what is the main touch organ in primates

Full Answer

What is the most important sense for primates?

Vision. For most non-human primates vision is the dominant sensory modality. Monkeys, apes and humans have high visual acuity (ability to distinguish between closely-spaced visual stimuli).

Why do primates have an enhanced sense of touch?

For example, primates have an enhanced sense of touch due to their fingerprints and nails, while their five digits including opposable thumbs and big toes enable them to grip and manipulate objects in the environment with greater strength and precision (Liman 2006).

What are the two main senses for primates?

So the most important census of primates are we have the vision and the sense of touch.

What senses do primates rely on?

Primates extensively rely on their keen eyesight and color vision. Color vision helps primates detect ripe fruits and vegetation.

Which two of the five senses are most important for primates?

In primates the sense of smell is considerably less important than the well-developed visual system and highly refined sense of touch.

What do all primate hands have in common?

The grasping hands of primates are an adaptation to life in the trees. The common ancestors of all primates evolved an opposable thumb that helped them grasp branches.

What are the sense organs in a monkey?

Monkeys have five senses just like other creatures: touch, taste, sight, sound and scent. Not every sense is as strong as the others, depending how the creature has developed. Wolves need scent to track their prey, while deer need hearing to avoid being caught.

Do primates have a good sense of smell?

Primates, including humans, are usually thought of as visual animals with reduced reliance on the sense of smell. In behavioral experiments, biologists have now found that chimpanzees use olfaction as a prime mode of investigation, and that they recognize group members and kin using olfactory cues.

Why do primates have bad sense of smell?

These findings support the hypothesis that the sensitivity of humans' and other primates' sense of smell has degraded over time due to changes in the set of genes that code for our smell receptors.

What is the super sense?

SENSE. : a real, physical feeling (touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing) : the meaning of something. SUPERSENSE. : a sensation perceptible when experiencing analog products, creating a magic combination of both meanings of SENSE as described above.

Do finger monkeys smell?

There's no inherent odor to pygmy marmosets themselves, but their urine can be rather strong-smelling. Some owners combat this by putting their monkeys in tiny diapers, but you should know that they'll need frequent changing to keep the animal from getting a rash.

What animals have super senses?

Top 11 Animals With Super SensorsPlatypus (Electroreception)Bats (Echolocation)Snakes (Infrared Radiation Detection)Octopus (Polarized Vision)Catfish (Sense of Taste)African Bush Elephant (Sense of Smell)Jewel Beetles (Detect Presence of Fire)Cavefish (Sense of Hearing)More items...•

Do monkeys have enhanced senses?

The most powerful of a monkey's senses is its vision. Vision became so critical to the survival of primates that they developed forward-facing eyes and heightened the sense at the expense of their sense of smell. A monkey's vision is second only to that of raptors such as eagles (who live in the daytime).

What key physical feature distinguishes primates from other mammals?

Primates are distinguished from other mammals by one or more of the following traits: unspecialized structure, specialized behaviour, a short muzzle, comparatively poor sense of smell, prehensile five-digit hands and feet possessing flat nails instead of claws, acute vision with depth perception due to forward-facing ...

What is one of the key indicators of primates adaptability?

What is one of the key indicators of primates' adaptability? They live in a wide range of habitats. Explanation: Primates have adapted to live almost anywhere! They inhabit many different types of landscapes, including cold climates as well as dry environments.

What kinds of primate behaviors promote social cohesion?

Social touch, mostly grooming, promotes social bonding in primates. Grooming is a social service that can be traded as a commodity in primate groups. Social touch contributes to healthy emotional development in young primates.

What is the glabrous skin of the fingers of primates?

The glabrous skin of the fingers of primates and, especially those of species of monkeys and apes with highly opposable thumbs, is endowed with densely packed Meissner’s corpuscles (MC) ( Hoffmannet al., 2004, Verendeevet al., 2015 ).

Why is social touch important for primates?

Because social touch helps to establish, maintain, and repair social alliances in primates, it contributes to the emotional stability of individuals and the cohesion of social groups. In these fundamental ways, thus, social touch supports the slow life histories of primates.

How do primates maintain social relationships?

