearing, one June afternoon in 1860, the

suggestion that mankind was descended from the
apes, the wife of the Bishop of Worcester is said to
have exclaimed, My dear, descended from the
apes! Let us hope it is not true, but if it is, let us
pray that it will not become generally known. As it
turns out, she need not have been quite so worried:
we are not descended from the apes, though we do
share a common ancestor with them. Even though
the distinction may have been too subtle to offer
her much comfort, it is nevertheless important.

BIOLOGICAL TAXOMONY
Seven Level Hierarchy

Kingdom:

Phylum:

Class:

Animalia

Multicellular organisms
Not capable of photosynthesis

Chordata
Animals with Internal skeletons & notochords

Mammalia

Warm-blooded; Have Hair; Birth to Live Young

Nourish Young with Milk from Mammary
Glands

HUMAN BIOLOGICAL
TAXONOMY

Order: Primates

Family: Homininae

Humans, their extinct ancestors, Gorillas, Chimpanzees

Genus: Homo

Old & New World Monkeys;

Old World Small & Great Apes
Humans

Species:

Greek for Man, Humankind

sapiens
Greek for Wisdom or To Know

ORDER PRIMATES
PRIMATE COMPLEX
Physical & Behavioral
Response to an Arboreal
(Tree-Dwelling) Environment

Physical Primate Traits

Large, complex brains = Learning Ability

Stereoscopic, color vision, bony socket
Prehensile hands & feet; opposable thumbs;
Nails instead of Claws
Flexible forelimbs; well-developed collar bones
Flat faces; poor sense of smell
Mainly omnivorous; generalized dentition
Single birth; long infant dependency

PHYSICAL PRIMATE TRAITS

Reflect a certain
combination of traits
which adapt a group
of organisms in a
particular way to a
particular
environment
Arboreal (treedwelling)
environment

The Human Primate

Terrestrial (ground-dwelling) way of life

No Prehensile Feet
Structural Change of the Vertebral Column
Bipedalism
Larger, more complex brain cerebral cortex, speech

Anatomy & Physiology reflect Arboreal Heritage

Evolutionary Relationships
What Traits are due to the Primate Complex?
What Traits are Uniquely Ours?
DEGREE RATHER THAN KIND

Primate Behavior

Behavior is Essential to Understanding

Primate Complex

Involves Action in Response to Internal or

External Stimuli
Individual, Group or Species Levels
May or May Not Be Deliberate
Shaped by Evolutionary History

Behavioral Primate Traits

Social Organisms

Live in Groups (Troops)

Advantages:

Facilitates Reproduction
Predator Avoidance/Defense
Help with foraging for Food
Help with Learning
Division of Food-getting Labor
Social Cohesion
Social Control

Learned, shared behavior, but not Cultural Protoculture (1st

culture)

Japanese
Macaques

PRIMATE BEHAVIORAL
PATTERNS

DOMINANCE
HIERARCHIES

Mating
Competition
Access to Food and
Space
No dictators!

Cooperation, but

PRIMATE DOMINANCE
HIERARCHIES

Systems of Ranked Social Organization

Dominance Provides a Sense of Order
All Primates Learn Their Position
Serves to Reduce Overall Violence
High-ranking Individuals:

Greater Access to Food/Mating

Partners/Survival of Offspring/
Position Not Permanent

PRIMATE BEHAVIORAL
PATTERNS

COMMUNICATION
Chimpanzees use
66 different
gestures:
Facial Expressions
Vocalizations
Display

PRIMATE BEHAVIORAL
PATTERNS

ROLE DIVISION BY
AGE AND SEX

Group Protection
Vulnerable to
Predators
Larger
Community an
Advantage

Food-Getting

PRIMATE BEHAVIORAL
PATTERNS

MOTHER-INFANT BONDS

Strong; basic social unit

Single young
Long period of
dependency
Travel together
Usually males are not
greatly invest in care of
offspring

PRIMATE BEHAVIORAL
PATTERNS

MALE-FEMALE
BONDS
Weaker & Vary
Grooming
Harems
Feed Together

PRIMATE BEHAVIOR

Behavioral Flexibility
Careful Not to Anthropomorphize
Behaviors of Primates
How are we different?
How are we similar?
How and when did differences develop?
What is our Evolutionary Relationships?

