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NOVA scienceNOW: First Primates
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Program Overview
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An interdisciplinary collaboration between a paleontologist, an
evolutionary anthropologist, and a primate anthropologist sheds new
light on how and where primates got their evolutionary start.
This NOVA scienceNOW segment:
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explains that primates appear in the fossil record around 55
million years ago (mya), when a mouse-sized mammal with full
primate characteristics appears.
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describes key primate characteristics—the ability to leap,
long fingers, specialized teeth, and hands uniquely designed for
grasping.
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introduces paleontologist Jonathan Bloch, who reconstructed
three complete mouse-like skeletons, plesiadapaforms,
that date well before 55 mya.
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notes that plesiadapaforms have a hallmark characteristic of
primates—a nail-like structure rather than claws. This
marks the earliest such nail ever discovered, suggesting that
plesiadapaforms may be the first primate.
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introduces Mary Silcox, an evolutionary anthropologist who
analyzed the plesiadapaforms bone fragments using a computed
tomography (CT) scanner.
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explains that Dr. Bloch, Dr. Silcox, and primate anthropologist
Dr. Sargis devised an algorithm that compares, contrasts, and
analyzes animal characteristics and generates possible family
trees showing relationships between groups of animals.
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reports that the plesiadapaforms data produced a single family
tree that connects it directly to primates. The surprising fact
that the algorithm did not suggest links to other modern groups
of animals strongly suggests that plesiadapaforms are primates.
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theorizes that after dinosaurs became extinct, plesiadapaforms
developed a co-evolutionary relationship with
plants—plants evolved to produce tasty, nutritious fruits
filled with seeds and primates evolved characteristics enabling
them to gather the fruits efficiently, which in turn helped the
plants spread their seeds.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program
is taped off the air.
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