Greater primates. "Class mammals

And tarsiers. Primates from the suborder of monkeys were represented by anthropoids, including apes and humans. Recently, primates have been classified into the suborder Strepsirrhini or wet-nosed primates, and suborder Haplorhini or dry-nosed primates, which includes tarsiers and apes. Apes are divided into broad-nosed or New World monkeys (living in South and Central America) and narrow-nosed or Old World monkeys (living in Africa and Southeast Asia). New World monkeys include, in particular, capuchins, howler monkeys and saimiris. The narrow-nosed monkeys include the apes (such as baboons and macaques), gibbons, and great apes. Man is the only representative of the narrow-nosed monkeys that has spread beyond Africa, South and East Asia, although fossil evidence indicates that many other species were previously present in Europe. New species of primates are constantly being described, with more than 25 species described in the first decade of the 21st century, and eleven species described since 2010.

Most primates are arboreal, but some (including great apes and baboons) have become terrestrial. However, primates that lead a terrestrial lifestyle retain adaptations for climbing trees. Methods of locomotion include jumping from tree to tree, walking on two or four limbs, walking on the hind limbs supported by the toes of the forelimbs, and brachiation - movement in which the animal swings on the forelimbs.

Primates are characterized by larger brains than other mammals. Of all the senses, the most important are stereoscopic vision, as well as smell. These features are more pronounced in monkeys and weaker in lorises and lemurs. Some primates have tricolor vision. In most people the thumb is opposed to the others; some have a prehensile tail. Many species are characterized by sexual dimorphism, which manifests itself in body weight, fang size, and coloration.

Primates develop and reach adulthood more slowly than other similarly sized mammals, but they live long lives. Depending on the species, adults can live alone, in pairs, or in groups of up to hundreds of individuals.

Appearance

Primates are characterized by five-fingered, very mobile upper limbs (hands), the thumb is opposed to the rest (in the majority), and nails. The body of most primates is covered with hair, and lemurs and some broad-nosed monkeys also have undercoat, which is why their hair can be called real fur.

General characteristics

• hairline
• five-fingered limb
• fingers are equipped with nails
• the thumb of the hand is opposed to all the others
• underdeveloped sense of smell
• significant development of the cerebral hemispheres

Nutrition

Primates use a variety of food sources. It can be assumed that the diet modern primates(including humans) is associated with the feeding habits of their evolutionary ancestors, who obtained most of their food in the canopy of the tropical forest. Most primates eat fruits rich in easily digestible carbohydrates and fats, which are necessary as a source of energy. Primates obtain essential microelements, vitamins and minerals, as well as amino acids necessary for the construction of tissues, by eating insects and plant leaves. Primates of the suborder Strepsirrhini synthesize vitamin C, like most other mammals, but primates of the suborder Haplorrhini have lost this ability and need to obtain vitamin C from food.

Many primates have anatomical features that allow them to efficiently obtain certain types of food, such as fruits, leaves, gums or insects. . Leaf beetles, such as howler monkeys, colobus monkeys, and lepilemuras, have elongated digestive tracts that allow them to absorb nutrients from leaves that are difficult to digest. Gum-eating marmosets have strong incisors, which allow them to open the bark of trees and extract gum, and claws, which allow them to hold on to trees while feeding. The aye-aye combines rodent-like teeth with a long, slender middle finger and occupies the same ecological niche as the woodpecker. By tapping trees, the aye-aye finds insect larvae, gnaws holes in the wood, inserts its elongated middle finger into the hole and pulls the larva out. Lophocebus albigena has thickened tooth enamel, which allows this monkey to open hard fruits and seeds that other monkeys are unable to open.

Some primates have a narrow range of foods. For example, the gelada is the only primate that feeds primarily on grass, and the tarsier is the only completely carnivorous primate (their diet consists of insects, crustaceans and small vertebrates, including venomous snakes). . Capuchins, in contrast, have a very wide range of food, which includes fruits, leaves, flowers, buds, nectar, seeds, insects and other invertebrates, bird eggs and small vertebrates (including birds, lizards, squirrels and bats). The common chimpanzee also hunts other primates, such as Procolobus badius .

Classification

The order of primates was identified back in 1758 by Linnaeus, who included in it humans, monkeys, prosimians, bats and sloths. Linnaeus accepted the presence of two mammary glands and a five-fingered limb as the defining characteristics of primates. In the same century, Georges Buffon divided primates into two orders - quadrupeds ( Quadrumana) and two-handed ( Bimanus), separating humans from other primates. Only 100 years later, Thomas Huxley put an end to this division by proving that the hind limb of an ape is a leg. Since the 18th century, the composition of the taxon has changed, but back in the 20th century, the slow loris was classified as a sloth, and chiropterans were excluded from the number of close relatives of primates in beginning of XXI century.

Recently, the classification of primates has undergone significant changes. Previously, suborders of prosimians were distinguished ( Prosimii) and anthropoid primates ( Anthropoidea). All representatives of the modern suborder Scrotums were classified as prosimians ( Strepsirhini), tarsiers, and also sometimes tupai (now regarded as special squad). Anthropoids The apes became an infraorder in the suborder dry-nosed monkeys. Additionally, the family Pongidae was previously recognized and is now considered a subfamily of Ponginae within the family Hominidae.

• suborder wet-nosed ( Strepsirhini)
  • infraorder lemur-like ( Lemuriformes)
    • lemurs, or lemurids ( Lemuridae): lemurs themselves
    • dwarf lemurs ( Cheirogalidae): dwarf and mouse lemurs
    • lepilemurs ( Lepilemuridae)
    • indriaceae ( Indriidae): indris, avagis and sifakas
    • hand-footed ( Daubentoniidae): aye-aye (single species)
  • infraorder Lorisiformes ( Loriformes)
    • Loriaceae ( Loridae): lori and potto
    • halagaceae ( Galagonidae): galago proper

• suborder dry-nosed ( Haplorrhini)
  • infraorder tarsiformes ( Tarsiiformes)
    • tarsiers ( Tarsiidae)
  • infraorder apes ( Simiiformes)
    • parvotrode broad-nosed monkeys, or New World monkeys ( Platyrrhina)
      • marmosets ( Callitrichidae)
      • prehensile-tailed ( Cebidae)
      • night monkeys ( Aotidae)
      • saki ( Pitheciidae)
      • arachnids ( Atelidae)
    • parvoorder narrow-nosed monkeys, or Old World primates ( Catarhina)
      • superfamily dog-headed ( Cercopithecoidea)
        • marmosets, or lower narrow-nosed monkeys ( Cercopithecidae): macaques, baboons, monkeys, etc.
      • superfamily great apes, or hominoids ( Hominoidea), or anthropomorphids ( Anthropomorphidae)
        • gibbons, or lesser apes ( Hylobatidae): true gibbons, nomascus, hoolocks and siamangs
        • hominids ( Hominidae): orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans

Chronogram

Origin and immediate family

According to the idea formed on the basis of molecular studies in 1999, it turned out that the closest relatives of primates are not tupayas, but woolly wings. Primates, woolly wings and tupaiformes (together with rodents and lagomorphs) belong to one of the four branches of placentals - the superorder Euarchontoglires, and bats - to the superorder Laurasiatheria. Previously, primates, woolly winged and tupaiformes were grouped together with bats in the superorder Archonta.

Euarchontoglires	Euarchonta Primatomorpha Primates(Primates) Rodents (Glires)

Primates evolved from a common ancestor with woolly wings in the Upper Cretaceous. Estimates of the time of appearance of primates vary from the conservative 65-75 million years ago. n. up to 79-116 million liters. n. (according to molecular clock).

