Comparative Research Paper

Comparative Research Paper
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In terms of age, the primates can be said to be quite recent animals relative to other species including humans. Most species that flourished millions of years ago became extinct long before the monkeys and their ancestors evolved. Many ecological conditions can be cited as the reasons as to why primates evolved over the years. These environmental conditions have similarities and differences that help in understanding the primates and also giving a scientific clue to the various types of primates which are in the world today. This essay is an overview of the ecological conditions that contributed to the evolution of the primates and the effect they had on them.
The first mammals that looked like primates evolved in the early Paleocene Epoch dated around 65 million years ago. They could be approximated to squirrels in size, shape, and appearance. They were called plesiadapid forms. The 43 million years of the Paleocene period represent a crucial interval in the evolution of primates that were free to occupy new ecological niches. This period was marked by significant outcomes especially with the cooling of the earth’s climate. Ice began to form from the North and South poles with drastic changes in the primates’ lives. This period paved way for the other ecological conditions that affected the primates.
Eocene ecological conditions began approximately 55.8-33.9 million years ago. This period coincides with the emergence of early forms of most of the placental mammal orders that are available today. Another climatic factor was the relative abrupt global warming that lasted for about 200,000 years. This was the reason for the rapid evolution of the apes. The first primates evolved by 55 million years ago or a bit earlier near the beginning of the Eocene Epoch. This period was the epoch of maximum adaptive radiation. There were at least 60 genera of them that were mostly two families namely the adapidae and the omomyidae. They were more widely distributed in the world than it is the case today. It was during this time that they reached Madagascar where they flourished to the modern times. The high diversity during this period could be attributed to the fact that they had no competition from monkeys and apes since the latter two had not yet evolved. This period is also marked by significant evolutionary changes that included the brains and the eyes of the primates getting bigger. Their snouts were getting smaller. Due to the availability of food, their population increased rapidly and hence the wide diversity (Fleagle, J.G. 2013)
The Oligocene Epoch dates about 33.9-23 million years ago. Unlike the other two epochs, this period was to a great degree a gap in the primate fossil record in most parts of the world. Primates evolved during the early Oligocene or possibly near the end of the Eocene. Several genera of early monkeys have been identified. These are Apidium and Aegyptopithecus are the most well-known. These had fewer teeth but wit...