Modern classification of the primate order. Semi-monkey of the Loriidae family: features of the mammal, appearance and habitat. How do semi-monkeys and monkeys differ

Already the early representatives of the new suborder differed markedly from the lower primates (prosimians) in many anatomical characteristics. Some features in the structure of the teeth inherent in the first anthropoids indicate that they ate not so much insects as plants, primarily fruits, and changes in the location and shape of the eye sockets associated with the final formation of stereoscopic and, moreover, color vision, indicate the completion of transition from nocturnal to daytime lifestyle. Unlike, say, lemurs, which sleep during the day, hidden in dense thickets, and go out in search of food at night, monkeys have a peak in activity during daylight hours.

However main feature What distinguishes monkeys from lower primates, and from all other animals, is not the structure of their teeth or the location of their eye sockets, but the relatively large size of their brain. While lemurs and tarsiers have brains that are only slightly larger than those of other animals of similar size, monkeys have brains that are on average twice the weight and volume that nature sets for mammals of their “weight category.” 1 At the same time, a significant part of the new “convolutions” is provided due to the growth of the cortex, i.e. those areas of the brain with which the implementation of higher mental functions and the most complex forms of behavior is associated. One of the main factors that determined this trend in the evolution of monkeys was probably their inherent tendency to form large and very complexly organized communities consisting of individuals of different sexes, ages and social status.

Unlike many other mammals, which lead either a solitary lifestyle or form groups of same-sex individuals, in primates females and males, as a rule, form long-term paired or, even more often, group associations. According to available estimates, while for most orders of mammals the number of genera in which different-sex individuals form year-round associations is 15% and only rarely reaches 30%, in primates such associations are observed in 73% of genera, including all monkeys. except for orangutans. This contributes to the complexity of group relationships and diversity social life in general, which, in turn, has a positive effect on the development of the brain and intellectual abilities.

For monkeys, with their relatively poorly developed organs of defense and attack, living in large groups gives them a better chance of protecting themselves from predators and defending their feeding territory from encroachment by neighbors. These are important advantages, to refuse which means dooming yourself to death. However, everything in the world has reverse side. As the classic said, it is impossible to live in society and be free from society. Each of their actions, whether it is about searching for food, choosing a partner for mating, or arranging a place to spend the night, members of monkey groups have to conform to the actions and interests of their fellow tribesmen, while taking into account a lot of nuances of “interpersonal” relationships. To avoid getting into trouble, you need good memory and subtle calculation. A comparison of data on several dozen species of primates, lower and higher, showed that they have a fairly stable direct relationship between the size of the cerebral cortex, on the one hand, and the number of communities characteristic of a particular species, on the other. This is understandable. After all, what with a large number people like themselves have to communicate and maintain relationships, the more different information needs to be stored in memory and taken into account when performing certain actions, and for this an appropriate brain is required. In one of the following chapters we will talk specifically about the intellectual peaks that some monkeys are capable of achieving, but for now we will return to our brief outline of their taxonomy and evolution.

All monkeys are divided into two large groups - broad-nosed and narrow-nosed. The first live exclusively in America and are only indirectly related to our topic, so no more will be said about them here. The latter populate Old World, and it is they, or rather their most advanced representatives, who will become the main characters of this and subsequent chapters. Speaking about the most advanced representatives of narrow-nosed animals, I mean, of course, hominoids, i.e. great apes, which are also called great apes. 2 In zoological taxonomy they are usually assigned the rank of a superfamily, and one of the living members of this superfamily today is man.

1 In humans of the species Homosapiens the brain is about 6 times larger than the “norm”.

2 To avoid confusion, it may be worthwhile to once again draw the reader’s attention to the meaning of the terms “great apes” and “ great apes" The first of them is used to designate all monkeys in general, thus contrasting them with prosimians, i.e. lemurs and tarsiers. The second term applies only to great apes, i.e. chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and gibbons.

Children's cartoons often depict funny small animals with huge sad eyes. These are small prosimians. This suborder includes several families, one of them is the prosimian of the Loriidae family. It is about them that our story will go.