Primates are among the mostly highly social of mammals and, for primate groups, social relationships and social cohesion are maintained through visual contact, auditory and olfactory signaling, and touch ( Cords, 1993, van Schaik and Aureli, 2000, Hertensteinet al., 2006, Lehmannet al., 2007, Dunbar, 2010, Moreiraet al., 2013, Burrowset al., 2016 ). In the roughly 60 million year evolutionary history of the Primate Order, stable sociality and bonded groups emerged in anthropoids (the group comprising monkeys and apes, including humans) in a stepwise manner under the dual influences of diurnality and predator avoidance ( Shultz et al., 2011 ). In anthropoids, the evolution of multiple complementary communication modalities to support enhanced social cohesion and cooperative behaviors is associated with the evolution of large brains, long life spans, and slow life histories ( Barrickman et al., 2007 ). Social touch is prominent among these because of its role in well-being throughout the lifespan ( Zihlman and Bolter, 2004, Watts, 2006, Dunbar, 2010, Nakamura and Sakai, 2014 ). Social touch, manifested primarily as the highly prosocial activity of allogrooming ( Morrison, 2016b ), is the foundation of cooperative and affiliative interactions and these, in turn, are the basis of primate sociality ( Sussman and Garber, 2004 ). Social touch contributed to the scaffolding for other distinctive anthropoid traits including coalition formation and cooperative resource defense, and – in turn – large brains ( Leigh, 2004, Zihlman and Bolter, 2004, Barrett, 2009 ). With the notable exception of Robin Dunbar ( Lehmannet al., 2007, Dunbar, 2010, Dunbar, 2018 ), most primatologists have failed to grasp the significance of social touch to primate social relationships and primate evolution because the ratcheted interconnection of group living, touch-mediated sociality, slow life histories, and encephalization has not yet been fully appreciated.

What is the most relevant to primate biology?

Most relevant to primate biology and primate evolution is the fact that the type of slow, gentle stimulation of hairy skin that activates CT afferents occurs during social interactions between primates, most especially during grooming, cuddling, and huddling ( Morrison et al., 2010 ).

What is social touch?

Social touch, mostly grooming, promotes social bonding in primates. Grooming is a social service that can be traded as a commodity in primate groups. Social touch contributes to healthy emotional development in young primates. Humans and nonhuman primates deprived of social touch exhibit stress.

Why are primates dependent on social touch?

Primates are dependent on social touch for establishment and maintenance of health and well-being throughout their lifespans. Primates have slow life histories and rely on the stability of social bonds between related individuals for many years.

How does social touch convey information?

When a nonhuman primate or human is being touched by another individual, inferences about the identity, physical characteristics, and the intentions of the toucher, are conveyed through visual and auditory stimuli , and these provide useful information about the importance and desirability of the touch. These inputs dramatically affect the pleasure of the experience itself and the behavioral response to it ( Ellingsen et al., 2016 ).

How do primates learn?

Primates have advanced cognitive abilities: some make tools and use them to acquire food and for social displays; some can perform tasks requiring cooperation, influence and rank; they are status conscious, manipulative and capable of deception; they can recognise kin and conspecifics; and they can learn to use symbols and understand aspects of human language including some relational syntax and concepts of number and numerical sequence. Research in primate cognition explores problem solving, memory, social interaction, a theory of mind, and numerical, spatial, and abstract concepts. Comparative studies show a trend towards higher intelligence going from prosimians to New World monkeys to Old World monkeys, and significantly higher average cognitive abilities in the great apes. However, there is a great deal of variation in each group (e.g., among New World monkeys, both spider and capuchin monkeys have scored highly by some measures), as well as in the results of different studies.

What is a primate?

A primate ( / ˈpraɪmeɪt / ( listen) PRY-mayt) (from Latin primat-, from primus 'prime, first rank') is a eutherian mammal constituting the taxonomic order Prima tes ( / praɪˈmeɪtiːz / ). Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted to living in the trees of tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging environment, including large brains, visual acuity, color vision, a shoulder girdle allowing a large degree of movement in the shoulder joint, and dextrous hands. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla, weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 190–448 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, and 11 since 2010.

How are monkeys different from apes?

Primates show an evolutionary trend towards a reduced snout. Technically, Old World monkeys are distinguished from New World monkeys by the structure of the nose, and from apes by the arrangement of their teeth. In New World monkeys, the nostrils face sideways; in Old World monkeys, they face downwards. Dental pattern in primates vary considerably; although some have lost most of their incisors, all retain at least one lower incisor. In most strepsirrhines, the lower incisors form a toothcomb, which is used in grooming and sometimes foraging. Old World monkeys have eight premolars, compared with 12 in New World monkeys. The Old World species are divided into apes and monkeys depending on the number of cusps on their molars: monkeys have four, apes have five - although humans may have four or five. The main hominid molar cusp ( hypocone) evolved in early primate history, while the cusp of the corresponding primitive lower molar (paraconid) was lost. Prosimians are distinguished by their immobilized upper lips, the moist tip of their noses and forward-facing lower front teeth.

