History UsefulNotes / PrehistoricLIfeMammals

* The beings included in the Australopithecines evolutionary grade are generally ape-like, being to the rest of apes what baboons are to other Old World monkeys: savannah-adapted relatives of a mostly forest-living group. As we get towards modern times, the species of australopiths become steadily more bipedal, adapt their feet to ground locomotion, and generally become more human-like. In the past, all the closest relatives of the genus ''Homo'' were classified in the genus ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus Australopithecus]]'' (“southern apes”, because they were all found in Africa). As ScienceMarchesOn, recent taxonomical revisions have split off 2 other significant genera from ''Australopithecus'': the earlier ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardipithecus Ardipithecus]]'' ("ground ape", found in 1994 and originally put in one single species, ''A. ramidus''), and the specialized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranthropus Paranthropus]]'' (“near-human”). The latter included some robust, man-sized species (''P. boisei'', ''P. robustus'') adapted to a strict diet made of bamboos or other fibrous plants like ''Gigantopithecus'', and equally convergently with gorillas (''Gorilla''); the other australopithecines were much smaller and more gracile, and were more generalist feeders. Interestingly, modern gorillas and chimpanzees make a very similar case: the first are big, robust and bamboo-eating like ''Paranthropus'', the latter are small, agile, and all-eating like ''Australopithecus''. Significant species of the modernly-intended genus ''Australopithecus'' are ''A. afarensis'' ("Afar People's southern ape"), best known for the specimen found in 1971 and known as [[Music/TheBeatles Lucy]]; and ''A. africanus'' ("African southern ape", the first discovered australopithecine, in 1925), likely an ancestor of the genus ''Homo''. The australopiths of the namesake ''Australopithecus'' genus were portrayed in 2001 as the main characters of the forth episode of Series/WalkingWithBeasts: here a group of them is shown acting rather like a middle-way between chimpanzees and humans.

'''The Java Man and the Beijing Man'''

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about ''Homo erectus'', the "upright man": its first fossil (the "Man of Java", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed) was originally called ''Anthropopithecus erectus'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Beijing]]'s chinese man") and nicknamed the "Man of Beijing". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another recently-made name for the African ''erectus'' has been ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster Homo ergaster]]'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about ''Homo erectus'', the "upright man": its first fossil (the "Man of Java", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed) was originally called ''Anthropopithecus erectus'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("Beijing's chinese man") and nicknamed the "Man of Beijing". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another recently-made name for the African ''erectus'' has been ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_ergaster Homo ergaster]]'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

* The beginning of the ''Homo'' genus is still a mystery to paleontologists and paleoanthropologists everywhere; as is known, fossil remains of hominids have traditionally been much, much scantier compared to other big-sized fossil mammals. Earliest fossil evidence for their origin hints at a date of 2.5 million years ago. The first ''Homo''s were actually very much similar to australopithecines (which has indeed lead some scientists to believe these should be classified as a separate genus), with the bigger differences being, at first glance, superficial. However, the elements that would make us humans are already well in the making. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_habilis Homo habilis]]'', the most classical early ''Homo'' (described in year 1964), shows it best: while sharing many anatomical traits with australopithecines (small overall size, ape-like skull but with human-like dentition etc.), it's skull was already beginning to show some human-like feature, in particular a slightly larger brain (620 cc in comparison to the 450 cc of earlier australopitheces). It had also more specialized hands ("''Homo habilis''" literally translates into "handy man" in Latin), and this species was enables to achieve the first of many breakthroughs that would define humanity: fabrication of stone tools. [[note]]Chimpanzees can use stones to break nuts or for other purposes like self-defense, but cannot modify them into tools.[[/note]] These ones were still very crude, though, being mostly just broken rocks with a sharp edge. However, this also marked the beginning of a new behavioral pattern present in latter ''Homo'' species: the habit of eating predominantly meat. For comparison, australopithecines, even of the omnivorous ''Australopithecus'' genus, mainly ate fruits, seeds, and roots, and only occasionally took animal food (insects and carrion of large mammals).[[note]]Chimpanzees and bonobos have a similar alimentation, but true chimps (''Pan troglodytes'') also hunt actively small mammals occasionally.[[/note]]