Jane Goodall

Gombe Reservation
Chimpanzees,
Tanzania
Chimps have unique
and individual
personalities
Personal Bonds

Hugging, kissing, etc.

Murder?

Dian Fossey

African Mountain
Gorilla
19 years of field
research in Rwanda
Gorillas In The Mist
Dispelled the King
Kong image
Murdered in 1985

We Laugh at Them

Building Barriers Between Us and

Them

Man the
Toolmaker

Man the Language Maker

Washoe & Sarah

American Sign
Language of the Deaf
175 signs
Could invent crude
sentences
But, not grammatical
Swan = Water
Bird

KoKo Computer Terminal - Adopted

Kitten

Primatologist, Penny Paterson

Primate Language Critics!

Question whether Chimps/Gorillas

truly understand language or are
doing clever tricks for gratification

Lacking grammar, or rules

Using words or symbols

Molecular
Biology
Proteins
coded by
a stretch
of DNA
3 Species
differed
by 1 - 2
%

We are Different

Humans/Chimpanzees Share 98.8% DNA

Each Human Cell = 3 Billion Base Pairs

So, 1.2% = 35 Million Different Base
Pairs

Some have no big impact; some do

COMMON ANCESTOR

Basic Assumption:

In the distant past,

we shared a common
ancestor

Cousin to Cousin
Relationship

Probably 6-7 MYA

WHY STUDY PRIMATES?

Closest Human Relatives

May Explain Why We Diverged

Evolutionary Relationships
Physical

Analogies for Early Human Lifeways

Behavioral

Primate Behavior and

Fossil Hominin Behavior

Infer the Past through Similarities

and Differences

Interaction of our Ancestors Prior to

Language Development

Tool making Prior to Paleolithic

Bonobos

Formerly called pygmy

chimpanzees
Dwarf or Gracile
Differing species from
Common Chimp
Characterized by relatively
long legs and parted long
hair on its head
Central African Congo
Region
High Levels of Sexual
Behavior

Bonobos Versus
Chimpanzees
Is Warfare Inevitable?

Chimpanzees:

Led by Alpha Males,

More Aggression; Competition
Murder Observed
Cannibalism Reported

Bonobos:

Dominated by Females
Less Agression
Make Love Not War
Frequent Sexual Contact

HUMAN EVOLUTION
Where did we come from?
Why do we look like this?

20 - 30 Million Years Ago

Earths environment:
wet, moist
spread of temperate and tropical
forest
arboreal creatures proliferate
Age of Apes
Adaptive (Ape) Radiation

5 - 15 million years ago

Earths environment:

dry, arid
forest gives way to
deserts and savanna
or plains areas
many primates
become extinct
at least one group
adapted to life on the
ground

Important Points

1) Savanna environment plays a

crucial role in triggering changes
(behavioral & physical) that led to
human development

2) Physical & Behavorial Changes =

Biological Evolution

Organic Evolution

Single most important theory ever

developed in the world of science

Explanation of all living things

ultimately depend on evolutionary
theory

Basic Definitions

Evolution is change in gene

frequency through generations.

Change that leads to the

development of new kinds of
populations from earlier populations

Biological Population

The population is the unit of evolution

Is a subdivision of a species that exists

in a moment in time as a reproductive
unit.

Gene pool or breeding population

Human Evolution

Development of human populations

from earlier populations over long
periods of time and in response to
pressure in their environment
ex. Savanna
Environments change, and, human
began to change their environment

NATURAL SELECTION

Most important
mechanism in
evolution
Charles Darwins
On The Origins of
Species by Means
of Natural
Selection (1859)

DARWINS SYNTHESIS

Geology

Population Statistics

New ideas of an Old Earth; Fossils

Species will over populate their food supply
Competition - struggle for existence

Natural History

Global Explorations:

New discoveries of plants & animals not mentioned in

the Bible

Variation between & within species!