These ancient primates, in all likelihood, spread from Asia to other places in the Old World and North America, where they gave rise to lemurs and tarsiers. The original forms of monkeys of the New and Old Worlds probably originated from primitive tarsiformes (some authors consider ancient lemurs to be the ancestors of apes). New World monkeys arose independently from Old World monkeys. Their ancestors penetrated from North America to South America, here they developed and specialized, adapting to the conditions of exclusively arboreal life. In many anatomical and biological features, humans belong to the higher primates, where they constitute separate family people ( Hominidae) with gender person ( Homo) and one modern look - reasonable person (H. sapiens). In many anatomical and physiological characteristics, not only apes, but also lower primates are very similar to humans. They are even susceptible to many human diseases (for example, dysentery, tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, measles, tonsillitis), which generally proceed in the same way as in humans. Sometimes great apes die from appendicitis. All this indicates the morphological and biochemical similarity of the blood and tissues of primates and humans.

Distinctive Features

Primates mainly lead an arboreal lifestyle and therefore have many adaptations to such an environment. Distinctive features of primates:

Not all primates have the anatomical features listed, and not all of these features are unique to primates. For example, many other mammals have collarbones, three types of teeth, and a pendulous penis. At the same time, koats have greatly reduced fingers, ruffed lemurs have six mammary glands, and some wet-nosed lemurs usually have a long snout and a sensitive sense of smell.

Primate behavior is often social, with a complex hierarchy. New World primates form monogamous pairs, with males showing much greater care for their offspring than male Old World primates.

Practical significance

The practical importance of primates is very great. As living and funny creatures, monkeys have always attracted human attention. They were hunted and sold to zoos and for home entertainment. The meat of many monkeys is still eaten by the aborigines. The meat of semi-monkeys is considered very tasty. The skins of some species of primates are used to make some things. In recent years, primates have become increasingly important in biological and medical experiments. Some organs of monkeys are used in the treatment of people (for example, the kidneys of macaques, green monkeys and some other monkeys serve as a nutrient medium for growing viruses, which then, after appropriate processing, turn into a vaccine against polio).

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Notes

1. Goodman, M., Tagle, D. A., Fitch, D. H., Bailey, W., Czelusniak, J., Koop, B. F., Benson, P., & Slightom, J. L. (1990). "Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids". Journal of Molecular Evolution 30 (3): 260–266. DOI:10.1007/BF02099995. PMID 2109087.
2. , Encyclopædia Britannica Online, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2008 , . Retrieved July 21, 2008.
3. Helen J Chatterjee, Simon Y.W. Ho, Ian Barnes & Colin Groves (2009). "Estimating the phylogeny and divergence times of primates using a supermatrix approach." BMC Evolutionary Biology 9 : 259. DOI:10.1186/1471-2148-9-259. PMID 19860891.
4. (1993) "". Scientific American 269 (2): 86–93. PMID 8351513.
5. Strier, K. Primate Behavioral Ecology. - 3rd. - Allyn & Bacon, 2007. - P. 7, 64, 71, 77, 182–185, 273–280, 284, 287–298. - ISBN 0-205-44432-6.
6. Pollock, J. I., & Mullin, R. J. (1986). "". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 73 (1): 65–70. DOI:10.1002/ajpa.1330730106. PMID 3113259.
7. Milliken, G. W., Ward, J. P., & Erickson, C. J. (1991). "Independent digital control in foraging by the aye-aye ( Daubentonia madagascariensis)». Folia Primatologica 56 (4): 219–224. DOI:10.1159/000156551. PMID 1937286.
8. Hiller, C. . Animal Diversity Web(2000). Retrieved August 8, 2008. .
9. Wright, P., Simmons, E. & Gursky, S. Introduction // Tarsiers Past, Present and Future / Wright, P., Simmons, E. & Gursky, S.. - Rutgers University Press, 2003. - P. 1. - ISBN 0-8135-3236-1.
10. Sussman, R. W. Primate Ecology and Social Structure, Volume 2: New World Monkeys. - Revised First. - Needham Heights, MA: Pearson Custom Publishing & Prentice Hall, 2003. - P. 77–80, 132–133, 141–143. - ISBN 0-536-74364-9.
11. Bshary, R. Interactions between Red Colobus Monkeys and Chimpanzees // Monkeys of the Taï Forest: an African primate community / McGraw, W., Zuberbuhler, K. & Noe, R.. - Cambridge University Press, 2007. - P. 155–170. - ISBN 0-521-81633-5.
12. Stanford, C. Chimpanzee and red colobus: the ecology of predator and prey. - Harvard University Press, 1998. - P. 130–138, 233. - ISBN 0-674-00722-0.
15. Characteristics of Primates // Vertebrate Life. - 7th. - Pearson, 2005. - P. 630. - ISBN 0-13-127836-3.
16. Soligo, C., Müller, A.E. (1999). "Nails and claws in primate evolution." Journal of Human Evolution 36 (1): 97–114. DOI:10.1006/jhev.1998.0263. PMID 9924135.
17. Macdonald, David (2006), "Primates", The Encyclopedia of Mammals, The Brown Reference Group plc, pp. 290–307, ISBN 0-681-45659-0
18. White, T. & Kazlev, A.. Palaeos (January 8, 2006). Retrieved June 3, 2008. .
19. Pough, F. W., Janis, C. M. & Heiser, J. B. Primate Societies // Vertebrate Life. - 7th. - Pearson, 2005. - P. 621–623. - ISBN 0-13-127836-3.

Literature

• Biological encyclopedic dictionary edited by M. S. Gilyarov et al., M., ed. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1989.
• Butovskaya M. L., Fainberg L. A. Ethology of primates (textbook). M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1992.
• N. N. Ladygina-Kots.. - M.: State Darwin Museum, 1935. - 596 p., in 2002 the book was translated into English language: Nadezhda Nikolaevna Ladygina-Kohts./ translated by Boris Vekker, edited by Frans B. M. de Waal. - Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. - 452 p. - ISBN 0-19-513565-2.

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Prototheria (Primordial beasts) Metatheria (Metatherium) Eutheria (Eutheria, or Placental)

An excerpt characterizing Primates

- ABOUT! Ooooh! - he sobbed like a woman. The doctor, standing in front of the wounded man, blocking his face, moved away.
- My God! What is this? Why is he here? - Prince Andrei said to himself.
In the unfortunate, sobbing, exhausted man, whose leg had just been taken away, he recognized Anatoly Kuragin. They held Anatole in their arms and offered him water in a glass, the edge of which he could not catch with his trembling, swollen lips. Anatole was sobbing heavily. “Yes, it’s him; “Yes, this man is somehow closely and deeply connected with me,” thought Prince Andrei, not yet clearly understanding what was in front of him. – What is this person’s connection with my childhood, with my life? - he asked himself, not finding an answer. And suddenly a new, unexpected memory from the world of childhood, pure and loving, presented itself to Prince Andrei. He remembered Natasha as he had seen her for the first time at the ball in 1810, with a thin neck and thin arms, with a frightened, happy face ready for delight, and love and tenderness for her, even more vivid and stronger than ever, awoke in his soul. He now remembered the connection that existed between him and this man, who looked at him dully through tears filling his swollen eyes. Prince Andrey remembered everything, and enthusiastic pity and love for this man filled his happy heart.
Prince Andrei could not hold on any longer and began to cry tender, loving tears over people, over himself and over them and his delusions.
“Compassion, love for brothers, for those who love, love for those who hate us, love for enemies - yes, that love that God preached on earth, which Princess Marya taught me and which I did not understand; That’s why I felt sorry for life, that’s what was still left for me if I were alive. But now it's too late. I know it!