* ''Homo erectus'' (trad. "Erect man" or "Upright man") marks perhaps one of the most important breakthroughts in human evolution. This species can, with relative certainty, be called the very first true human. With an anatomical structure very similar to our own (their arms and legs now had human-like proportions and their cranial capacity bordered on 1000 cc), ''H. erectus'' was tall, lean and very agile, becoming the very first hominin to hunt big game, with evidence suggesting they often fought against larger predators for food. They had taken the art of stone tool-making to the next level, crafting versatile and compact "handaxes" that had multiple uses, and were often sharp enough to serve as sort of prehistoric knives. ''Homo erectus'' is also the first species thought to have learned [[TheDiscoveryOfFire to use fire]], and was also for decades thought to have been the first hominin to migrate from Africa. While recent evidence from Dmanisi, Georgia may call this into question, it's still by far one of the most successful hominin species in our direct family tree, having evolved nearly 2 million years ago and surviving until as recently as 50 thousand years ago, spreading all across Africa, Europe, Asia and even nearly reaching Oceania.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about the "upright man": its first fossil (the "Man of Java", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed) was originally called ''Anthropopithecus erectus'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("Beijing's chinese man") and nicknamed the "Beijing Man". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another recently-made name for the African ''erectus'' has been ''Homo ergaster'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

* It's worth of note that ScienceMarchesOn has been a big affair about the "upright man": its first fossil (the "man of Java", found in Indonesia in 1893, in the isle of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Java]] indeed) was originally called ''Anthropopithecus erectus'' ("upright man-ape") and immediately after renamed ''Pithecanthropus erectus'' (literally meaning "upright ape-man"). Another found later near Beijing, China (in the Zhokouthien site to be precise) was labeled ''Sinanthropus pekinensis'' ("Beijing's chinese man") and nicknamed the "Beijing man". Both names are very common in old textbooks, but now are universally regarded as specimens of ''Homo erectus''. Another recently-made name for the African ''erectus'' has been ''Homo ergaster'', lit. "the working man" -- and still there are those that prefer this name for the african fossils.

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(mammal) Proconsul]]'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee) is today classified in the Proconsulids, small apes (like the gibbons) outside the proper hominids. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape") & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyapithecus Kenyapithecus]]'' ("Kenya's ape") were true hominids but in a distinct lineage from the human-ancestors, the Dryopithecines. "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now synomymized with ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]") was a Pongine, in the same lineage of orangutans and the gigantopithecus, aka the Asian Hominids. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape") & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propliopithecus Propliopithecus]]'' ("Before pliocenic ape") were not even apes but ''monkeys'': a bit like the baboons, macaques and langurs of our days. All these extinct primates, and others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for their alleged close relationship with us, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans, being very similar to the Australopithecines or even one of them.

* [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace]]. The closest human ancestors are at the bottom of this page dedicated to Mammals because of this. Technically [[PunyEarthlings a subset of primates]], hominids is a group of animals somewhat controversial to talk about, for obvious ethical reasons. The hominid group itself fluctuates in definition, going from all beings closer to us that to chimps, to all things closer to us that to baboons; the most widely accepted use includes the great apes; that's is, all beings closer to us that to gibbons, and that's the one to be used here. Anyway, this family split off from gibbons about 15 million years ago, and not long after, it split off in two main branches: the Asian branch, nowadays made up of the 3 species of orangutan; and the African branch, which today includes the 2 species of gorillas, the 2 species of chimps, and the 1 species of humans. Focusing in that latter branch, the branch gorillas belong to splits off from the main branch 7 million years ago, and the chimp branch splits from the branch that would lead to us shortly after. That latter branch was subject to selective pressure due to having to adapt to the harsher savannah environment: the 2 modern chimp species split from each other at roughly the same time our branch split from Lucy (see below).

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(mammal) Proconsul]]'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee) is today classified in the Proconsulids, small apes (like the gibbons) outside the hominids (great apes). ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape") & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyapithecus Kenyapithecus]]'' ("Kenya's ape") were true hominids but in a distinct lineage from ours, the Dryopithecines (like the one that includes the orangutans). "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now synomymized with ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]") was a Pongine (in the same lineage of orangutans and the gigantopithecus, the Asian Hominids). ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape") & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propliopithecus Propliopithecus]]'' ("Before pliocenic ape") were not even apes but ''monkeys'' (a bit like the baboons, macaques and langurs, aka the Cercopithecoid monkeys). All these primates, and others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for their alleged close relationship with us, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans, being very similar to the Australopithecines or even one of them.