Who are half-monkeys?

Prosimians are primate mammals. These include animals of six families:

• tarsiers;
• tupai;
• arms;
• lemurs;
• indri;
• lori.

They are distinguished from ordinary monkeys by the structure of their brain, which is less developed. The large hemispheres have few convolutions or are completely smooth. The prosimian of the Loriidae family is just one of fifty species of prosimians.

Appearance

The family has two equivalent names: Loriaceae and Lorisidae. The animals themselves are not large. The minimum length of the body of an adult, depending on the species, is 22 cm, the maximum is 40 cm. Weight ranges from 300 g to 2 kg. The prosimian of the Loriidae family may have a short tail or be completely tailless. She has a very big eyes. Many people have black circles around their eyes, and between them there is a white stripe. Actually, thanks to these circles, the semi-monkey of the Loriidae family, whose name is often shortened to Lori, got its name. Loeris translates from Dutch as “clown”.

In small primates, both hands and feet are capable of grasping movements. The second carpal finger is very short and is considered vestigial. And on the second toe there is a strong, so-called toilet claw, with which primates tidy up their fur. The other fingers are protected by nails.

All members of the family have soft but thick fur. Color different types doesn't match. The fur coat can be different shades of gray and brown colors. The back of animals is almost always darker.

The prosimian of the Loriidae family has several pairs of nipples. Most often, 2 or 3. The mating season for females occurs once a year, and pregnancy lasts about 190 days. Females give birth to no more than two cubs. The offspring are born sighted. Babies have a well-developed grasping instinct, which allows them to hold tightly to their mother’s fur.

Habitat

Little Lorises are divided into 2 subfamilies:

• Loria Lemurs.
• Galagoid Lemurs.

There are 11 subfamilies within various types. So, where is the prosimian of the Loriidae family found? The answer is simple: in tropical forests of different continents. The main places of residence are Asia, Africa and India.

Lifestyle

Prosimians prefer night look life. The animals move slowly and carefully. They move from branch to branch, rather than jumping. Strong and tenacious paws allow you to securely cling to branches. IN natural conditions Loriids almost never descend to the ground, but lead an arboreal life.

Loriid prosimians often gather in birth groups, but can also live alone. The life expectancy of these animals is quite high; they can live up to 20 years.

The diet consists of various insects, bird eggs and small vertebrates. However, animals also enjoy juicy fruits. Some species lick tree sap, which is released after cutting off the bark.

Hello, my dear friends who are curious people. I recently learned that in addition to “ordinary” monkeys, there are also some “semi-monkeys” living on our planet. Did you know about this?

Do you think they look like this?

But no! These animals look like monkeys, but at the same time, they are not quite monkeys.

There are a lot of such animals (about 50 species). These are amazing creatures that are completely different from each other. These include touching lorises, jumping long-tailed galagos, big-eyed tarsiers, strange Madagascar bats, and various lemurs. Prosimians live in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, but most of them are on the island of Madagascar. Unfortunately, we have to admit that almost all species of prosimians are rare or endangered.

Let me introduce you to some semi-monkeys.

Look this Philippine tarsier.

It is small in size (about 10 cm). But his tail is quite long ( longer than body). The first thing that attracts attention in the appearance of tarsiers is their huge eyes. And he needs such eyes to see clearly in the night forest while hunting. Also, this animal is unusual in that its head can turn more than 180 degrees in both directions, that is, the tarsier can easily look behind its back. The toes on the front and hind limbs are very long. The tarsier can jump sharply and far both when in danger and when moving from tree to tree. And he jumps very far - several meters (and this is for such a baby)! Tarsiers are predators and, above all, insectivores, although they can eat small lizards, birds, etc. They are probably the only primates that feed exclusively on animal food.