The terrible sight of the battlefield, covered with corpses and wounded, combined with the heaviness of the head and with the news of the killed and wounded twenty familiar generals and with the awareness of the powerlessness of his previously strong hand, made an unexpected impression on Napoleon, who usually loved to look at the dead and wounded, thereby testing his spiritual strength (as he thought). On this day, the terrible sight of the battlefield defeated the spiritual strength in which he believed his merit and greatness. He hastily left the battlefield and returned to the Shevardinsky mound. Yellow, swollen, heavy, with dull eyes, a red nose and a hoarse voice, he sat on a folding chair, involuntarily listening to the sounds of gunfire and not raising his eyes. He awaited with painful melancholy the end of that matter, which he considered himself to be the cause of, but which he could not stop. Personal human feeling for a short moment took precedence over that artificial ghost of life that he had served for so long. He endured the suffering and death that he saw on the battlefield. The heaviness of his head and chest reminded him of the possibility of suffering and death for himself. At that moment he did not want Moscow, victory, or glory for himself. (What more glory did he need?) The only thing he wanted now was rest, peace and freedom. But when he was at Semenovskaya Heights, the chief of artillery suggested that he place several batteries at these heights in order to intensify the fire on the Russian troops crowded in front of Knyazkov. Napoleon agreed and ordered news to be brought to him about what effect these batteries would produce.
The adjutant came to say that, by order of the emperor, two hundred guns were aimed at the Russians, but that the Russians were still standing there.
“Our fire takes them out in rows, but they stand,” said the adjutant.
“Ils en veulent encore!.. [They still want it!..],” said Napoleon in a hoarse voice.
- Sire? [Sovereign?] - repeated the adjutant who did not listen.
“Ils en veulent encore,” Napoleon croaked, frowning, in a hoarse voice, “donnez leur en.” [You still want to, so ask them.]
And without his order, what he wanted was done, and he gave orders only because he thought that orders were expected from him. And he was again transported to his former artificial world of ghosts of some kind of greatness, and again (like that horse walking on a sloping drive wheel imagines that it is doing something for itself) he obediently began to perform that cruel, sad and difficult, inhuman the role that was intended for him.
And it was not just for this hour and day that the mind and conscience of this man, who bore the brunt of what was happening more heavily than all the other participants in this matter, were darkened; but never, until the end of his life, could he understand either goodness, beauty, truth, or the meaning of his actions, which were too opposite to goodness and truth, too far from everything human for him to understand their meaning. He could not renounce his actions, praised by half the world, and therefore had to renounce truth and goodness and everything human.
Not only on this day, driving around the battlefield, strewn with dead and mutilated people (as he thought, by his will), he, looking at these people, counted how many Russians there were for one Frenchman, and, deceiving himself, found reasons to rejoice that for every Frenchman there were five Russians. Not only on this day did he write in a letter to Paris that le champ de bataille a ete superbe [the battlefield was magnificent] because there were fifty thousand corpses on it; but also on the island of St. Helena, in the quiet of solitude, where he said that he intended to devote his leisure time to the exposition of the great deeds that he had done, he wrote:
"La guerre de Russie eut du etre la plus populaire des temps modernes: c"etait celle du bon sens et des vrais interets, celle du repos et de la securite de tous; elle etait purement pacifique et conservatrice.
C "etait pour la grande cause, la fin des hasards elle commencement de la securite. Un nouvel horizon, de nouveaux travaux allaient se derouler, tout plein du bien etre et de la prosperite de tous. Le systeme europeen se trouvait fonde; il n "etait plus question que de l"organiser.
Satisfait sur ces grands points et tranquille partout, j "aurais eu aussi mon congress et ma sainte alliance. Ce sont des idees qu"on m"a volees. Dans cette reunion de grands souverains, nous eussions traits de nos interets en famille et compte de clerc a maitre avec les peuples.
L"Europe n"eut bientot fait de la sorte veritablement qu"un meme peuple, et chacun, en voyageant partout, se fut trouve toujours dans la patrie commune. Il eut demande toutes les rivieres navigables pour tous, la communaute des mers, et que les grandes armees permanentes fussent reduites desormais a la seule garde des souverains.
De retour en France, au sein de la patrie, grande, forte, magnifique, tranquille, glorieuse, j"eusse proclame ses limites immuables; toute guerre future, purement defensive; tout agrandissement nouveau antinational. J"eusse associe mon fils a l"Empire ; ma dictature eut fini, et son regne constitutionnel eut commence…
Paris eut ete la capitale du monde, et les Francais l"envie des nations!..
Mes loisirs ensuite et mes vieux jours eussent ete consacres, en compagnie de l"imperatrice et durant l"apprentissage royal de mon fils, a visiter lentement et en vrai couple campagnard, avec nos propres chevaux, tous les recoins de l"Empire, recevant les plaintes, redressant les torts, semant de toutes parts et partout les monuments et les bienfaits.
The Russian war should have been the most popular in modern times: it was a war of common sense and real benefits, a war of peace and security for everyone; she was purely peace-loving and conservative.
It was for a great purpose, for the end of chance and the beginning of peace. A new horizon, new works would open, full of prosperity and well-being for all. The European system would have been founded, the only question would be its establishment.
Satisfied in these great matters and everywhere calm, I too would have my congress and my sacred alliance. These are the thoughts that were stolen from me. In this meeting of great sovereigns, we would discuss our interests as a family and would take into account the peoples, like a scribe with an owner.
Europe would indeed soon constitute one and the same people, and everyone, traveling anywhere, would always be in a common homeland.
I would argue that all rivers should be navigable for everyone, that the sea should be common, that permanent, large armies should be reduced solely to the guards of sovereigns, etc.
Returning to France, to my homeland, great, strong, magnificent, calm, glorious, I would proclaim its borders unchanged; any future defensive war; any new spread is anti-national; I would add my son to the government of the empire; my dictatorship would end and his constitutional rule would begin...
Paris would be the capital of the world and the French would be the envy of all nations!..
Then my leisure time and last days would be devoted, with the help of the Empress and during the royal upbringing of my son, to little by little visiting, like a real village couple, on our own horses, all corners of the state, receiving complaints, eliminating injustices, dispersing all sides and everywhere buildings and blessings.]
He, destined by Providence for the sad, unfree role of the executioner of nations, assured himself that the purpose of his actions was the good of the peoples and that he could guide the destinies of millions and do good deeds through power!
“Des 400,000 hommes qui passerent la Vistule,” he wrote further about the Russian war, “la moitie etait Autrichiens, Prussiens, Saxons, Polonais, Bavarois, Wurtembergeois, Mecklembourgeois, Espagnols, Italiens, Napolitains. L "armee imperiale, proprement dite, etait pour un tiers composee de Hollandais, Belges, habitants des bords du Rhin, Piemontais, Suisses, Genevois, Toscans, Romains, habitants de la 32 e division militaire, Breme, Hambourg, etc.; elle comptait a peine 140000 hommes parlant francais. L "expedition do Russie couta moins de 50000 hommes a la France actuelle; l "armee russe dans la retraite de Wilna a Moscou, dans les differentes batailles, a perdu quatre fois plus que l"armee francaise; l"incendie de Moscou a coute la vie a 100000 Russes, morts de froid et de misere dans les bois; enfin dans sa marche de Moscou a l"Oder, l"armee russe fut aussi atteinte par, l"intemperie de la saison; “elle ne comptait a son arrivee a Wilna que 50,000 hommes, et a Kalisch moins de 18,000.”
[Of the 400,000 people who crossed the Vistula, half were Austrians, Prussians, Saxons, Poles, Bavarians, Wirtembergers, Mecklenburgers, Spaniards, Italians and Neapolitans. The imperial army, in fact, was one third composed of the Dutch, Belgians, residents of the banks of the Rhine, Piedmontese, Swiss, Genevans, Tuscans, Romans, residents of the 32nd military division, Bremen, Hamburg, etc.; there were hardly 140,000 French speakers. The Russian expedition cost France proper less than 50,000 men; the Russian army in retreat from Vilna to Moscow in various battles lost four times more than the French army; the fire of Moscow cost the lives of 100,000 Russians who died from cold and poverty in the forests; finally, during its march from Moscow to the Oder, the Russian army also suffered from the severity of the season; upon arrival in Vilna it consisted of only 50,000 people, and in Kalisz less than 18,000.]
He imagined that by his will there was a war with Russia, and the horror of what had happened did not strike his soul. He boldly accepted the full responsibility of the event, and his darkened mind saw justification in the fact that among the hundreds of thousands of people who died there were fewer French than Hessians and Bavarians.