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(mammal) Proconsul]]'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyapithecus Kenyapithecus]]'' ("Kenya's ape"), "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now synomymized with ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propliopithecus Propliopithecus]]'' ("Before pliocenic ape"), and still others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for this, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans.

'''The First Apemen:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecine Australopithecines]]

* The beings included in the Australopithecines evolutionary grade are generally ape-like, being to the rest of apes what baboons are to other Old World monkeys: savannah-adapted relatives of a mostly forest-living group. As we get towards modern times, the species of australopiths become steadily more bipedal, adapt their feet to ground locomotion, and generally become more human-like. In the past, all the closest relatives of the genus ''Homo'' were classified in the genus ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecus Australopithecus]]'' (“southern apes”, because they were all found in Africa). As ScienceMarchesOn, recent taxonomical revisions have split off 2 other significant genera from ''Australopithecus'': the earlier ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardipithecus Ardipithecus]]'' ("ground ape", found in 1994 and originally put in one single species, ''A. ramidus''), and the specialized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranthropus Paranthropus]]'' (“near-human”). The latter included some robust, man-sized species (''P. boisei'', ''P. robustus'') adapted to a strict diet made of bamboos or other fibrous plants -- again, convergently with gorillas (''Gorilla''); the other australopithecines were much smaller and more gracile, and were more generalist feeders. Interestingly, modern gorillas and chimpanzees make a very similar case: the first are big, robust and bamboo-eating like ''Paranthropus'', the latter are small, agile, and all-eating like ''Australopithecus''. Significant species of the modernly-intended genus ''Australopithecus'' are ''A. afarensis'' ("Afar People's southern ape"), best known for the specimen found in 1971 and known as [[Music/TheBeatles Lucy]]; and ''A. africanus'' ("African southern ape", the first discovered australopithecine, in 1925), likely an ancestor of the genus ''Homo''. The australopiths of the namesake ''Australopithecus'' genus were portrayed in 2001 as the main characters of the forth episode of Series/WalkingWithBeasts: here a group of them is shown acting rather like a middle-way between chimpanzees and humans.

* [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace]]. The closest human ancestors are at the bottom of this page dedicated to Mammals because of this. Technically [[PunyEarthlings a subset of primates]], hominids is a group of animals somewhat controversial to talk about, for obvious ethical reasons. The hominid group itself fluctuates in definition, going from all beings closer to us that to chimps, to all things closer to us that to baboons; the most widely accepted use includes the great apes; that's is, all beings closer to us that to gibbons, and that's the one to be used here. Anyway, this family split off from gibbons about 15 million years ago, and not long after, it split off in two main branches: the Asian branch, nowadays made up of the 2 species of orangutan; and the African branch, which includes gorillas, chimps and us. Focusing in that latter branch, the branch gorillas belong to splits off from the main branch 7 million years ago, and the chimp branch splits from the branch that would lead to us shortly after. That latter branch was subject to selective pressure due to having to adapt to the harsher savannah environment: the 2 modern chimp species split from each other at roughly the same time our branch split from Lucy (see below).

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(mammal) Proconsul]]'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenyapithecus Kenyapithecus]]'' ("Kenya's ape"), "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape"), and still others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for this, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans.

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(primate) Proconsul]]'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape"), "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape"), and still others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for this, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans.

