Comparative Primate Post

Due to my last name being Kabrin, my trait was dentition patterns.
1. Lemurs
a. Lemurs reside in tropical rain forest environment, mainly on the island of Madagascar.
b. Their teeth are heterodent; their bottom incisors and canine teeth are procumbent (outward pointing) making them good for grooming.
c. These dentition patterns are specific to lemurs due to their habitat and environment. Their teeth make it perfect for grooming and growing accustomed to Madagascar climate.
d.


2. Spider Monkey
a. The spider monkey lives in tropical rain forests of central and South America. Usually spider monkeys live high up in evergreen trees and rarely come down.
b. Spider monkeys have two sets of incisors, one set of canines, three sets of premolars, and three molars in each quadrant.
c. Since spider monkeys live in trees, their dentition patterns adapted to eating leaves and fruits.
d.


3. Baboon
a. Baboons live in sub-Saharan west and north Africa, very dry arid climates.
b. Baboons teeth are in an elongated arch shape with second and third molars that are much larger then the first molars.
c. The diet of the baboon consists of vegetation and small animals like hares and birds- these gave way to the evolution of their specific dentition.
d.


4. Gibbon
a. Gibbons live in tropical and subtropical rain forests of India, China, Islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. Gibbons also reside in treetops.
b. Gibbons have large dagger-like canines in their upper and lower jaws.
c. The dentition patterns of the gibbon are adapted to eating meat.
d.


5. Chimpanzees
a. The common chimp lives in west and central and Africa while the Congo river separates them from the Bonobo chimpanzees. These chimpanzees live in any climate from rain forests to grasslands.
b. The chimpanzees have similar dentition patterns to humans: two incisors, one canine, two premolars, and three molars.
c. The chimpanzees dentition patterns are adapted to tearing meat off flesh.
d.


Summary:
The overall similarity that each group of primates share is that their dentition patterns evolve to help the primates adapt to their different habitats/environments.

Homologous and Analogous Traits

Homologous Traits
Humans and bats share similarities in the forelimb bone structure. The bones in the hand are elongated into five fingers in the human and five claws in the bats. Although these two held the same trait, they use them for completely different purposes. Humans can do many things with their fingers while bats are limited to grabbing food or holding onto a tree. The common ancestor was a stem reptile because they held the trait. They have developed over years and their similarities are product of separate evolutionary processes.


Analogous Traits
Birds and butterflies both have wings that are used for flying, however their structure is completely different. These two are completely different species, one is an insect and one is a bird. Butterfly wings are made of skin and bones. Bird wings are made of muscle, bones, and feathers. Although they appear to be related due to wings, they only have a very remote ancestor. Birds evolved from reptiles, who had no wings, while the butterfly evolved from arthropod, with no wings.

Protein Synthesis

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Historical Influences on Charles Darwin

I believe that Jean-Baptiste Lamarck  had the most influence over Darwin's development of his theory of Natural Selection. Lamarck positively aided in Darwin creating his theory in several ways. Lamarck introduced the idea of a relationship between species and the environment around it. For example, "if the external environment changed, an animal's activity would also change to accommodate the new circumstances" (Introduction to Physical Anthropology).  At first, "Darwin was influenced by Lamarck's writings early on while studying medicine at Edinburgh University" but after more studying, "Darwin did not agree with Lamarck that species evolve in an upward manner from lower to more advanced forms. By the 1840's Darwin disagreed with nearly all of Lamarck's theories, except for the ones regarding acquired traits" (http://www.aboutdarwin.com/people/people_01.html). The reason for Darwin to disagree with his idol's ideas was because of Lamarck's example with giraffe's and how they must stretch their necks to reach leaves on the tree, and then those stretched necks could be passed on to their children helped give the basic foundation to Natural Selection. Darwin states that genetics does not work in a way that a stretched neck could be passed down. Darwin suggests that if a giraffe has a short neck, then it would have a hard time surviving in a habitat with taller trees, therefore dying off, making way for giraffes with longer necks. Darwin went on to point out that the giraffes with the longer necks lived because they had better access to the limited sources, such as the leaves higher up on the trees. A significant point was that organisms with better access to resources will be more successful in their reproductive efforts. If a giraffe with a short neck lived in a habitat with tall trees, it would be hard for the giraffe to feed itself, let alone its offspring. If these shorter necked giraffes cannot get enough leaves to feed themselves, then that population dies off. If that population of short necked giraffes die off, then natural selection does not occur because reproduction hasn't occurred. Lamarck believes that giraffes who stretch their necks can pass that through their offspring, however that is not how genetics works. The shorter necked giraffes would reproduce and give birth to more shorter necked giraffes. Through these points, Darwin demonstrated that Lamarck's ideas were wrong and that they did not explain natural selection properly. Darwin could not have developed his theory of natural selection without Lamarck's ideas, however, because if he did not question them, and just believed them to be the truth, then natural selection would not have a proper definition. The attitude of the church affected Darwin mostly because of how afraid everyone was to speak up with their own ideas. He was forced to publish his book, however, because Alfred Russel Wallace had individually created his own idea of evolution, and Darwin had to compete to be the first to publish it and get credit for the theory. This led to the publication of his book On the Origin of Species.