Several tens of thousands of people lay dead in different positions and uniforms in the fields and meadows that belonged to the Davydovs and state-owned peasants, in those fields and meadows in which for hundreds of years the peasants of the villages of Borodin, Gorki, Shevardin and Semyonovsky had simultaneously harvested crops and grazed livestock. At the dressing stations, about a tithe of space, the grass and soil were soaked in blood. Crowds of wounded and unwounded different teams of people, with frightened faces, on the one hand wandered back to Mozhaisk, on the other hand, back to Valuev. Other crowds, exhausted and hungry, led by their leaders, moved forward. Still others stood still and continued to shoot.
Over the entire field, previously so cheerfully beautiful, with its sparkles of bayonets and smoke in the morning sun, there now stood a haze of dampness and smoke and smelled of the strange acidity of saltpeter and blood. Clouds gathered and rain began to fall on the dead, on the wounded, on the frightened, and on the exhausted, and on the doubting people. It was as if he was saying: “Enough, enough, people. Stop it... Come to your senses. What are you doing?"
Exhausted, without food and without rest, the people of both sides began to equally doubt whether they should still exterminate each other, and hesitation was noticeable on all faces, and in every soul the question arose equally: “Why, for whom should I kill and be killed? Kill whoever you want, do whatever you want, but I don’t want any more!” By evening this thought had equally matured in everyone’s soul. At any moment all these people could be horrified by what they were doing, drop everything and run anywhere.
But although by the end of the battle people felt the full horror of their action, although they would have been glad to stop, some incomprehensible, mysterious force still continued to guide them, and, sweating, covered in gunpowder and blood, left one by three, the artillerymen, although and stumbling and gasping from fatigue, they brought charges, loaded, aimed, applied wicks; and the cannonballs flew just as quickly and cruelly from both sides and flattened the human body, and that terrible thing continued to happen, which is done not by the will of people, but by the will of the one who leads people and worlds.
Anyone who looked at the upset behinds of the Russian army would say that the French only have to make one more small effort, and the Russian army will disappear; and anyone who looked at the backs of the French would say that the Russians only have to make one more small effort, and the French will perish. But neither the French nor the Russians made this effort, and the flames of the battle slowly burned out.
The Russians did not make this effort because they were not the ones who attacked the French. At the beginning of the battle, they only stood on the road to Moscow, blocking it, and in the same way they continued to stand at the end of the battle, as they stood at the beginning of it. But even if the goal of the Russians was to shoot down the French, they could not make this last effort, because all the Russian troops were defeated, there was not a single part of the troops that was not injured in the battle, and the Russians, remaining in their places , lost half of their army.
The French, with the memory of all the previous victories of fifteen years, with the confidence of Napoleon's invincibility, with the consciousness that they had captured part of the battlefield, that they had lost only one-quarter of their men and that they still had twenty thousand intact guards, it was easy to make this effort. The French, who attacked the Russian army in order to knock it out of position, had to make this effort, because as long as the Russians, just like before the battle, blocked the road to Moscow, the French goal was not achieved and all their efforts and the losses were wasted. But the French did not make this effort. Some historians say that Napoleon should have given his old guard intact in order for the battle to be won. Talking about what would have happened if Napoleon had given his guard is the same as talking about what would have happened if spring had turned into autumn. This couldn't happen. Napoleon did not give his guards, because he did not want it, but this could not be done. All the generals, officers, and soldiers of the French army knew that this could not be done, because the fallen spirit of the army did not allow it.
Napoleon was not the only one who experienced that dream-like feeling that the terrible swing of his arm was falling powerlessly, but all the generals, all the soldiers of the French army who participated and did not participate, after all the experiences of previous battles (where, after ten times less effort, the enemy fled), experienced the same feeling of horror before that enemy who, having lost half the army, stood just as menacingly at the end as at the beginning of the battle. The moral strength of the French attacking army was exhausted. Not the victory that is determined by the pieces of material picked up on sticks called banners, and by the space on which the troops stood and are standing, but a moral victory, one that convinces the enemy of the moral superiority of his enemy and of his own powerlessness, was won by the Russians under Borodin. The French invasion, like an enraged beast that received a mortal wound in its run, felt its death; but it could not stop, just as it could not help but deviate twice as weak Russian army. After this push, the French army could still reach Moscow; but there, without new efforts on the part of the Russian army, it had to die, bleeding from the fatal wound inflicted at Borodino. The direct consequence of the Battle of Borodino was the causeless flight of Napoleon from Moscow, the return along the old Smolensk road, the death of the five hundred thousandth invasion and the death of Napoleonic France, which for the first time at Borodino was laid down by the hand of the strongest enemy in spirit.

Absolute continuity of movement is incomprehensible to the human mind. The laws of any movement become clear to a person only when he examines arbitrarily taken units of this movement. But at the same time, from this arbitrary division of continuous movement into discontinuous units stems most of human error.
The so-called sophism of the ancients is known, which consists in the fact that Achilles will never catch up with the tortoise in front, despite the fact that Achilles walks ten times faster than the tortoise: as soon as Achilles passes the space separating him from the tortoise, the tortoise will pass ahead of him one tenth of this space; Achilles will go this tenth, the tortoise will go one hundredth, etc. ad infinitum. This task seemed insoluble to the ancients. The meaninglessness of the decision (that Achilles would never catch up with the tortoise) stemmed from the fact that discontinuous units of movement were arbitrarily allowed, while the movement of both Achilles and the tortoise was continuous.
By taking smaller and smaller units of movement, we only get closer to the solution of the problem, but never achieve it. Only by admitting an infinitesimal value and an ascending progression from it to one tenth and taking the sum of this geometric progression do we achieve a solution to the question. A new branch of mathematics, having achieved the art of dealing with infinitesimal quantities, and in other more complex questions of motion, now provides answers to questions that seemed insoluble.
This new, unknown to the ancients, branch of mathematics, when considering issues of motion, admits infinitesimal quantities, that is, those at which the main condition of motion is restored (absolute continuity), thereby correcting that inevitable mistake that the human mind cannot help but make when considering instead of continuous movement, individual units of movement.

• Educational: introduce students to the diversity of primates; identify their characteristic features, signs of high organization compared to other animals.
• Educational:
show the similarities between primates and humans; develop logical thinking and educational skills - working with additional sources of information, the ability to draw conclusions; continue to develop the skills to analyze, namely compare, generalize; public speaking skill.
• Educational
: to form careful attitude to nature, to instill a love for animals.

Lesson type: explanation of new material.

Type of lesson: computer.

Forms of work: individual, frontal, didactic games.

Equipment: textbook, computer, computer slides, screen, projector, videos, cards with test tasks, cards with crossword questions, drawings of bananas.

Lesson plan.

I. Organizational moment. Greetings. Recording of absentees. Checking preparedness for the lesson .
II. Updating knowledge(Oral answer to questions on the topic “Artiodactyls, odd-toed ungulates”).
.
1. General characteristics of the Primate order.
2. Characteristics of the suborders of Primates.
3. Production conditioned reflexes in Apes.
4. Comparison of humans and apes.
5. The importance of primates in nature.
6. Primates listed in the Red Book.
IV. Consolidation of knowledge.
1. Solving a crossword puzzle.
2. Testing.
3. Task (name associations to the concept of primacy).
V. Homework.
VI. Bottom line.