'''The First Apemen:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australopithecina Australopithecines]]

* The beings included in the Australopithecines evolutionary grade are generally ape-like, being to the rest of apes what baboons are to other Old World monkeys: savannah-adapted relatives of a mostly forest-living group. As we get towards modern times, the species of australopiths become steadily more bipedal, adapt their feet to ground locomotion, and generally become more human-like. In the past, all the closest relatives of the genus ''Homo'' were classified in the genus ''Australopithecus'' (“southern apes”, because they were all found in Africa). As ScienceMarchesOn, recent taxonomical revisions have split off 2 other significant genera from ''Australopithecus'': the earlier ''Ardipithecus'' ("ground ape", found in 1994 and originally put in one single species, ''A. ramidus''), and the specialized ''Paranthropus'' (“near-human”). The latter included some robust, man-sized species (''P. boisei'', ''P. robustus'') adapted to a strict diet made of bamboos or other fibrous plants -- again, convergently with gorillas (''Gorilla''); the other australopithecines were much smaller and more gracile, and were more generalist feeders. [[note]]Interestingly, modern gorillas and chimpanzees make a very similar case: the first are big, robust and bamboo-eating like ''Paranthropus'', the latter are small, agile, and all-eating like ''Australopithecus''.[[/note]] Significant species of the modernly-intended genus ''Australopithecus'' are ''A. afarensis'' ("Afar People's southern ape"), best known for the specimen found in 1971 and known as [[Music/TheBeatles Lucy]]; and ''A. africanus'' ("African southern ape", the first discovered australopithecine, in 1925), likely an ancestor of the genus ''Homo''. The australopiths of the namesake ''Australopithecus'' genus were portrayed in 2001 as the main characters of the forth episode of Series/WalkingWithBeasts: here a group of them is shown acting rather like a middle-way between chimpanzees and humans.

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul Proconsul_(primate)'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'' ("oak ape"), "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]"), ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'' ("Pliocenic ape"), and still others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for this, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'' ("mountain ape") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans.

'''Real and alleged Human Ancestors:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proconsul_(primate) Proconsul]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oreopithecus Oreopithecus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryopithecus Dryopithecus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecus Pliopithecus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivapithecus Sivapithecus]]'' (former "Ramapithecus"), and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orrorin Orrorin]]''

* Due to jungles not being good places for fossilization, not many species of extinct apes are known. The most popular one is surely ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]'', a relative of the orangutan (that also convergently exhibited gorilla-like characters), because of [[BiggerIsBetter its size]]. Other extinct apes were much smaller, not bigger than our chimpanzees (''Pan'') or orangutans (''Pongo''). Many of them were once considered true human ancestors, or at least the common ancestors of apes and humans, but [[ScienceMarchesOn now are believed]] only distant relatives which shared some apparently human-like traits. ''Proconsul'' ("before Consul": Consul was a chimpanzee), ''Dryopithecus'' ("oak ape"), "Ramapithecus" ("[[Myth/HinduMythology Rama's ape]]", now ''Sivapithecus'' "[[Myth/HinduMythology Shiva's ape]]"), ''Pliopithecus'' ("Pliocenic ape"), and still others, are often mentioned in old textbooks for this, but now their relevance is drastically fallen down. However, two apes here are of crucial importance for our purposes: ''Oreopithecus'' ("mountain ape") and ''Orrorin'' ("original man" in African native language). Why? Because these two apes show fossils that hint at the very beginning of the human gait, with somewhat human-like pelvises and femurs. Today scientists, thanks to the study of the Molecular Clock, believe that ''Oreopithecus'' is just an evolutionary dead end of specialized hominid, while the ''Orrorin'' belongs to the clade that would ultimately lead to humans.

'''Bipedal or Quadrupedal Ancestry?:''' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hominoidea Prehistoric Hominoids]]

* [[UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace]]. The closest human ancestors are at the bottom of this page dedicated to Mammals because of this. Technically [[PunyHumans a subset of primates]], hominids is a group of animals somewhat controversial to talk about, for obvious ethical reasons. The hominid group itself fluctuates in definition, going from all beings closer to us that to chimps, to all things closer to us that to baboons; the most widely accepted use includes the great apes; that's is, all beings closer to us that to gibbons, and that's the one to be used here. Anyway, this family split off from gibbons about 15 million years ago, and not long after, it split off in two main branches: the Asian branch, nowadays made up of the 2 species of orangutan; and the African branch, which includes gorillas, chimps and us. Focusing in that latter branch, the branch gorillas belong to splits off from the main branch 7 million years ago, and the chimp branch splits from the branch that would lead to us shortly after. That latter branch was subject to selective pressure due to having to adapt to the harsher savannah environment: the 2 modern chimp species split from each other at roughly the same time our branch split from Lucy (see below).

