Planet of the Apes - Coursework Example

1. Discuss the evolution of human from primates and apes. In between 22 million and 5.5 million years ago, dozens of ape genera lived in the Old World. Scientists have identified at least forty ape genera. Today, only five ape genera are around today. These five ape genera are limited to a few areas in Southeast Asia and Africa. Many scientists, including Charles Darwin, have assumed that that African apes and humans evolved from Africa alone. However, more and more evidence is showing that Africa might have seen the first apes; Eurasia was the birthplace of great apes and human clades.

This evidence is found through fossils recently excavated. These fossils suggest that two Eurasian ape lineages, the Siyapithecus and the Dryopithecus, are the ancestors of great apes and humans. The Siyapithecus are the presumably the forebears of the orangutan. The Dryopithecus are the ancestors of the African apes and humans. 2. Compare and contrast the evidence of human origin from Eurasia.Unlike in Africa, full fossils of primates in Eurasia are not as abundant. The fossils of primates in Eurasia are mostly mandibles, teeth, and partial bone fragments.

The first fossil primate found and named was Adapis parisiensis Cuvier 1822. This was a lemur found from the chalk mines of Paris. Cuvier, because of the mistaken belief that human origin came from Africa, thought his find was an ungulate. It was not until after Cuvier’s death that his student, Édouard Lartet, identified this first fossil as a higher primate. The Adapis parisiensis is now know as Pliopithecus. The Pliopithecus is a jaw. This and other evidence has convinced the skeptical scholars that these higher primates had once lived in Europe.

The first fossil great ape, Dryopithecus, from the French Pyrénées was discovered in 1872. Many more ape jaws and teeth fragments, along with a few limb bones were found all over Europe during the 19th and 20th centuries. These fossils suggest that two Eurasian ape lineages, the Siyapithecus and the Dryopithecus, are the ancestors of great apes and humans. 3. Describe the differences between primitive ape and great apes.A primitive ape and great ape’s differences began with their body size.

A primitive ape is smaller than a great ape. A primitive ape had a body shaped like a monkey. This allowed treetop traveling, using all four limbs. With a long lower back, a flexible back, and a deep rib cage, treetop traveling was easy. Power and speed was enabled by flexible elbow, shoulder, and hip joints. These joints kept the limbs under the body. The arms and legs on a primitive ape were the same size. On the other hand, great apes were built to hang and swing from branch to branch.

The great ape had fewer vertebrae than the primitive apes, which allowed for a more upright position. Great apes had wider shoulders, shallower rib cape, and flexible elbow joints which allowed for full arm extension and allowed suspension. The great apes also had a wider range of motions in their limbs and larger hands that allowed the swinging from tree to tree. Unlike the similar length of primitive apes limbs, the great apes had longer upper limbs and shorter lower limbs. 4. What did the article discuss related to the presence of Bigfoot.

The article suggests that while some scientists believe Bigfoot could have evolved from Sivapithecus origin, no proof exists that Bigfoot is real. The description of Bigfoot is of a large hairy primate that walks on two limbs. The scientists that do believe in Bigfoot offer that Bigfoot could be a descendent from the Gigantopithecus, a fossil great ape. The Gigantopithecus was around two to three times as large as a gorilla. This great ape lived 300,000 in China and Southeast Asia. However, as the author pointed out no evidence, living, dead or fossil can be found in North America or anywhere else.

If Bigfoot existed proof, especially fossils, would have been found by now. BibliographyBegun, D.R. (2003). Planet of the apes. Scientific American, Inc. August 2003.