Now look at this strange creature. No, this is not the goblin from a fairy tale - this is the Madagascar cranium (also called Ai-Ai)

He has an elongated body with a length of 36 to 44 cm. A chic fluffy tail is much longer than the body and head combined - more than 60 cm. Ai-Ai weighs no more than an ordinary domestic cat - only 3 kg. He has a rather large head with huge ears and big eyes. The entire body of the arm is covered with thick and stiff hair of black or brownish-brown color. Only ears and middle finger the forelimbs are hairless. It's funny that this very finger plays the role of an absolutely irreplaceable tool. With its help, Ai-Ai cleans his fur, drinks water (after dipping him in liquid) and, of course, gets food for himself.

When searching for beetles and larvae hidden in the bark of a tree, the little arm first taps the trunk with its finger, finding suitable prey, then gnaws through the bark (here they use sharp teeth), and finally sticks his middle finger into the hole formed, pricks the larva onto his claw and puts it into his mouth.

Watch and listen to how Aye-Aye does it.

These daylight strange creatures They are afraid, but after sunset they actively play with each other, and then go hunting. It's funny that animals build several daytime shelters and use them in turns.

Lemurs are also prosimians.

These animals live only in the forests of Madagascar. IN Ancient Rome the word “lemur” meant the evil and vengeful “spirits of the dead.” Most likely, these animals received such a terrifying name because of their nocturnal lifestyle, the eerie screams they make in the night forest, and their strange appearance. Lemurs are different. All types of lemurs are very different from each other. The size of these animals ranges from a mouse to a small dog. They have grasping paws with well-developed strong fingers, with which lemurs cling to branches or irregularities in the bark. They are good at climbing, running and jumping on tree branches. These primates feed on fruits, berries, leaves, flowers, some also bark, insects, and their larvae. Most Lemurids are active at night or at dusk, and during the day they sleep in hollows or nests. They live alone, in pairs, in small groups of 4-10 individuals, or even in herds (up to 60 individuals).

Ring-tailed lemur

The ring-tailed lemur is found only in the south and southwest of the island. Madagascar. This animal is comparable in size to an average domestic cat: average weight about 3.5 kg, body length 40-45 cm, but the tail length can reach 60 cm! The lemur's luxurious tail looks like a traffic cop's baton and is decorated with 13 black and 13 white rings.

This tail is of great importance in the life of a lemur - it is visible from afar when the animal moves on the ground, serves to transmit signals between relatives, and is indispensable during “smelly fights” mating season and serves as a balancer for the animal when jumping from branch to branch and climbing trees.

Ring-tailed lemurs are predominantly vegetarian. The basis of their diet consists of various fruits (figs, bananas and others); they also eat flowers, young foliage and bark, herbaceous plants, some types of cacti, but occasionally they can also feast on insects. Lemurs pick small fruits and hold them in their front paws while eating; they prefer to bite off pieces of large ones simply on the tree.
Pregnancy for a mother lemur lasts about 7 months (more precisely, 222 days), as a result, from the end of August to the end of October, one, rarely two cubs weighing 80-120 g are born. Immediately after birth, the cub clings tightly to the fur on the chest or the mother’s stomach, then eventually moves to her back.

Mouse lemur

Mouse lemurs are small animals, the size of a child's fist, that live in trees and are nocturnal. They feed on fruits, leaves, insects, small birds and possibly honey. During drought, these lemurs can hibernate. The source of energy during hibernation is fat, which lemurs accumulate in their tail. The mouse lemur rarely builds nests, preferring to live in unfurnished hollows.
The smallest lemur is the mouse microcebus. Its length is only 13 cm, but its tail-rudder is much longer than its body and catching up with such a “mouse” is not so easy! The baby weighs only 60 g, and the microcebus baby is simply weightless - 3-5 g!

The gray mouse lemur's exceptionally varied diet includes leaves, fruits, resin, honey, flowers, spiders, insects (beetles, moths, mantises, crickets and cockroaches). Sometimes these little ones even prey on small vertebrates: tree frogs, geckos and chameleons. Mouse lemurs run quickly and fussily along tree branches; they can jump up to 3 meters, using their tail as a balance. Lemurs rarely descend to the ground - only to hunt insects or cross an open area on the way to the right tree. With a quick dash through the leaves, the lemur grabs an insect or other prey and carries it in its mouth to a tree, where it slowly and calmly eats it.
And these cute guys - Laurie.