* The popular idea of the human lineage starting with a quadrupedal ape and gradually turning more erect, as seen in the well-known image of The Ascent of Man, is probably not accurate: human bipedalism, in contrast to those of birds and other extinct archosaurs, is based on a vertical spine and torso, and so the hands and feet operate at different levels. However, that is also seen in the rest of hominoids: in contrast with monkeys, whose default posture involves a horizontal spine and both hands and feet in the same branch, hominoids have a default posture where the spine is vertical, and the hands grab branches directly overhead. This can be seen in living apes, where the primary tree-dwelling gibbons and orangutans will default to a vertical posture even in the ground, while the more groundbound chimpanzees and gorillas exhibit quadrupedalism, but apparently independently evolved from each other (so their common ancestor, which is also our ancestor, didn't walk on its knuckles). In conclusion, the evolution of our gait, rather that being a transition from 4 legs to 2 so we could see better, was probably more akin to adapting a tree-dwelling position for use on land because we could see better. Gorillas weren't quite as pressured to keep their bipedal posture, and thus evolved an unique sort of quadrupedalism, avoiding species-wide chronic back aches and tendency to fracture hips.

* And then, there were several South American ungulate-like forms with long limbs and hoof-like feet (similarly to their modern relative, the capybara), convergently with ungulates. Two known examples are ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoberomys Phoberomys]]'' ("fearsome mouse") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telicomys Telicomys]]'', which were ''cow-sized'' and long believed the largest rodents ever (capybara do not exceed the size of a large dog), until the recent (2008) discover of the bison-sized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephoartigasia Josephoartigasia]]'', another south american critter named from real people continuing the tradition started in the 1900 by Ameghino (see above). The closest modern relatives of this enormous rodent is a little-known animal, the rare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacarana Pacarana]] (''Dinomys''), still one of the largest living rodents, the size of a modern water beaver. It's not a casual connection, that modern-day capybara (South-American as well) is the biggest modern rodent: South American mammals were, and still are, very unfamiliar to a North American or European observer, beated only by the Australian ones. In the Western Indies (Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica etc.) some [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Giant Hutias]] reached 100 kg of weight -- twice a capybara.

* And then, there were several South American ungulate-like forms with long limbs and hoof-like feet (similarly to their modern relative, the capybara), convergently with ungulates. Two known examples are ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoberomys Phoberomys]]'' ("fearsome mouse") and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telicomys Telicomys]]'', which were ''cow-sized'' and long believed the largest rodents ever (capybara do not exceed the size of a large dog), until the recent (2008) discover of the bison-sized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephoartigasia Josephoartigasia]]'', another south american critter named from real people continuing the tradition started in the 1900 by Ameghino (see above). The closest modern relatives of this enormous rodent is a little-known animal, the rare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacarana Pacarana]] (''Dinomys''), still one of the largest living rodents, the size of a modern water beaver. It's not a casual connection, that modern-day capybara (South-American as well) is the biggest modern rodent: South American mammals were, and still are, very unfamiliar to a North American or European observer, beated only by the Australian ones.

* [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Giant glyptodonts]] were not the only ancient relatives of armadillos: there were also smaller [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cingulata Cingulates]] (aka armored xenarthrans) as well. All were South- or North-american like modern armadillos. One of them, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stegotherium Stegotherium]]'', has a name that recalls [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs a famous armored dinosaur]], ''Stegosaurus''. Another, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utaetus Utaetus]]'', was one of the first true cingulates, from Eocene. Both were related with the common nine-banded armadillo. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyptotherium Glyptotherium]]'' (not to be confused with ''Glyptodon'') and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplophorus Hoplophorus]]'' ("armor-bearer"), on the other hand, were true glyptodonts, but smaller than the two stock guys ''Glyptodon'' and ''Doedicurus''. Another glyptodonts are ''Palaehoplophorus'' ("ancient armor-bearer"), ''Propalaehoplophorus'', ("before the ancient armor-bearer"), and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapropalaehoplophorus Parapropalaehoplophorus]]'' ("nearly before the ancient armor-bearer"). The latter, described in 2007, has one of the most sesquipedalian names of any prehistoric mammal: 23 letters, the same as the notoriously sesquipedalian dinosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifePachycephalosaurs Micropachycephalosaurus]]''. A little-known critter, South American ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroeuphractus Macroeuphractus]]'' ("big armadillo"), was a 100kg true armadillo with bone-crushing jaws and sharp teeth, showing adaptations towards carnivory. It is the only truly carnivorous xenarthran known so far. Modern armadillos are insectivorous at the most, with their small undifferentiated teeth, with the biggest one, the 30kg [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priodontes_maximus Giant Armadillo]] of South America, being a termite-eater and ant-eater. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampatherium Pampatherium]]'', similar to a glyptodont, was the prototype of the extinct Pampatherids and owes its name from the Argentinian prairies (the ''pampas'').