Lesson progress

I. Organizational moment. Greetings. Recording of absentees. Checking preparedness for the lesson .

II. Updating knowledge.

Teacher. In previous lessons, we learned about different orders of mammals and identified their distinctive and similar features. Now we will repeat the materials from the previous lesson (Oral answer to questions ) (Presentation. Slide 2).

1) What animals belong to the order Perissodactyls and what unites them?
2) What was the role of the horse for humans 100–200 years ago?
3) What is the role of the horse in human life at the present stage?
4) Which animals are classified as artiodactyl non-ruminants?
5) What animals are artiodactyl ruminants?
6) What is the role of ungulates in nature?
7) What is the importance of ungulates in human life?

Teacher. Today we will complete our study big topic“Class Mammals”. The last, and most important order in the Mammals class that we will study is the Primates order. (Slide 1)

(Familiarization with the lesson plan.) (Slide 3)

III. Learning new material.

Teacher. The term “primates,” meaning “one of the first,” was first proposed in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, combining apes and humans into the order Primates. (Slide 4)

Primates are tropical inhabitants: most of them live in dense forests. All other arboreal animals cling with sharp claws when climbing. In contrast, primates grasp a branch with long, well-developed fingers. On the fore and hind limbs of primates, the first (thumb) finger can be opposed to the rest. This allows the animal to hold firmly on branches and grasp the smallest objects with its fingers. Instead of claws, monkeys have flat nails on their fingers. The limbs are very mobile. They serve not only for movement - they are used by animals to grab food, clean and comb hair on any part of the body.

Monkeys have excellent hearing and acute vision. Their eyes are not located on the sides of the head, like most other animals, but are directed forward. They see the same object with both eyes at the same time, thanks to which they accurately determine the distance to it. This feature of vision is of great importance when jumping from branch to branch.

Monkeys are good at distinguishing shape and color; already from a distance they detect ripe fruits and edible insects. They feed on both plant and animal foods, but still prefer juicy fruits. Primate cubs are born sighted, but unable to move independently. He clings tightly to the fur of his mother, who carries him with her, holding him with one hand.

Monkeys differ from other mammals in the large size of their brain, the cerebral hemispheres of which have many convolutions. Their sense of smell is poorly developed and there are no tactile hairs. Their main organs of touch are their fingers, as well as the bare palms and soles of the feet.

Monkeys are active during the day. They live in herds, at the head of the herd is a strong male, and the remaining males, females and growing cubs occupy a subordinate position and fulfill his demands, transmitted through sound signals and gestures.

The order Primates is divided into two suborders: the Lower Apes, or Prosimians, and the Greater Apes, or Monkeys. (Slide 5)

Teacher. The suborder of semi-monkeys includes lemurs, tarsiers, and tupai. The animals are small, covered with thick fur. The tail is long and bushy. The thumb of the hand is not opposed to the rest; the phalanges of the fingers are equipped with claws. Representatives - the slender loris, the ruffed lemur, the rukopozka, poppies, and tupai - are among the most primitive insectivorous prosimians. Distributed in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, and Madagascar. (Slide 6)

Student reports about representatives of the suborder Prosimians.

1st student: Tarsiers live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, Byangka and Belitung, in Indonesia and the Philippines. The eyes weigh more than the brain. Tail 135–275 cm. Weight 100g. They hunt scorpions and poisonous snakes. They love newborn mice, sparrows, and beetles.

They do not synthesize vitamin C. The lower teeth are directed not forward, but upward. The second and third toes are claws. Limbs are bare. Able to turn head 180ºÑ (Slide 7).
The most primitive of the prosimians are the tupai, small, squirrel-like animals that live in the forests of South Asia. Their fingers do not have nails, but also claws, and the thumb cannot resist the others. There are 38 teeth, the brain is smooth, without grooves or convolutions.

In the lemurs that inhabit Madagascar, the thumbs can resist the others; all the toes have nails, except the second toe, which is armed with a “toilet” claw - a scratcher.

Fox muzzle, 36 teeth. These are nocturnal animals of tropical forests, feeding on fruits, insects, bird eggs and chicks. Now they are disappearing along with the forests.” (Slide 8–9)

2nd student: “Representatives of Loriids live in Africa and South Asia. Laurie means “clown” in Dutch. Dimensions 12–40 cm. They live in South and Southeast Asia and Africa. There are thin and thick loris, potto.
The slender loris lives in India and Sri Lanka. Chipmunk size: 25 cm and 7 mm tail. Weighing 280 g. The second finger of the hand is reduced. Nocturnal lifestyle. They look like miniature big-eyed bear cubs.” (V/f “Team Primates”.)

Teacher. The suborder Great Apes includes broad-nosed, narrow-nosed and great apes. (Slide 10) Apes are divided into the lower apes and the great apes. This suborder includes primates of various sizes. The height of the smallest, for example marmosets, is 20–35 cm, and the largest - up to 2 m. Marmosets still have claw-shaped nails, the thumb is not opposed to the other and the hemispheres of the brain are smooth. The tail is “squirrel”, not grasping. In other primates, the nails are wide, and the vibrissae on the facial part have disappeared.

The brain has many convolutions and is well developed. 139 species are known. Humans also belong to this suborder.

These monkeys and humans had common ancestors, then their development took different paths. Today, despite the large number of common features in the structure, the differences are very significant.

Student reports about representatives of the suborder Greater Primates.

3rd student: “ The most primitive monkeys are grouped into the broad-nosed superfamily. Their cartilaginous nasal septum is wide and the nostrils are directed forward. They live in South and Central America.

This suborder includes marmosets, howler monkeys, and spider monkeys. (Slide 11)

Marmosets are inhabitants of tropical America. The pygmy marmoset lives in Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. The size of a squirrel, weighing 355 g. It has 32 teeth. The fingers end in claws. Moves freely in any position, even upside down. A rich mane is an indicator good health and good nutrition. Hepatitis, leukemia, organ transplantation, and immunity are studied on marmosets.
The howler monkey lives from Colombia to the mouth of the Amazon, south to Bolivia. Herbivorous.

Arachnids (koatas) live in South America. They have a tenacious tail, which curls around a branch and acts as a fifth limb; it is bare at the end, equipped with a leather comb - this is an organ of touch.”

4th student: “ In narrow-nosed monkeys, the facial part of the skull protrudes forward, the tail is long or short, but is never prehensile. There are usually cheek pouches and ischial calluses - bare areas of skin in the area of ​​the ischial muscles . There are 32 teeth, the upper canines are large, the brain is well developed (weighing up to 150 g). Of the monkeys, the most famous are macaques. They often descend to the ground. The rhesus macaque is a well-known experimental animal for medicine. (Slides 12–14)

Hamadryas, mandrills and anubises are large, up to 25 kg baboons of Africa . (Slide 15)

Hamadryad. Males are 80 cm long, tail length 60 cm. Weight 30 kg. Females are half the size. The coat is gray, in males it forms a lush silver-gray mantle. Females are grayish-brown. There are cheek pouches. Found in Africa and Asia. They live up to 30 years. Listed in the Red Book (Slide 16).(V\f “Hamadryas”.)
Mandrill lives in Cameroon, Africa. It has the richest and most vibrant colors in the ape world.” . (Slide 17)

Proboscis monkeys are medium-sized monkeys, but among small monkeys they seem like giants. The body length is 55–72 cm; proboscis monkeys have a very long tail, which is almost equal to the length of the body (66–75 cm). Weight ranges from 12 to 24 kg, and males, with the same body length, weigh almost twice as much as females. The main external feature of these monkeys is their amazing nose, which you will not find on any other animal. The fur of these monkeys is short and flat.