There are many types of them and in appearance they are very different from each other. But all lorises move very slowly and carefully, moving paw after paw and freezing for a long time at the slightest sign of danger. This makes them invisible to both enemies and prey. Lorises almost never leave the treetops. They move on all fours, walking slowly along the branches, and when moving from tree to tree, stretching between the outer branches. However, during the hunt, these charming animals are capable of a swift attack, during which they rush forward to grab the prey with both hands, that is, with their paws. The fur of all lorises is thick and soft, colored gray or brown. They have large eyes, typical of nocturnal animals, small ears hidden in the fur and a short tail. All of the loris' toes are equipped with nails, with the exception of the second toe. It is surprising that these cunning, slow animals have adapted to eat the most tasteless and poisonous invertebrates, which no other animals eat. They find slow-moving or stationary insects by smell, happily eating even poisonous beetles, ants, centipedes and caterpillars covered with thick irritating or poisonous hairs.

By the way, the fat loris is a poisonous animal. The poison is secreted by glands on the forelimbs (near the elbow). Mixed with saliva, the poison is either smeared on the head to repel predators, or is kept in the mouth, allowing the loris to bite especially painfully. The poison of slow lorises can cause suffocation and death not only in small animals, but even in humans.

In fact, it’s impossible to tell about all the species of prosimians!

But, now you know about some of them. I hope you liked them.

About 200 species of modern primates are known. They are united in 57 genera, 12 families and 2 suborders - prosimians (Prosimii) and monkeys (Anthropoidea). According to the currently most common classification, the order of primates is usually divided into two suborders.

1. Lower primates, or prosimians - this includes tupai, lemurs, tarsiers, etc.

2. Monkeys, or higher anthropoids.

Suborder Prosimii

The suborder of prosimians includes 6 families, 21 genera and about 50 species with a large number of subspecies. This suborder includes the most primitive representatives of primates - tupai, lemurs, tarsiers. These are mostly small animals, but there are also medium-sized ones (about the size of a dog). Tupai and lemurs are sometimes grouped together as strepsirrhine primates, which have comma-shaped nostrils that open onto the bare tip of the nose. The upper lip of these primates is smooth, motionless and hairless. On the contrary, tarsiers and monkeys form a group of haplorine primates, with nostrils more rounded, bordered by the walls of the nose and opening onto a mobile, with a developed muscular layer, and hairy upper lip.

All prosimians have tails, often fluffy. The facial part of the skull is elongated, the sense of smell is well developed, and there are tactile hairs on the face - vibrissae. The lower teeth grow forward to form a “comb” for grooming or scraping food. All prosimians mark the territory in which they live with the odorous secretion of specific skin glands - sternum, abdominal, throat, etc., as well as urine. The brain of prosimians is small, without convolutions. Almost all of them are nocturnal, except for some species of ancient lemurs. They live in groups or alone, giving birth to one or two young. All except tarsiers have immobile facial muscles, so they do not have the same facial expressions as monkeys.

Family Tupaiformes: common tupaya, dwarf tupaya, tupaya tana, Indian or Elliott tupaya, Philippine tupaya or urogale, northern or mouse tupaya, feather-tailed tupaya.

Tupaia are a transitional form between insectivorous mammals and primates. In terms of the structure of the skull, forelimbs, teeth, and biochemical parameters, they are closer to primates. In Malay, tupaya means “squirrel”, they are small, live in trees and look like squirrels with a bushy tail.

Family Lemuridae: ring-tailed or ring-tailed lemur, black lemur, mongoose lemur, collared lemur or wary lemur, gray hapalemure, graceful lemur, dwarf lemur, fat-tailed lemur, Miller's lemur or mouse microcebus, squirrel lemur or dwarf veneer.

Fig.1. Family of ring-tailed lemurs (lat. Lemur catta)

Lemurs are the most typical representatives of prosimians; common in Madagascar. Ancient lemurs live in large groups. There are lemurs with bright colors; for example, the ring-tailed lemur has alternating white and black rings on its tail and white circles around its eyes. This lemur got its name from sounds similar to purring. The ring-tailed lemur is a diurnal lemur, feeding on fruits, flowers, and leaves. In addition to large lemurs, there are small ones dwarf species, for example, the mouse lemur, the size of a fist, with huge eyes, it weighs 40-60 grams. These are nocturnal insect hunters.

Tarsier family: bankan or western tarsier, eastern tarsier or brownie maquis, Philippine tarsier or sirichta.

Tarsiers are the closest to monkeys of all the prosimians living in Indonesia and the Philippines. They are the size of a rat and have huge eyes that glow in the dark, which is why they are called “tarsier ghosts.” The bare tail with a tassel serves as a balancer when jumping. Tarsiers have facial muscles and can grimace like monkeys. The facial region is not elongated, like in other prosimians, but shortened, which means that the sense of smell is underdeveloped. The brain is relatively large, the hind limbs are longer than the front ones, and the heel bone is elongated, which is why they are called tarsiers.

Fig.2. Philippine tarsier(lat. Tarsius syrichta)

It is believed that the ancestors of primates were primitive insectivorous mammals, very similar to modern tupayas. Their remains were found in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of Mongolia. These ancient primates, in all likelihood, spread from Asia to other places in the Old World and North America, where they provided the basis for the development of lemurs and tarsiers. The original forms of monkeys of the New and Old Worlds probably originated from primitive tarsiers (some authors consider ancient lemurs to be the ancestors of monkeys). American primates 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.

Suborder of monkeys or higher apes (Anthropoidea)

To suborder great apes includes broad-nosed or American monkeys, and narrow-nosed or African-Asian monkeys. This division is based on differences in the structure of their noses. In most New World monkeys, the cartilaginous nasal septum is wide and the nostrils are widely separated and outward facing. Old World monkeys have a narrower nasal septum and nostrils, like those of humans, point downwards. But it is more correct to talk about the degree of severity of this feature, since the thickness of the nasal septum and the position of the nostrils can vary in different forms of broad-nosed and narrow-nosed monkeys. All primates have flat nails on their fingers (marmosets have claw-shaped nails); the eyes are facing forward, and the orbit is completely separated from the temporal fossa by a bony septum; the brain, with the exception of marmosets, is rich in grooves and convolutions; the upper incisors are not separated by a space. Primates are characterized by a reduction of the olfactory apparatus and special tactile organs on the face, where only three pairs of vibrissae are preserved - supraorbital, maxillary and mental. The reduction of vibrissae is associated with the progressive development of tactile skin ridges on the palmar and plantar surfaces. Only in Oedipus marmosets and, to a greater extent, in nocturnal monkeys, areas of skin without ridges are still found on the palms and soles. In other lower and higher primates, the palmar and plantar surfaces are completely covered with skin ridges, just like in humans. The suborder has 3 superfamilies: Ceboidea, Cercopithecoidea and Hominoidea.

Broad-nosed monkeys or New World monkeys (Platyrrhina)

Broad-nosed monkeys live in South America and they are called New World monkeys

Broad-nosed monkeys are divided into three families - small marmosets, calliminos and large capuchin monkeys. All marmosets and callimicos have primitive structural features - a hairy ear, a relatively simple brain, almost without convolutions, up to three young are born.

Family Marmosets: common marmoset or wistiti, pygmy marmoset, common or black tamarin, crested or oedipal tamarin, piebald tamarin.

Marmosets are the smallest of all primates; in addition to the marmosets themselves, these include pygmy marmosets and tamarins. All are characterized by paired family image life, only one adult female breeds in a group, the male cares for the offspring.

Kallimiko isolated from the marmoset family relatively recently. In terms of the structure of the teeth, the shape of the skull, and biochemical parameters, they are similar to capuchin monkeys and occupy an intermediate position between them and marmoset monkeys.

Family Capuchinaceae: Common or White-breasted Capuchin, Crying Capuchin or Whining Capuchin, White-fronted Capuchin, Favi or brown capuchin, squirrel saimiri, three-striped durukuli, white-headed saki, monk saki.

Capuchin monkeys have a prehensile tail, the lower end of the tail is hairless, and has the same dermatoglyphic patterns as on the palms. This tail acts as an additional limb. The first finger of the hand is underdeveloped, sometimes absent, but on the foot it is well developed and contrasted with the others. The brain is quite developed, these monkeys have complex behavior and easily learn complex skills. They live in large groups. All of them are arboreal and diurnal, except for one genus of nocturnal monkeys. Like prosimians, all broad-nosed monkeys have skin glands, with the secretion of which they mark territory. Broad-nosed monkeys often form multi-species communities to better protect themselves from predators. They have well-developed acoustic (voice) communication and rich facial expressions.

Narrow-nosed monkeys or Old World monkeys (Catarhina)

Short-nosed monkeys live in Africa and Asia and are called Old World monkeys.

Family Monkey-shaped: real monkey, green monkey, pygmy monkey or talapoin, red monkeys or hussar monkeys, cynomolgus or cynomolgus macaque, rhesus or bunder monkey, Japanese macaque, Ceylon or Chinese macaques.

Monkey monkeys. They are small or medium in size, their forelimbs are equal to their hind limbs or slightly shorter. The first finger of the hand and foot is well contrasted with the rest. The fur covers the entire body, with the exception of the face, and is usually bright in color. There are ischial calluses and cheek pouches. Cheek pouches are special pockets - folds of the mucous membrane in the oral cavity on both cheeks, where monkeys stuff food in reserve. In addition to ischial calluses, they have so-called “genital skin” - areas of skin that swell and turn red during ovulation, this can serve as a signal to the male that the female is ready to mate. Ischial calluses, unlike the genital skin, are vascular-free. They are comfortable when sleeping or sitting on the ground. All monkeys move on the ground and tree branches, among them there are terrestrial forms (baboons, geladas), arboreal forms (rhesus macaques, and lapunders) and purely arboreal forms (all thin-bodied monkeys, langurs, etc.). They are plantigrade, resting on their feet and hands when walking. The tail is never grasping. Some species have well-developed sexual dimorphism, that is, males are larger than females. They are all gregarious, living in forests, savannas, and on rocks. The apes include the genera of monkeys, hussars, baboons, mandrills, geladas, mangobays, macaques and the subfamilies of slender-bodied monkeys, the genera of colobus monkeys, gwerets, and langurs. A very beautiful monkey - Hanuman langur is considered sacred monkey in India, Sri Lanka and other countries. According to the epic Ramayana, the Hanuman langur saved the pious Rama and his wife. In Egypt, the hamadryas baboon is considered a sacred animal, considered the personification of the god Ra - the god of health, fertility, generosity and writing.

Family Gibbonaceae. These are small, gracefully built monkeys, their forelimbs are longer than their hind limbs, their fur is thick, their palms, soles, ears and face are bare. There are small ischial calluses. The fingers are long, the first finger is well opposed to the rest. Distributed in India, Indochina, Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and the Malay Peninsula. They are all arboreal, inhabitants tropical forest with a characteristic method of movement - brachiation: alternately intercepting tree branches with their hands, they fly from tree to tree at a distance of up to fifteen meters. They can walk on the ground on two legs, balancing with their arms. Some gibbons exhibit sexual dimorphism in hair color, for example, male gibbons are black and females are light beige. Another feature of the gibbon is family life, while each family has its own territory and has something in common with other families. This behavior is called "singing" or "choiring" by gibbons; The initiator of singing is, as a rule, the male, then the whole family joins him. Joint-toed gibbons - siamangs - even have special throat vocal sacs - resonators to amplify sound.

Pongid family unites Asian orangutans and African apes - chimpanzees and gorilla. All of them are distinguished by their large body sizes; the gorilla weighs up to 200 kilograms and grows up to two meters. They have a relatively short body and long limbs, no tail, a shortened sacral spine, a barrel-shaped chest, and broad shoulders. All are characterized by semi-upright movement along branches and the ground, relying on the knuckles of the forelimbs. They have large and complex brains, about six times larger than those of lower monkeys such as macaques. The gorilla's brain weighs 420 grams and has many convolutions. The frontal lobe is larger than that of lower apes. Like humans, apes have well-developed facial muscles, and their lips are very mobile. Chimpanzees have ischial calluses; gorillas and orangutans are rare. The hair on the back and chest is sparse, and there are no tufts of tactile hair on the face (vibrissae). The immunological and biochemical parameters of chimpanzees, gorillas and humans are very similar in blood proteins. The gestation period is the same as in humans (9 months), the baby develops very slowly, up to seven years. They all have high intelligence, are able to use objects as tools in nature and in captivity.

Orangutans common in Sumatra and Kalimantan, they are distinguished by their massive build (males are 150 centimeters tall and weigh 100–200 kilograms). Females are significantly smaller than males. Kalimantan orangutans have developed cheek growths made of connective tissue and fat. The hind limbs are short, the front limbs are long, the fingers on the hands are long and have the appearance of hooks, the first finger is shortened on the hand, and there are large guttural pouches on the neck. The skull of orangutans is long, elongated, the facial region is concave. The skull has sagittal and occipital crests. The lower jaw is massive, the teeth are large, with strongly wrinkled crowns, the fangs rarely protrude beyond the dentition. Brain volume is 300-500 cm3.

There are three subspecies: mountain, coastal and lowland. The lowland gorilla is common in Western equatorial Africa(Cameroon, Gabon), in the Congo River valley and near Lake Tanganyika. The male is about two meters tall, weighs up to 200 kilograms, has a massive neck and shoulders, a skull with a low forehead and a powerful supraorbital ridge. Males also have sagittal and occipital crests. Females are smaller than males. The face protrudes forward, the lower jaw is very massive.

Fig.4. Gorilla

Chimpanzee. It lives in tropical Africa, in the basins of the Congo and Niger rivers. Chimpanzees are shorter and thinner in build, height 150 centimeters, weight 50 kilograms, sexual demorphism in body size is less pronounced than in the gorilla and orangutan. The supraorbital ridge is also less developed, and the occipital ridge is absent. The forehead is straighter, the brain skull is rounder, the fangs are less developed, and the wrinkled crowns are also weaker than in the orangutan. The pygmy chimpanzee, or bonob, is a living model of early hominids, characterized by its small stature and gracefulness. Lives in Zaire.

Family Hominidae. Body height 140-190 centimeters. Females are 10-12 centimeters smaller than males. Characterized by a vertical body position and movement only on the lower limbs. The first toe loses mobility and is not opposed to the rest. The length of the lower limbs significantly exceeds the length of the upper ones. The development of the first finger of the hand is of great importance. The head is round, characterized by a highly developed brain part and a slightly protruding facial part. The facial section is located not in front of the brain, but below it. The foramen magnum is directed downwards. The teeth are poorly developed, almost indistinguishable from the incisors. The molars have flattened tubercles on the chewing surface, four tubercles on the upper ones, and 5 on the lower ones. The spinal column is S-shaped curved, which is associated with the vertical position of the body. The sacral and caudal vertebrae fuse into complex bones - the sacrum and coccyx. Characterized by strong development of the femur. The brain is unusually developed, especially the cerebral hemispheres with grooves and convolutions. Pregnancy lasts 280 days, one child is born, less often two or three. Humans are characterized by the longest periods of child development and learning among mammals.

The first hominids appeared approximately 4-3.75 million years ago in Tanzania and Ethiopia. In the time interval of 2.5-2 million years ago, adaptation of African hominids occurred, and by the end of this time there were three, or even more hominids. Around 1.75 million years ago, Homo habilis disappeared and was replaced by Homo erectus. It spread widely in Africa almost 16 million years ago. About 1 million years ago, representatives of this species were found in East and Southeast Asia and existed until approximately 0.3 million years ago.

From the archaic form of Homo erectus there is a continuous line of development to the modern form of Homo sapiens. There was a Neanderthal in this strip. But with the transition to modern Homo sapiens, the massiveness of the skeleton, face and dental system inherent in Neanderthals is lost.

At the same time, anthropologists prefer to classify only humans themselves and some of their extinct ancestors (Australopithecus, Ardipithecus, etc.) as hominids. There were also transitional fossil forms between them and other primates (Uranopithecus, Nakalipithecus, etc.), systematic position which have not been identified. Hominids in anthropology are distinguished on the basis of two simple criteria: bipedality and reduction of the dentofacial apparatus (reduction of fangs, parabolic shape of the dental arch, shortened jaws). They also differ from other primates in having a larger brain (600 to 2000 ml).



Taxonomy of prosimians

Features of prosimians

Perhaps not everyone knows that in addition to “ordinary” monkeys, some “semi-monkeys” also live on our planet. True, this name, despite its strange sound, is quite informative and immediately brings us up to date: it is clear that these animals are similar to monkeys, but at the same time, they are not quite monkeys. Prosimians- a fairly large group of animals, uniting about 50 species that are completely different from each other amazing creatures. These include touching big-eyed lorises, jumping long-tailed galagos, large bright red ruffed lemurs, and tiny mouse lemurs. Scientists believe that prosimians are older than great apes, and as we already know, the ancestors of primates were insectivorous animals. It is logical to assume that it was precisely modern prosimians that could retain some primitive structural features characteristic of their insectivorous ancestors. And this is true. Almost everything lower primates- small or medium-sized animals (as well as insectivores). The largest semi-monkey, the indri, reaches a length of only 70 cm and weighs about 6 kg. The similarity of these orders is also indicated by the specific diet. lower apes, largely consisting of insects. Even the teeth of prosimians resemble the teeth of more primitive insectivores: there are a lot of them, they are small, sharp and almost identical. True, in some prosimians, the incisors and canines on the lower jaw form a protruding “comb”, with the help of which the animals scrape gum (resin) from tree trunks and also care for their fur. Surprisingly, they also have a special outgrowth under the tongue with a jagged edge, which serves to clean this “comb”. By the way, on the second toe of the foot, prosimians have a claw, which is also used for combing wool.

Appearance and Behavior

Appearance of the majority lower primates They are so different from the “image of a monkey” that is familiar to us that most likely we would not recognize them as our relatives at all. When describing great apes (especially, of course, apes), it’s even somehow awkward to use the word “muzzle”. They are so similar to a person that you would rather say “face”. But in many prosimians, the facial part of the skull protrudes strongly forward, forming an elongated muzzle, which also has special hairs - vibrissae, which play the role of organs of touch and smell (higher apes lost them in the process of evolution). The fact is that in prosimians, vision does not yet play the most important role that it will acquire in higher primates; for them, smell and touch are much more important, and the long muzzle is associated with the development of precisely these sense organs. This is largely due to the fact that most prosimians are nocturnal or twilight image life. Their facial expressions are not rich, and unlike higher primates, prosimians communicate with each other mainly using special scent marks. They have specific glands that secrete odorous substances, which prosimians apply to surrounding objects and to their own body. In terms of the level of intelligence development, lower primates are significantly inferior to higher primates and are more reminiscent of insectivores: their brains are small and there are few convolutions in it. Their forelimbs cannot yet be called hands - they are not capable of fine manipulation of objects, which is so characteristic of higher primates, and along with nails they also have claws. Reproduction in prosimians is usually confined to a specific season. Their cubs (like all primates) are born defenseless, often naked and blind, but unlike “real” monkeys, there are usually 2 or 3 of them (not 1), and they mature for independent life much faster .

Spreading

live prosimians in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, but they are especially widely represented on the island of Madagascar. In conclusion, we have to admit that almost all species of prosimians are rare or endangered.