* [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Giant glyptodonts]] were not the only ancient relatives of armadillos: there were also smaller [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cingulata Cingulates]] (aka armored xenarthrans) as well. All were South- or North-american like modern armadillos. One of them, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stegotherium Stegotherium]]'', has a name that recalls [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursOrnithischianDinosaurs a famous armored dinosaur]], ''Stegosaurus''. Another, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utaetus Utaetus]]'', was one of the first true cingulates, from Eocene. Both were related with the common nine-banded armadillo. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyptotherium Glyptotherium]]'' (not to be confused with ''Glyptodon'') and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoplophorus Hoplophorus]]'' ("armor-bearer"), on the other hand, were true glyptodonts, but smaller than the two stock guys ''Glyptodon'' and ''Doedicurus''. Another glyptodont, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parapropalaehoplophorus Parapropalaehoplophorus]]'' described in 2007, has one of the most sesquipedalian names of any prehistoric mammal: 23 letters, the same as the notoriously sesquipedalian dinosaur ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifePachycephalosaurs Micropachycephalosaurus]]''. A little-known critter, South American ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroeuphractus Macroeuphractus]]'' ("big armadillo"), was a 100kg true armadillo with bone-crushing jaws and sharp teeth, showing adaptations towards carnivory. It is the only truly carnivorous xenarthran known so far. Modern armadillos are insectivorous at the most, with their small undifferentiated teeth, with the biggest one, the 30kg [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priodontes_maximus Giant Armadillo]] of South America, being a termite-eater and ant-eater. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pampatherium Pampatherium]]'', similar to a glyptodont, was the prototype of the extinct Pampatherids and owes its name from the Argentinian prairies (the ''pampas'').

* [[StockPhrase Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. [[RunningGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. ''[[OverlyLongGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]''. '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis NO!!!]]''' Man '''didn't descend''' from other modern apes (that is, chimps, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons): we humans '''and''' chimps/gorillas/orangutans/gibbons all descend from a common ancestor, often called "ape" in popular media but no more closely related to chimps as it was to ourselves. Primate evolution is of particular interest for obvious reasons, but it'd be a too long argumentation here, and would go much beyond the aim of these notes: talking about the most interesting extinct critters. Indeed, most ancient non-hominid primates ''weren't'' particularly interesting compared to their modern descendants: their look was quite monotonous, some resembled more a lemur, other a tarsier, other a monkey, and other modern apes. Most of them were small as well, although oversized baboons and overgrown lemurs (see just below) are known in fossil record. We can mention one representative for each lineage, from the furthest to the nearest to humans. ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapis Adapis]]'' was an ancient relative of lemurs; ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omomys Omomys]]'' was a sort of proto-tarsier; ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegyptopithecus Aegyptopithecus]]'' ("Egyptian monkey") was one of the first true monkeys. ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' chose to portray other two animals, the Adapis relative ''Godinotia'' (wrongly shown [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys with a monkey head]]) and the early true monkey ''Apidium'' in the two first episodes respectively. For extinct apes, see further.