Proboscis monkeys are narrowly endemic, meaning they are found in a limited area. They live only on the island. Borneo (Kalimantan) of the Malay Archipelago and nowhere else in the world. They are active mainly during the day, most of the time they stay in the crowns of trees, and rarely come down to the ground. (Slide 18)(In /f “Proboscis Monkey.”)

Teacher. The lower apes include gibbons and orangutans. Gibbons live in the forests of Southeast Asia. They are small and retain the ischial calluses. (Slide 19)

Orangutans are large, males weigh up to 189 kg, and are covered with bright red hair. They rarely descend to the ground, live in trees, feed on fruits, leaves, and young shoots (Slide 20).

Higher apes (the most developed) have a large brain (up to 600 g), no tail, cheek pouches or ischial calluses. The gorilla and chimpanzee that are closest to humans live in equatorial Africa. .

Student reports about great apes.

5th student: “ The largest of the apes is the gorilla (up to 250 kg), a powerful but very peaceful monkey of the tropical rainforests. Gorillas are strict vegetarians. The body is covered with thick short black hair. (Slide 21)

On the ground, the gorilla moves bent over, leaning on the back of the fingers of the forelimb. Found in equatorial Africa. Feeds on juicy fruits, nuts, and roots.” (V/f “Gorilla”.)

6th student: “A chimpanzee is a large ape , up to 150 cm high, weighing 45–50 kg. Arms are longer than legs. The ears are shaped like human ones, the fur is dark, the face is hairless . (Slide 22)

Chimpanzee body temperature is 37.2ºС. Currently, it is the most numerous species of all great apes. The number of individuals living in the wild is estimated at several tens of thousands. Groups consist of 5–30 individuals, led by the strongest male. Most of the day is spent mutually grooming and searching for food. Their diet consists of fruits. Sometimes they eat ants and termites. Chimpanzees, regardless of age, expressively demonstrate their mood. He sticks out his tongue, sucks his finger, and chews on various objects. They are upset, they cry, they rejoice. Chimpanzees spend most of the day in the trees.

There are two types: the common chimpanzee and the pygmy chimpanzee. . The pygmy chimpanzee is listed in the Red Book . (Slide 23) Both species live in Central Africa. The blood of bonobos of the corresponding group can be transfused into humans.” (V/f “Chimpanzee”.)

Teacher. The active life and variety of functions of the forelimbs allowed the brain to develop strongly in primates, and this led to a reduction in the facial part of the skull.

The entire hand-eye-brain complex is a prerequisite for complex behavior associated with the use of various objects to achieve life goals.

Monkeys stack boxes to reach a hanging banana; crush the leaves with their hands and use this sponge to extract rainwater from the hole in the tree; using a pole to cross a body of water; grass cleanses the body of dirt; Having cleaned the stick, they pick their teeth with it; use the leaves to make a cone to drink. (V/f “The Rational Activity of a Monkey.”)

Student reports about the similarities between great apes and humans.

7th student: “ Greater apes have the same blood types as humans and suffer from the same infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and influenza.

The structure of the body is very similar to that of a human, but there are also differences. The human pelvis is adapted to walking upright, but the monkey cannot move while in an upright position.

Biological sciences study the human body. We must not forget that man has emerged from the animal world and is a social being, the distinctive feature of which is consciousness, which arose on the basis of social and labor activity. A person becomes a person only in a society where he develops and lives.”

Teacher. Primates in nature are of great practical importance. They distribute plant seeds and control plant growth and development. Enrich the soil organic fertilizers, are included in the food chain.

Most apes are listed in the International Red Book. Their numbers are decreasing due to fires in forests and human carelessness towards them. (Slide 24–27).

All living beings are born in order to live. You cannot offend animals and pick plants unnecessarily; do not pollute nature, protect its wealth. If nature becomes impoverished, all living things will disappear. For them, the world should be clean. Man is part of nature, which means he too will disappear from the face of the earth. We came into this world to live and do great things.

It is important to protect nature, because we have to pass this world on to our children, who must see it the way we see it. Let's all accomplish this task together!

Man is the crown of nature, her beloved child. And he will never be able to rise above her, because he will always feel the need to communicate with her in order to remain a Human .

Physical education minute.(Slide 28)

We are funny monkeys
We play too loud.
All we stomp our feet,
We all clap our hands,
Puff out our cheeks
Let's jump on our toes.
Let's jump to the ceiling together
Put your finger to your temple
And even to each other
Let's show our tongues!
Let's open our mouths wider,
We'll make all the faces.
How can I say word three?
Everyone freeze with grimaces.
One, two, three!

IV. Consolidation of knowledge.

1. Solving a crossword puzzle. (Slide 29)

1) The most primitive insectivorous prosimian (tupaya).
2) The largest representative of apes (gorilla).
3) Representative of narrow-nosed monkeys (baboons).
4) What class do primates belong to? (Mammals).
5) (The shape of the ears resembles those of humans (chimpanzees).
6) They have the largest body mass among higher primates (orangutan).
7) Representative of narrow-nosed monkeys (monkey).

2. Execution test tasks. (Slide 30)

1) Which sense organ is poorly developed in primates?

A – vision, B – hearing, C – smell .

2) The total number of species is about:

A – 150, B – 200, C – 260, d – 300.

3) The development of which part of the brain is associated with the formation of conditioned reflexes?

A - cerebellum,
B – cerebral cortex ,
B – medulla oblongata,
G – diencephalon.

4) Higher primates are the most highly organized animals, since:

A - they live in herds,
B – can move quickly,
B – have a highly developed brain,
D – capable of using simple tools

5) The smallest representative of the suborder of Great Apes:

A - marmoset,
B – mandrill,
B – macaque,
G – howler.

(They check the correctness of the answers on the computer and explain.) (Slide 31)

3. Name the associations to the concept of primacy. Associations can be a word, an expression, or a whole sentence starting with a certain letter. (Slide 32)

P R I M A T

V. Homework. Study paragraph 35, complete the tasks in the workbook, answer 1–3 questions. (Slide 33)

Teacher. In this lesson we got acquainted with the order of primates, their representatives and characteristic features. Everyone was active during the lesson, well done! Now count your bananas, who has more bananas? (Grades are based on the number of bananas.) The teacher comments on the students’ grades.

I wish you success in your studies. Grow up to be polite, smart, diligent, educated people! Wherever, whoever you are, remain real people! (Slide 34) In conclusion, I would like to read S. V. Mikhalkov’s poem “Be a Man”:

There are goosebumps in the forest
They live by their labor
They have their own customs
And the anthill is home.
Peace-loving residents
They don't sit idle:
In the morning, soldiers are running to the post,
And nannies in kindergarten.
Worker ant is in a hurry
The labor path,
From morning to evening it rustles
In the grass and under the leaves.
You were walking through the forest with a stick
And the ant house
Jokingly, I dug to the bottom
And then he set it on fire.
Peace and work big family
Trouble broke it.
Ants were rushing about in the smoke,
Fleeing in all directions.
The needles crackled. Quietly smoldering
Dry, fallen leaf.
Calmly looking down from above
Cruel egoist...
For calling you that,
I don't blame myself,
After all, you didn’t create it,
Which he set on fire.
Do you live in our atomic age?
And he himself is an ant,
Be a man, man,
You are on your own land!

There are more than 400 species of primates living in nature, and on this site we will try to describe them all. The most famous of them are the great apes. The sizes of primates are variable: body length from 8.5-10-12 cm (tarsiers, lemurs, tupai) to 180 cm (gorillas).

Primates are predominantly arboreal (some tupayas, ring-tailed lemurs and baboons). Monkeys live in small, rarely in large groups. Activity is usually daytime.

By nature of nutrition, they tend to be omnivorous with various deviations towards herbivory or carnivory, depending on the species, season and habitat. On this site we plan to publish descriptions of all types of monkeys, both the most famous and very rare.

