Primates Evolution

Introduction
The evolution of man has always been a controversial topic. However, no matter what your beliefs are the fact is that man evolved from primates. There is very credible fossil evidence to back this up. Fossils allow us to dig deeper into our past and give us an understanding of what life was like for our ancestors. Particularly, I believe that fossils of our ancestors show that we had to develop bipedalism because of natural selection and environmental factors.
Grade I: The Lemuroids

The best place to observe Lemuroids of all shapes and sizes is Madagascar, where there are more than 30 different kinds (LemurWorld). They can also be found on the Comoro Islands. They can weigh anywhere from 1 ounce to 20 pounds. There once existed

They are found on the islands of Southeast Asia. Tarsiers are even closer in appearance to our common ancestor than are lemurs. Most species of tarsier have grey fur but can have red, brown, yellow, orange, or buff (Gron 2010). The ends of the hairs can be dark red, brownish, or black with a grey base (Gron 2010). The amount of hair on their tails varies from species to species. Head and body lengths of adults average from 9.7 cm-13.2 cm. However, in the wild the average is much higher at 24.3 cm in males and 23.0 cm in females. Many species are sexually dimorphic, which means the males are larger than the females. Tarsier have a particular spinal morphology that allows them to turn their heads a whopping 180° in each direction. Their legs and their muscles make up about a quarter of their total body weight. The tarsier is easily distinguishable by the size of their eyes. They are some of the biggest eyes when it comes to primates. They have long legs and short forelimbs. They have hairless pads on their fingers similar to ours which is a result of a life of leaping and hanging vertically in trees. They share with us the development of the bony partition that barely separates eyeballs from the chewing muscles. They also surprisingly have a dry, hairy nose such as ours. Tarsier move about almost like frogs because they leap from place to place. However, to do this, their tibia and fibula have to be fused to give them more

We can weigh anywhere from 90 to 600 pounds. We also differ because we have a small internal tail as opposed to an external tail. When looking at fossils we can conclude that as primates become more and more upright we have lose more of our tail. The advantage to having an internal tail though is that it can fuse with the pelvic bone to help support our organs (LiveScience 2015). Another difference we have besides the internal tail is the appendix. Obviously, we like to think of ourselves as the most intelligent but it is in fact the truth. But not only are humans highly intelligent so are apes. We used to separate ourselves from the apes because we believed ourselves to be more evolved. However, fossil evidence as well as genetic evidence shows that this is in fact false. Apes, as well as man, are scattered all over the world. Orangutans and Gibbons originate in Southeast Asia. Gorillas and Chimpanzees originate in Africa, as well as, Bonobos (which were not present at the LA Zoo by the way). Not only did they originate in Africa but tons of fossils show that we also originated in Africa. Although Australians believe we originated in Australia but little evidence can support that theory. Gibbons are the smallest apes. There are over 12 species of gibbons (San Diego Zoo). Because of this they are referred to as "lesser apes." Gibbons have really long arms which help them swing about in trees. They also have curved