* The largest true monkeys living today are baboons and their relatives like the mandril, widespread in African grasslands and forests. However, at the time of the earliest human ancestors there were some "giant baboons" in african savannas, among them ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinopithecus Dinopithecus]]'' ("terrible ape"). Maybe bigger than a gorilla, it was probably a competitor with our human ancestors when there was a prey or a carcass to be contended. Unlike most african megafauna of the time (Pliocene-Pleistocene) giant baboons didn't manage to reach our days, maybe depleted by us humans. About the much more primitive lemurs: the largest lemur alive in Madagascar today is the gibbon-sized and endangered indri (''Indri indri''). However, long ago, there were truly gigantic forms. The most well known is the orangutan-sized ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaladapis Megaladapis]]'' ("large Adapis"), also known as the koala lemur, notable for the shape of its skull, which most likely housed a trunk-like upper lip. There's also ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoindris Archaeoindris]]'' ("ancient Indri"), which came from a long extinct group known as the sloth lemurs. Most sloth lemurs resembled modern tree sloths, but ''Archaeoindris'' was more similar to an extinct ground sloth. Larger than a gorilla, this is thought to be one of the largest primates, second only to the famous ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]''. Sadly, these and other similar creatures went extinct a mere 500 years ago when the first Malagasy settlers arrived in Madagascar (See also the [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Elephant bird]]).

'''Giant Baboons and Malagasy Pseudo-Apes:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinopithecus Dinopithecus]]'', ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaladapis Megaladapis]]'', and ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeoindris Archaeoindris]]''

* The largest true monkeys living today are baboons and their relatives like the mandril, widespread in African grasslands and forests. However, at the time of the earliest human ancestors there were some "giant baboons" in african savannas, among them ''Dinopithecus'' ("terrible ape"). Maybe bigger than a gorilla, it was probably a competitor with our human ancestors when there was a prey or a carcass to be contended. Unlike most african megafauna of the time (Pliocene-Pleistocene) giant baboons didn't manage to reach our days, maybe depleted by us humans. About the much more primitive lemurs: the largest lemur alive in Madagascar today is the gibbon-sized and endangered indri (''Indri indri''). However, long ago, there were truly gigantic forms. The most well known is the orangutan-sized ''Megaladapis'' ("large Adapis"), also known as the koala lemur, notable for the shape of its skull, which most likely housed a trunk-like upper lip. There's also ''Archaeoindris'' ("ancient Indri"), which came from a long extinct group known as the sloth lemurs. Most sloth lemurs resembled modern tree sloths, but ''Archaeoindris'' was more similar to an extinct ground sloth. Larger than a gorilla, this is thought to be one of the largest primates, second only to the famous ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Gigantopithecus]]''. Sadly, these and other similar creatures went extinct a mere 500 years ago when the first Malagasy settlers arrived in Madagascar (See also the [[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Elephant bird]]).

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, odd-toed ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to the winged bats (Chiropterans) & horses (Perissodactyls) considered together: the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. Today is accepted a new clade called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrotifera Scrotiferans]]" (scrotum-bearers), including not only the "pegasoferans" but also the Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans). All them shared, at least originally, the scrotum in males (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are possibly the only exception among the placentals, with a scrotum despite not being members of the group (among mammals in general also the male kangaroos have a scrotum). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

'''Early true Primates:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adapis Adapis]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omomys Omomys]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegyptopithecus Aegyptopithecus]]'', and other [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate#Evolution Ancestral Primates]]

