The groups of modern primates

At about the same time as the dinosaurs became extinct, about 65 million years ago, the primitive primates diverged quickly to give rise to two main suborders; the prosimians(meaning “before apes”) and anthropoids(meaning “ape fom”). The prosimians are represented today by lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers, and the anthropoids by monkeys, apes, and humans.

Monkeys are distinguished from apes in having long tails, and the forelimbs are not usually longer than the hindlimbs. They are believed to have evolved from two different groups of lemur-like animals which became isolated when continental drift separated Eurasia from North America. The North American group evolved into New World monkeys which died out in North America but somehow colonised South America. The Eurasia group gave rise to Old World monkeys, from which apes and humans evolved. There are several differences between Old World monkey and New World monkeys which show their separate evolution. For example, the nostrils of monkeys from South America are wide open and far apart, and New World monkeys have a long tail that is prehensile (adapted for grasping branches); the nostrils of monkeys from Africa and Asia are narrow and close together and no old World monkey has a prehensile tail.

■ Glossary of essential terms for you to know

№	English term	Russian equivalent
	to descend	происходить
	common	общий
	behaviour	поведение
	to be rooted in	корнями уходит в…
	adaptation	адаптация, приспособление
	ancestor	предок
	to find out	выяснить, обнаружить
	to retain	сохранять
	relationship	взаимосвязь, родство
	mammal	млекопитающее животное
	insectivores	насекомоядное животное
	shrew	землеройка
	arboreal	древесный
	mode	способ
	prominent	заметный
	finger	палец руки
	toe	палец ноги
	claw	коготь
	nail	ноготь
	flexible	гибкий
	to reduce	уменьшать
	well adapted	хорошо приспособленный
	insects	насекомые
	feature	черта, особенность
	prehensile (syn. grasping)	хватательный
	limb	конечность
	digit	палец (руки или ноги)
	branch	ветка
	grip	схватывание
	to flatten	выравнивать
	to support	поддерживать
	sensitive	чувствительный
	skin	кожа
	forearm	предплечье
	clavicle	ключица
	scapula	лопатка
	essential	необходимый
	to transfer	перемещать
	vision	зрение
	to leap	прыгать
	scent	запах
	guts	кишки
	omnivorous	всеядный
	skull	череп
	upright	вертикальный
	posture	положение
	vertebra	позвонок
	spinal cord	спинной мозг
	to reduce	уменьшать
	nest	гнездо
	to fend	давать отпор
	brain	мозг
	tactile senses	чувства осязания
	bond	связь
	forelimb	передняя конечность
	hindlimb	задняя конечность
	nostril	ноздря
	tail	хвост

■ Your Essential Assignments

I. Quick check:

1. Primates evolved as a group adapted to an arboreal mode of life. Briefly explain the importance of the following adaptions:

a. reduced sense of smell

b. opposable thumb

c. small, single uterus

d. flexible pectoral girdle.

 

II. Fill in the missing words:

Term (verb)	Noun	Adjective
reflect	.......	.......
adapt	.......	.......
grasp	.......	.......
depend	.......	.......
support	.......	.......
extinguish	.......	.......
separate	…….	……

III. Use monolingual English dictionary and write down what could the words given below mean:

vision, limb, adaptation, modern, independence.

IV. Match these words with their definitions:

	primate	A.	an animal that eats both meat plants
	modern	B.	the smell of a particular animal or person that some other animals, for example dogs, can follow
	insectivore	C.	able to move easily
	mammal	D.	an animal is very like a human
	omnivore	E.	the bones of person’s or animal’s head
	brain	F.	a creature that eats insects for food
7.	scent	G.	connected with trees or living in trees
8.	mode	H.	time belonging to the present time
9.	ape	I.	the organ inside your head that controls how you think, feel and move
	mobile	J.	one of the class of animals that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is young
	digestion	K.	a member of the group of mammals that includes humans and monkeys
12.	arboreal	L.	a large monkey without a tail, or with a very short tail
13.	skull	M.	concerning human society and its organization, or the quality of people’s lives
14.	social	N.	a particular way or style of behaving, living or doing something
15.	anthropoid	O.	the process of digesting food

V. Find English equivalents to the following word combinations:

№	Russian term	English equivalent
1.	в некоторой степени
2.	физические и поведенческие характеристики
3.	хватать ветки деревьев
4.	нежная кожа на пальцах руки или ноги
5.	подвижное предплечье
6.	подносить предмет к глазам для внимательного изучения
7.	хорошо развитое зрение
8.	пищеварительная система
9.	смешанная диета
10.	большой и высоко развитый мозг
11.	передние и задние конечности
12.	несколько различий
13.	хватательный хвост

 

VI. Give Russian equivalents to the following English terms:

№	English term	Russian equivalent
	descended with modifications from a common ancestor
	arboreal mode of life
	ancestral primates
	well adapted for eating insects
	a prehensile limb
	to allow a wide range of movements
	to transfer food to the mouth
	to locate scents
	upright posture
	spinal cord
	a prolonged period of dependency after birth
	precise movements
	social grouping
	complex social behaviour

VII. Find synonyms among the pool of words:

Pool of words	Synonyms
1)1.descend /2.grip /3.grasp /4.originate
2)1.digit/2.bond/3.scent/4.finger/5.link/6.smell /7.toe
3)1.feature /2. limb /3.characteristic /4. arm /5. leg
4)1.primitive /2.independence /3. freedom /4. ancient

VIII. Answer the following questions. Use all information given before:

1. What has freed us from many of the effects of natural selection?

2. What does “arboreal mode of life” mean?

3. What features did ancestral primates have?

4. What features have been retained by modern primates?

5. What are the two main groups of modern primates?

6. How are monkeys distinguished from apes?

 

IX. Match the sentence halves. Make complete sentences: