Primates, fossilized

Fossilized primates, especially fossilized humans, are, unfortunately, particularly rare, and this partly explains why the evolutionary history of human beings is incomplete and continuously being revised. Still, the few fossilized human remains that have been preserved provide the main foundations for modem human evolution theories (Reader 1981). 

The Siwalik Group has long been famous for its abundant vertebrate fossils, among which are some early hominid ancestors. Its primates include Ramapithecus and Sivapithecus from the older beds, and younger specimens, cf. Homo erectus, from the Upper Siwalik Group, including the Pinjore Formation (72). Dates would therefore help establish the arrival time of hominins in the Indian subcontinent. 

Cellulosic materials form the bulk of the readily available natural fuels. The combustion of these materials is closely associated with the development of human culture and its environment. According to Stewart, language, stone tools, and control of fire probably distinguished mankind from other primates by the beginning of the Pleistocene era, about one million years ago. The deposits in the Choukoutien cave, where the skulls and fossilized bones of Peking... 

The lemurs of Madagascar were cut off from the mainstream of primate evolution at least 50 million years ago. In Madagascar, they evolved to occupy many ecological niches that, on the continent of Africa, were occupied by monkeys or apes. About 40 different species of lemurs evolved. Some, about as large as the great apes, are known only by their fossils. 

Comparison of sequences of the same protein in different species yields a wealth of information about evolutionary pathways. Genealogical relations between species can be inferred from sequence differences between their proteins. We can even estimate the time at which two evolutionary lines diverged, thanks to the clocklike nature of random mutations, For example, a comparison of serum albumins found in primates indicates that human beings and African apes diverged 5 million years ago, not 30 million years ago as was once thought. Sequence analyses have opened a new perspective on the fossil record and the pathway of human evolution. 

Ape man fossils Origin of grass Rise of cats, dogs, pigs Debut of hoofed mammals Earliest primates... 

Australopithecus A genus of fossil primates that lived 4-2 million years ago, coexisting for some of this time with early forms of humans (see Homo). They walked erect and had teeth resembling those of modem humans, but the brain capacity was less than one-third that of a modern human. Various finds have been made, chiefly in East and South Africa (hence the name, which means southern ape ). The earliest belong to the species A afarensis, which includes the specimen of a female, dubbed Luc/, found at Laetoli in Tanzania. Australopithecus and related genera are known as australopithe-cines. 

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