NATURAL SELECTION

All members of a population share

the same traits, but, the forms of a
trait may vary.

Variation exists when individuals

carry different gene combinations
for a particular trait.

Natural Selection

Possessors of certain gene

combinations live to reproduce, while
others either die before reproductive
age or live but do not reproduce.

Eventually, the genetic complements

of the more FIT, the BEST ADAPTED,
will prevail

NATURAL SELECTION
Within a population, there are
differences in MORTALITY and
FERTILITY between individuals
Differences are due to SELECTIVE
AGENTS
SELECTIVE AGENTS place
SELECTIVE PRESSURE upon
individuals to respond

Due to NATURAL VARIATION, each

individual will be tested.

NATURAL SELECTION

Those that fail DIE, their genes do

not make up a high % of the next
generation.
Those that succeed, that is, LIVE,
will go on to reproduce more and
send their genes into the next
generation at a higher %
Certain individuals may have a
genetic trait that gives them a
better chance for survival, hence,
to reproduce more.

NATURAL SELECTION

Favors DIFFERENTIAL REPRODUCTION

Encourages genes that assure the

highest level of ADAPTIVE EFFICIENCY
between a population and its
environment.

The artist - creative force in evolution

Responsible for the present diversity of

life

Examples of Natural
Section

DDT Resistance

1st Spray

2nd Spray

Population goes into

steep decline
90 + % mortality
Resistant insects
survive & reproduce
50-60% mortality

3rd Spray

20-30% mortality

ANIMAL & PLANT BREEDING

Animal Husbandry
Plant Domestication
Farmers Intervening in the Genetics

For over 11,000 years

Artificial Selection!

Cattle - Dairy

Sheep - Wool

Horse - Speed

Dogs Cuteness???

Review of Natural
Selection

Members of a population vary much of variation is heritable

Some heritable variations are more

adaptive - improves chances of
survival & reproduction

Hence, offspring tend to make-up

more of the next generation

Natural Selection

Adaptation is the key to evolution

Measure of adaptation is reproduction.

Darwin called it FITNESS

the more offspring, the fitter the

individual
the more offspring per individual, the
fitter the population
N.S. requires differential fitness to operate

GENOTYPE +
ENVIRONMENT =
PHENOTYPE
Natural Selection acts on
phenotype, and in so doing,
changes genotype

GENETIC MUTATION

A mistake
any change in the genes chemical
organization or in the chromosome
occurs during cell division
acts randomly
mostly deleterious
however, some are neutral;
adaptive

GENETIC MUTATION

Only way in which new genetic

material enters the population

it creates new genes

VARIATION is the source of evolution

without it there would be no evolution

GENETIC DRIFT

Caused simply by CHANCE

As genes are passed from one

generation to the next by way of the sex
cells, we are, in effect, taking a SAMPLE
OF GENES
All genetic possibilities may not be
represented.

ALLELES = alternative characteristics on

the gene

GENETIC DRIFT

If population is
LARGE

If population is
SMALL

and matings great

and matings few

new offspring
population will be
fairly
REPRESENTATIVE
of parental pop.

offspring
population may
DEVIATE from the
parental pop.

GENETIC DRIFT

Chance deviation in the frequency of

alleles in a population is genetic drift

random fluctuations

no selection; by chance
non-Darwinian

Powerful evolutionary mechanism

especially in small populations

GENE FLOW

Member of one population mates with a

member of another population of the same
species, alleles will be TRANSFERRED from
one group to the other

Anthropologists can plot the movement of

alleles from one group to another

In the long run, decreases genetic

variation between pops.

SPECIATION
"a species is a biological population of
actually or potentially interbreeding
individuals who are reproductively
isolated from other such populations."
Offspring will Live and Reproduce Themselves

Speciation Model for Hominid

Development

Allopatric Speciation Model

Speciation

Allopatric Speciation

Geographic Separation
Genetic Isolation

Process by which New Biological

Species
Arise