How many species of primates are there?

There are 190–448 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, and 11 since 2010. Primates are classified as the strepsirrhines ( lit. 'twisted- nostriled ') and the haplorhines (lit. 'simple-noses').

What are some examples of primates' specializations?

Many primates have anatomical specializations that enable them to exploit particular foods, such as fruit, leaves, gum or insects. For example, leaf eaters such as howler monkeys, black-and-white colobuses and sportive lemurs have extended digestive tracts which enable them to absorb nutrients from leaves that can be difficult to digest. Marmosets, which are gum eaters, have strong incisor teeth, enabling them to open tree bark to get to the gum, and claws rather than nails, enabling them to cling to trees while feeding. The aye-aye combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It taps on trees to find insect larvae, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its elongated middle finger to pull the larvae out. Some species have additional specializations. For example, the grey-cheeked mangabey has thick enamel on its teeth, enabling it to open hard fruits and seeds that other monkeys cannot. The gelada is the only primate species that feeds primarily on grass.

What is the cranium of a primate?

The primate skull has a large, domed cranium, which is particularly prominent in anthropoids. The cranium protects the large brain, a distinguishing characteristic of this group. The endocranial volume (the volume within the skull) is three times greater in humans than in the greatest nonhuman primate, reflecting a larger brain size. The mean endocranial volume is 1,201 cubic centimeters in humans, 469 cm 3 in gorillas, 400 cm 3 in chimpanzees and 397 cm 3 in orangutans. The primary evolutionary trend of primates has been the elaboration of the brain, in particular the neocortex (a part of the cerebral cortex ), which is involved with sensory perception, generation of motor commands, spatial reasoning, conscious thought and, in humans, language. While other mammals rely heavily on their sense of smell, the arboreal life of primates has led to a tactile, visually dominant sensory system, a reduction in the olfactory region of the brain and increasingly complex social behavior.

What do chimpanzees eat?

It also eats leaves and leaf buds, seeds, blossoms, stems, pith, bark and resin. Insects and meat make up a small proportion of their diet, estimated as 2%. The meat consumption includes predation on other primate species, such as the western red colobus monkey. The bonobo is an omnivorous frugivore – the majority of its diet is fruit, but it supplements this with leaves, meat from small vertebrates, such as anomalures, flying squirrels and duikers, and invertebrates. In some instances, bonobos have been shown to consume lower-order primates.

How do we know which primates are related to each other?

When evaluating relationships between different groups of primates, we use key traits that allow us to determine which species are most closely related to one another. Traits can be either primitive or derived. traits are those that a taxon has because it has inherited the trait from a distant ancestor. For example, all primates have body hair because we are mammals and all mammals share an ancestor hundreds of millions of years ago that had body hair. This trait has been passed down to all mammals from this shared ancestor, so all mammals alive today have body hair. traits are those that have been more recently altered. This type of trait is most useful when we are trying to distinguish one group from another because derived traits tell us which taxa are more closely related to each other. For example, humans walk on two legs. The many adaptations that humans possess which allow us to move in this way evolved after humans split from the Genus Pan. This means that when we find fossil taxa that share derived traits for walking on two legs, we can conclude that they are likely more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees and bonobos.

WHAT IS A PRIMATE?

