ANT203H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Paleocene, Purgatorius, Plesiadapis
Document Summary
Climate was much warmer than it is today but cooler than late cenozoic. Bit dryer more savannas and wood lands. Primate evolution can be traced back to the late cretaceous and early paleocene. Primates probably evolved from a small, ground-dwelling shrew-like insectivorous mammal. Before it was dominated by gymnosperms pine trees and conifers; non-flowering plants; have spores that come out of comes. More angiosperms after flowering plants; produce fruit gives more stuff to eat (seeds, pulp, nuts) Purgatoriidae purgatorius rat-sized, 3:1:4:3, primitive molars. Pleisiadapidae plesiadapis: marmot-sized, rodent-like incisors, primate-like molars and premolars, long snout, pre-molars and molars resembling later primates, arboreal quadruped. Carpolestidae carpolestes: mouse to rat sized, specialized dentition, potential ancestor of eupri(cid:373)ates (cid:894)(cid:862)true pri(cid:373)ates(cid:895, smaller than the other 2, have more derived feature (ie. potential opposable toe) But not too different increasing separation between some of the continents.