PRIMATES, an order of mammals that includes humans, apes, other apes, and prosimians. Perhaps the tupai from Southeast Asia should also be included in this category. The name “primates”, meaning “first”, “leading”, was given to the order by C. Linnaeus, the father of modern biological taxonomy.

Primates mainly live in trees, for which their limbs are adapted to move. They are long and thin, and the hands and feet are of a grasping type: the thumbs are usually opposed to the others. The limbs rotate easily at the hip and shoulder joints; the front ones and, to a lesser extent, the back ones can be turned with the palm and sole inward and even upward. The teeth of more primitive primates (in particular, tupai and lemurs) are covered with sharp tubercles and are adapted for grinding, in addition to plant food, also the hard coverings of insects. Their muzzle is elongated and pointed. Monkeys have a shortened snout; the two branches of the lower jaw in front are fused without a seam, and the teeth bear rounded tubercles and are adapted for crushing the soft parts of plants. The upper canines are usually well developed, especially in males, and are used in fighting.

The reproductive system of primates is similar to humans, with the exception of small details. In many monkeys the placenta is double discoid, but in tarsier and apes it is formed by a single disc, like in humans. Lemurs have a diffuse, permanent placenta. As a rule, one cub is born.

The sense of smell in primates, unlike most mammals, is poorly developed, but their vision and hearing are acute. The eyes are located in the front plane of the face, which provides a wide binocular field, i.e. stereoscopic vision. Monkeys, especially apes, have a well-developed brain; it is similar to a human one, but its structure is simpler.

Zoologists divide the order of primates in different ways. In the system proposed here, the order is divided into two suborders: prosimians and great apes, i.e. monkeys and humans. Each suborder is divided into three superfamilies, which in turn include one or more families.

Prosimiae (prosimians). Tupaiidae (tupaiids). Tupai are often classified as insectivores, but most likely they are close to the ancestral form of all primates and can be considered a special superfamily of prosimians. They have claws on their paws, and their five toes can move widely apart. The chewing surface of the molars bears a W-shaped ridge. The eye sockets are surrounded by a continuous ring of bone, like those of lemurs. Fossils of tupaiaceae close to modern forms were found in Mongolia and date back to the Lower Oligocene. primate monkey squad

Lemuroidea (lemurs). The oldest lemur-like primates are known from the Paleocene and Eocene of North America and Europe. The lemur family (Lemuridae) includes the lemurs of Madagascar. Only there the only species of the family Daubentoniidae, the aye-aye, is found. Fossils found in France dating back to the Eocene showed that the family was earlier more widespread. Lorisidae include loris, pottos and galagos, found in Southeast Asia and tropical Africa.

Tarsioidea (tarsiers). This important superfamily is currently represented by only three species in the Malay Archipelago, but in the Eocene similar forms were common in Europe and North America. In many ways they are close to the higher primates.

Anthropoidea ( great apes, monkeys). Ceboidea (broad-nosed monkeys, New World monkeys). It is possible that this superfamily, independently of other apes, descended from ancient lemuroids. Their nostrils are separated by a wide septum, and there are three premolar (double-apex) teeth. In marmosets (Callithricidae), except Callimico, the last molars on both jaws are absent, and the fingers, except the first toe, are armed with claws in all species. Capuchins (Cebidae) have flat nails on all fingers, but the tail in many cases is tenacious and grasping; the thumbs are often very small or even absent. One fossil species from the Lower Miocene of Patagonia is very similar to modern forms.

Cercopithecoidea (lower narrow-nosed or dog-like , monkeys). Old World monkeys from the family Cercopithecidae have only two premolars, and their tails are never prehensile. Marmosets, mangabeys, macaques, baboons and other marmosets (subfamily Cercopithecinae) have cheek pouches. They feed on plants, insects and other small animals. Gverets, langurs and other representatives of the subfamily of slender-bodied monkeys (Colobinae) do not have cheek pouches. They feed primarily on leaves, and their stomachs consist of three sections. The ancestors of Old World monkeys appeared no later than the early Oligocene.

Hominoidea (humanoids). This superfamily includes three families of tailless primates: Hylobatidae (gibbons), Pongidae (apes), and Hominidae (humans). The similarity between them is no less than within the groups of canine and broad-nosed monkeys: the dental systems, brain structure, placenta, embryonic development and even serological reactions are very similar. Fossil forms that may have given rise to the entire superfamily are known from Egypt and date to the Lower Oligocene (Propliopithecus); the oldest remains of gibbons were discovered in the Miocene deposits of Central Europe; early apes are represented by many finds of Miocene and Pliocene age (Dryopithecus and Sivapithecus), and the genus Paleosimia, very similar to modern orangutans, is described from the Siwalik Formation (Upper Miocene) in northern India.

Order Primates

This order includes the most diverse appearance and lifestyle of mammals. However they have a number common features: a relatively large skull, the eye sockets are almost always directed forward, the thumb is opposed to the rest, and most have claws on the fingers. When moving on the ground, primates rely on their entire foot.

The brain is significantly developed, especially the large hemispheres of its anterior section, on the surface of which there are numerous grooves and convolutions. Most lead an arboreal lifestyle, and therefore the organs of vision and hearing are highly developed. Primates see the same object with both eyes at the same time.

They feed on a mixed diet with a predominance of plants; many also eat small animals, such as insects. They breed all year round, females give birth to 1–2 young.

Primates are common in tropical and subtropical zones Earth. About 200 species are known.

There are two suborders in the primate order: the Lesser Primates, or Prosimians, and the Greater Apes, or Monkeys.

From the book Animal Life Volume I Mammals author Bram Alfred Edmund

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From the book Primates author Fridman Eman Petrovich

Eman Petrovich Friedman Primates Modern prosimians, monkeys and humans Academy of Sciences of the USSRPublishing house "Nauka"Moscow,

From the book Animal World. Volume 2 [Stories about winged, armored, pinnipeds, aardvarks, lagomorphs, cetaceans and anthropoids] author Akimushkin Igor Ivanovich

II. Modern primates

From the book of Race. Peoples. Intelligence [Who is smarter] by Lynn Richard

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From the book Mammals author Sivoglazov Vladislav Ivanovich

Suborder Anthropoidea, or higher primates. We move on to the description of the most interesting and highly developed primates - to the top of the animal kingdom. The suborder Anthropoids includes monkeys and humans: seven families, 33 genera. This includes small, medium, and large

From the book Secrets of Gender [Man and Woman in the Mirror of Evolution] author Butovskaya Marina Lvovna

Section broad-nosed primates (Platyrrhina) Section broad-nosed primates in diagram 3 includes one superfamily Ceboidea with three families of American monkeys and 16 genera. This is almost one third of the genera of the entire order of primates. Monkeys of small and medium size (the size of a dog, for example

From the author's book

Section narrow-nosed primates (Catarrhina) We continue the description of higher primates. This section includes not only lower monkeys, as in the previous one, but along with one superfamily lower apes(Cercopitliecoidea) - another superfamily of hominoids, or higher apes and humans

From the author's book

Primates There are 194 species in the order of primates: humans, 70 species of monkeys in the tropical forests of the New World, 70 in the Old World, and here there are 53 species of prosimians. Primates evolved from insectivores, retaining some of their features. With every new study, science is convinced that

From the author's book

4. Primates Row 10 gives the EQ of the first primates (0.75), which appeared approximately 60 million years ago after the extinction of the dinosaurs. The EQ value of the first primates was approximately the same as that of the average mammals and birds that lived at that time. In lines 11 to 15

From the author's book

Order Insectivores This order includes hedgehogs, moles, and shrews. These are small animals with a small brain, the hemispheres of which do not have grooves or convolutions. The teeth are poorly differentiated. Most insectivores have an elongated muzzle with a small proboscis.