Primates are one of at least twenty Orders belonging to the Class Mammalia. All members of this class share certain characteristics, including, among other things, having fur or hair, producing milk from mammary glands, and being warm-blooded. There are three types of mammals: monotremes, marsupials, and placental mammals. Monotremes are the most primitive of the mammals, meaning they have retained more ancient traits than marsupials or placental mammals, and so, monotremes are characterized by some unusual traits. Monotremes, which include echidnas and duck-billed platypuses, lay eggs rather than give birth to live young. Once the young hatch, they lap up milk produced from glands on the mother’s abdomen rather than latch onto nipples. Marsupial mammals are those, like kangaroos and koalas, who internally gestate for a very short period of time and give birth to relatively undeveloped young. Joeys, as these newborns are called, complete their growth externally in their mother’s pouch where they suckle. Lastly, there are placental mammals. Placental mammals internally gestate for a longer period of time and give birth to fairly well-developed young who are then nursed. Primates, including ourselves, belong to this last group. Among the diversity of mammalian orders alive today, primates are very likely one of the oldest. One genetic estimate puts the origin of primates at approximately 91 million years ago (mya), predating the extinction of the dinosaurs (Bininda-Emonds et al. 2007). Today, the Order Primates is a diverse group of animals that includes lemurs and lorises, tarsiers, monkeys of the New and Old Worlds, apes, and humans, all of which are united in sharing a suite of anatomical, behavioral, and life history characteristics. Before delving into the specific traits that distinguish primates from other animals, it is important to first discuss the different types of traits that we will encounter.

Why do we study non-human primates?

While primates are fascinating animals in their own right, we study non-human primates in anthropology with the ultimate goal of understanding more about our own biology and evolutionary history. The close relationship between humans and non-human primates makes them excellent for studying humans via , looking at traits that are shared between two taxa because they inherited the trait from a common ancestor. Consider, for example, the characteristics discussed in the previous section that are shared by humans and Pan. Since both taxa exhibit these traits, they are likely homologous, meaning these shared traits were probably present in the last common ancestor of humans and Pan approximately 6-8 million years ago .

What is the largest lemur?

Figure 5.17 Indris, the largest of the lemurs. These folivorous lemurs are vertical clingers and leapers and live in pairs.

What can we learn from teeth?

Teeth may not seem like the most exciting topic with which to start, but we can learn a tremendous amount of information about an organism from its teeth. First, teeth are vital to survival. Wild animals do not have the benefit of knives and forks, and so rely primarily on their teeth to process their food. Because of this, teeth of any species have evolved to reflect what that organism eats and so tell us directly about their diet. Second, variation in tooth size, shape, and number tells us a lot about an organism’s evolutionary history. Some taxa have more teeth than others or different forms of teeth than others. Furthermore, differences in teeth between males and females can tell us about competition over mates (see Chapter 6). Lastly, teeth preserve really well in the fossil record. Enamel is hard, and there is little meat on jaws so carnivores and scavengers often leave them behind. Because of this, very often we find a lot of fossil jaws and teeth, and so we need to be able to learn as much as we can from those pieces.

When trying to place primate species into specific taxonomic groups, we use a variety of?

When trying to place primate species into specific taxonomic groups, we use a variety of dental characteristics, locomotor adaptations, and behavioral adaptations. Differences in these characteristics across groups reflect constraints of evolutionary history as well as variation in adaptations.

Where are the platyrrhines found?

Figure 5.25 Geographic distribution of the platyrrhines across Central and South America. New World monkeys are the only naturally occurring non-human primates in the Americas.

What is the order of primates?

Order Primates of class Mammalia includes lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. Non-human primates live primarily in the tropical or subtropical regions of South America, Africa, and Asia. They range in size from the mouse lemur at 30 grams (1 ounce) to the mountain gorilla at 200 kilograms (441 pounds).

How is mitochondrial DNA passed from a fetus to a human?

Because a fetus develops from an egg containing its mother’s mitochondria (which have their own, non-nuclear DNA), mtDNA is passed entirely through the maternal line.

What is the name of the ape that lived in Africa?

Australopithecus (“southern ape”) is a genus of hominin that evolved in eastern Africa approximately 4 million years ago and went extinct about 2 million years ago. This genus is of particular interest to us as it is thought that our genus, genus Homo, evolved from a common ancestor shared with Australopithecus about 2 million years ago (after likely passing through some transitional states). Australopithecus had a number of characteristics that were more similar to the great apes than to modern humans. For example, sexual dimorphism was more exaggerated than in modern humans. Males were up to 50 percent larger than females, a ratio that is similar to that seen in modern gorillas and orangutans. In contrast, modern human males are approximately 15 to 20 percent larger than females. The brain size of Australopithecus relative to its body mass was also smaller than modern humans and more similar to that seen in the great apes. A key feature that Australopithecus had in common with modern humans was bipedalism, although it is likely that Australopithecus also spent time in trees. Hominin footprints, similar to those of modern humans, were found in Laetoli, Tanzania and dated to 3.6 million years ago. They showed that hominins at the time of Australopithecus were walking upright.

How big is the brain of an Australopithecus?