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Order Lagomorpha These are small and medium-sized mammals. They have two pairs of incisors in the upper jaw, located one after the other so that behind the large front ones there is a second pair of small and short ones. There is only one pair of incisors in the lower jaw. There are no fangs, and incisors

From the author's book

Order Primates This order includes the most diverse mammals in appearance and lifestyle. However, they have a number of common characteristics: a relatively large skull, the eye sockets are almost always directed forward, the thumb is opposed

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Sexual dimorphism and the leading type of sexual relations: modern primates and fossil hominins Nevertheless, certain connections exist between the type of sexual relations in monkeys and a number of morphophysiological parameters of male and female individuals. In particular,

From the author's book

Sperm wars: primates and humans We have already said above that competition between males can take place not only through tournaments, defending territory, or stealing females from a weaker (or older) enemy. Competition can take things hidden from view

The class of mammals is characterized by viviparity, feeding the baby with milk, and carrying it in the uterus. All representatives of this class are homeothermic, that is, their body temperature is constant. In addition, their metabolic rate is high. In addition to the middle and inner ears, all mammals also have an outer ear. Females have mammary glands.

Primates (prosimians and monkeys) of all mammals are distinguished by perhaps the greatest richness and diversity of forms. However, despite the differences between them, many structural features of their bodies are similar. They were developed in a long process of evolution as a result of an arboreal lifestyle.

Primate limbs

Primates are animals that have a well-developed five-fingered grasping limb. It is adapted for representatives of this order to climb tree branches. They all have a clavicle and a completely separated ulna and radius, allowing for a variety of movements and forelimb mobility. The thumb is also movable. In many species it can be contrasted with others. The terminal phalanges of the fingers are equipped with nails. In primate forms that have clawed nails, or those that have claws on only some of the digits, the thumb is characterized by the presence of a flat nail.

The structure of primates

When moving on the surface of the earth, they rely on the entire foot. In primates with arboreal life associated with a reduction in the sense of smell, as well as good development of the organs of hearing and vision. They have 3-4 nasal turbinates. Primates - whose eyes are directed forward, the eye sockets are separated from the temporal fossa by a periorbital ring (lemurs, tupayas), or by a bony septum (monkeys, tarsiers). Lower primates have 4-5 groups of vibrissae (tactile hairs) on their faces, while higher primates have 2-3. In monkeys, just like in humans, skin ridges are developed over the entire plantar and palmar surface. However, prosimians have them only on their pads. The variety of functions that the forelimbs have, as well as the active life of primates, led to the strong development of their brain. And this means an increase in the volume of the cranium in these animals. However, only higher primates have large, well-developed brain hemispheres with many convolutions and sulci. The lower ones have a smooth brain, with few convolutions and grooves.

Hair and tail

Species of this order have thick hair. Prosimians have an undercoat, but in most primates it is poorly developed. The fur and skin of many species are brightly colored, and the eyes are yellow or brown. They have a long tail, but there are also tailless and short-tailed forms.

Nutrition

Primates are animals that eat mainly mixed food, in which plant foods predominate. Some species are insectivorous. The stomach in primates, due to mixed type food, simple. They have 4 types of teeth - canines, incisors, large (molars) and small (premolars) molars, as well as molars with 3-5 cusps. A complete change of teeth occurs in primates, it applies to both permanent and milk teeth.

Body measurements

There are significant variations in the body size of representatives of this order. The smallest primates are mouse lemurs, while gorillas grow to 180 cm and above. The body mass of males and females differs - males are usually larger, although there are many exceptions to this rule. The family of some monkeys consists of several females and a male. Since body weight is an advantage for the latter, natural selection occurs associated with its increase. For example, a male Hanuman can gather a whole harem consisting of 20 females - a very large family. Primates are forced to protect their harem from other males. In this case, the body weight of the owner of the family reaches 160% of the female’s weight. In other species in which males usually mate with only one female (for example, gibbons), representatives of different sexes do not differ in size. very weakly expressed in lemurs.

When fighting for paternity, not only body size plays an important role in such a group as primates. These are animals whose fangs serve as powerful weapons. Males use them in aggressive displays and fights.

Primate reproduction and offspring

Primates breed all year round. Usually one calf is born (at lower forms there may be 2-3 of them). Large species of primates reproduce less frequently, but live longer than their smaller relatives.

Already at the age of one year, mouse lemurs are able to reproduce. Every year two cubs are born. The body weight of each of them is about 6.5 g. Pregnancy lasts 2 months. 15 years is the longevity record for this species. The female gorilla, on the contrary, becomes sexually mature only at the age of 10. One calf is born, whose body weight is 2.1 kg. Pregnancy lasts 9 months, after which a second pregnancy can occur only after 4 years. Gorillas typically live up to 40 years.

What is common to different species, with significant differences in species, is a small number of offspring. The growth rates of young animals in representatives of this order are very low, much lower than those observed in other mammals with similar body mass. It is difficult to say what is the reason for this feature. Perhaps it should be looked for in brain size. The fact is that the brain tissues are the most energy-intensive in the body. In large primates it is observed high level metabolism, which reduces the rate of development of reproductive organs, as well as body growth.

Tendency to infanticide

Due to low reproduction rates, primates have a pronounced tendency towards infanticide. Often, males kill cubs that the female gave birth to from other males, since the lactating individual cannot conceive again. Males who are at the peak of their physical development are limited in their attempts to reproduce. Therefore, they do everything possible to preserve their genotype. A male monkey, for example, Hanuman, has only 800 days out of 20 years of life to procreate.

Lifestyle

The order Primates typically live in trees, but there are semi-terrestrial and terrestrial species. Representatives of this order have a diurnal lifestyle. Usually it is gregarious, less often solitary or in pairs. They mainly live in the subtropical and tropical forests of Asia, Africa and America, and are also found in high mountain areas.

Classification of primates

There are approximately 200 known species of living primates. There are 2 suborders (monkeys and prosimians), 12 families and 57 genera. According to the classification, the most common at present, the order of primates includes tupayas, forming an independent family. These primates, together with tarsiers and lemurs, form a suborder of prosimians. They connect lemurs with modern primates, recalling what kind of ancestors the latter had in ancient times.

Primates: evolution

It is believed that the ancestors of modern primates were insectivorous primitive mammals, similar to the tupai that exist today. Their remains were found in Mongolia, in Upper Cretaceous deposits. Apparently, these ancient species lived in Asia, from which they spread to other places in North America and the Old World. Here these primates evolved into tarsiers and lemurs. The evolution of the original forms and the New World, apparently, was from primitive lankers (some authors consider ancient lemurs to be the ancestors of monkeys). American primates arose independently of the monkeys found in the Old World. Their ancestors from North America penetrated into South America. Here they specialized and developed, adapting to an exclusively arboreal lifestyle. In many biological and anatomical traits, humans are higher primates. We constitute a separate family of people with the genus man and only one species - modern sapiens.

Practical significance of primates

Modern primates are of very great practical importance. Since ancient times, they have attracted human attention as funny living creatures. Monkeys were the subject of hunting. In addition, these mammals were put up for sale for home entertainment or in the zoo. Primates are even eaten as food these days! Aborigines still eat the meat of many monkeys today. The meat of prosimians is also considered very tasty. Skins of certain species are used today for making various things.

The order Primates has become increasingly important in medical and biological experiments in recent years. These animals show great similarities with humans in many anatomical and physiological characteristics. Moreover, not only anthropoid primates have this similarity, but also lower ones. Representatives of this order are even susceptible to the same diseases as us (tuberculosis, dysentery, diphtheria, polio, tonsillitis, measles, etc.), which generally proceed in the same way as ours. That is why some of their organs are used today in the treatment of people (in particular, the kidneys of green monkeys, macaques and other monkeys are a nutrient medium for growing viruses, which, after appropriate processing, are then converted into a vaccine against polio).