Its brain was larger than that of A. afarensis at 500 cubic centimeters, which is slightly less than one-third the size of modern human brains. Two other species, Australopithecus bahrelghazali and Australopithecus garhi, have been added to the roster of australopiths in recent years.

When was the first human?

The human genus, Homo, first appeared between 2.5 and 3 million years ago. For many years, fossils of a species called H. habilis were the oldest examples in the genus Homo, but in 2010, a new species called Homo gautengensis was discovered and may be older. Compared to A. africanus, H. habilis had a number of features more similar to modern humans. H. habilis had a jaw that was less prognathic than the australopiths and a larger brain, at 600–750 cubic centimeters. However, H. habilis retained some features of older hominin species, such as long arms. The name H. habilis means “handy man,” which is a reference to the stone tools that have been found with its remains.

Why did the prosimian monkeys go extinct?

By the end of the Eocene Epoch, many of the early prosimian species went extinct due either to cooler temperatures or competition from the first monkeys.

How long ago did humans and chimpanzees diverge?

Evidence from the fossil record and from a comparison of human and chimpanzee DNA suggests that humans and chimpanzees diverged from a common hominoid ancestor approximately 6 million years ago . Several species evolved from the evolutionary branch that includes humans, although our species is the only surviving member.

What do monkeys use their thumbs for?

They can peel fruits, they can pick up objects, and they use the thumbs for grooming. Some of the young have even been seen sucking on their thumbs just like human babies do. It is times like that which we can see our own reflections in the habits and the anatomy of these animals. Pygmy marmoset, the smallest monkey.

Why are monkeys so flexible?

They are flexible and they are fast. This allows them to get away from predators and to thrive in their natural environment. In many ways the body of a Monkey is very similar to that of humans. All Monkeys have fingerprints and just like humans they are unique.

Why do monkeys have a good sense of smell?

This good sense of smell also allows them to identify threats that may be around them. The ears of a Monkey offer them excellent hearing.

What is the smallest monkey?

Pygmy marmoset, the smallest monkey. Monkeys have good vision with eyes that face forward. They are often said to be very similar to looking into human eyes. That is why so many people feel uncomfortable seeing these animals in captivity. Some species of Monkeys can see color but most of them only see black and white.

Do apes have opposable thumbs?

They also have opposable thumbs that they use in the same way that humans do. However, they have these thumbs on both their hands and their feet which humans don’t have.

Do monkeys have strong immune systems?

It is such studies that have shown us that we are indeed very closely related to these animals. They don’t seem to have a strong immune system though. In the wild and in captivity Monkeys are very susceptible to a wide variety of illnesses. This can wipe out complete areas of them in no time at all.

Do monkeys have ears?

The ears of a Monkey offer them excellent hearing. Based on the type of Monkey they can be very small or they can be very large. They are at the side of the face and they can’t move them without turning their entire head.

Where do lemurs lie?

The testes, with a few exceptions among the lemurs, in which they are withdrawn seasonally, lie permanently in the scrotal sac, to which they migrate from their intra-abdominal position some time before birth (in humans) or after birth (in nonhuman primates).

Where is the placenta attached to the uterus?

The placenta is intimately attached on its outer surface to the endometrium, the lining of the uterus, by fingerlike processes (villi) that embed themselves in the endometrium, where complete vascular connections between the two circulations are achieved.

What is the placenta?

The placenta, the defining characteristic of all eutherian mammals, is a vascular structure that permits physiological interchange of blood and body fluids between the mother and the fetus and the breakdown products of the fetal metabolism; it also provides a two-way barrier preventing the passage of some, but not all, noxious substances and organisms such as bacteria and viruses from one individual to the other and is the source of hormones such as estrogens.

Which mammals have turgidity?

Turgidity and excessive vascularity of the tissues of the perineum are probably characteristic of all mammals, but there are certain primate species in which this engorgement reaches monstrous proportions, notably baboons, mangabeys, some macaques, and chimpanzees.

Do geladas mimic the perineal region?

A German zoologist, Wolfgang Wickler, has suggested that this is a form of sexual mimicry, the chest mimicking the perineal region. The observation that geladas spend many hours a day feeding in a sitting posture provides a feasible, Darwinian explanation of this curious physiological adaptation.

Overview

Etymology

Classification of living primates

Phylogeny and genetics

Anatomy and physiology

Behavior

Ecology

Interactions between humans and other primates