* [[StockPhrase Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. [[RunningGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]. ''[[OverlyLongGag Man-Is-Descended-From-Apes]]''. '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis NO!!!]]''' Man '''didn't descend''' from other modern apes (that is, chimps, gorillas, orangutans, gibbons): we humans '''and''' chimps/gorillas/orangutans/gibbons all descend from a common ancestor, often called "ape" in popular media but no more closely related to chimps as it was to ourselves. Primate evolution is of particular interest for obvious reasons, but it'd be a too long argumentation here, and would go much beyond the aim of these notes: talking about the most interesting extinct critters. Indeed, most ancient non-hominid primates ''weren't'' particularly interesting compared to their modern descendants: their look was quite monotonous, some resembled more a lemur, other a tarsier, other a monkey, and other modern apes. Most of them were small as well, although oversized baboons and overgrown lemurs (see just below) are known in fossil record. We can mention one representative for each lineage, from the furthest to the nearest to humans. ''Adapis'' was an ancient relative of lemurs; ''Omomys'' was a sort of proto-tarsier; ''Aegyptopithecus'' ("Egyptian monkey") was one of the first true monkeys. ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' chose to portray other two animals, the Adapis relative ''Godinotia'' (wrongly shown [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys with a monkey head]]) and the early true monkey ''Apidium'' in the two first episodes respectively. For extinct apes, see further.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, odd-toed ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to the winged bats (Chiropterans) & horses (Perissodactyls) considered together: the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. Today is accepted a new clade called "Scrotifera" (scrotum-bearers), including not only the "pegasoferans" but also the Artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates and cetaceans). All them shared, at least originally, the scrotum in males (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are the only exception among the other placentals (among mammals in general also the male kangaroos have a scrotum). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to the winged bats (Chiropterans) & horses (Ungulates) considered together: the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. The clade of the pegasoferans exists still today, but now is called "Scrotifera" (scrotum-bearers), because they shared originally a scrotum (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are a rare exception (another is the kangaroos). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse, refers to bat (Chiropterans) & horses (Ungulates): the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. The clade of the pegasoferans exists still today, but now is called "Scrotifera" (scrotum-bearers), because they shared originally a scrotum (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are a rare exception (another is the kangaroos). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts". Pegasus, the winged horse,
refers to bat (Chiropterans) & horses (Ungulates): the Ferans are the Carnivorans and Pangolins together. The clade of the pegasoferans exists still today, but now is called "Scrotifera" (scrotum-bearers), because they shared originally a scrotum (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are a rare exception (another is the kangaroos). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, ungulates, carnivores and bats were once called "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasoferae Pegasoferans]]", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts": today are called "Scrotifera" because share originally a scrotum (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are a rare exception (another is the kangaroos). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Phenacodus]]'' was once put in the obsolete order of basal mammals called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condylarth Condylarthrans]]", which included also the similar ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meniscotherium Meniscotherium]]'' and south-american ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didolodus Didolodus]]'', and less-ungulatian animals such as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectoconus Ectoconus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyopsodus Hyopsodus]]'', the carnivorous Mesonychians, and even huge ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Andrewsarchus]]''; today the phenacodonts are mostly considered very basal odd-toed ungulates. ''Phenacodus'' ("imposter tooth") was not larger than a dog: with its several small hoofed digits, it was similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Eohippus]]'' but with the long tail of the most basal hoofed mammals, and thus it is often mentioned as one of the prototypical "basal ungulates". Just like ''Eohippus/Hyracotherium'', ''Phenacodus'' was often depicted as a possible prey of the famous giant bird ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Gastornis]]''; while the massive ''Coryphodon'' and ''Uintatherium'' were probably too powerful to be threatened by any predator when adults, like modern hippos, rhinos, and elephants today. One curiosity: a proposed clade inclusive of carnivores and odd-toed ungulates is named the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooamata Zooamatans]], meaning "animal friends" or "beloved animals". This because this clade includes domestic dogs, cats (both carnivorans) and horses (a perissodactyl) that are considered usually pets or friends rather than working or meat animals, at least in modern Western Culture (in China and Korea for example dogs can be ''eaten'', and the wild relatives of dogs, house cats and domestic horses are often hunted as game animals and/or pests/dangerous animals even in the Western World); while the clade excludes the Artiodactyls (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, buffaloes, deer, camels, gazelles, etc. aka the even-toed ungulates), that have traditionally (but not always) considered only working, meat, wool or game animals in western culture.

* ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Phenacodus]]'' was once put in the obsolete order of basal mammals called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condylarth Condylarthrans]]", which included also the similar ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meniscotherium Meniscotherium]]'' and south-american ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didolodus Didolodus]]'', and less-ungulatian animals such as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectoconus Ectoconus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyopsodus Hyopsodus]]'', the carnivorous Mesonychians, and even huge ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Andrewsarchus]]''; today the phenacodonts are mostly considered very basal odd-toed ungulates. ''Phenacodus'' ("imposter tooth") was not larger than a dog: with its several small hoofed digits, it was similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Eohippus]]'' but with the long tail of the most basal hoofed mammals, and thus it is often mentioned as one of the prototypical "basal ungulates". Just like ''Eohippus/Hyracotherium'', ''Phenacodus'' was often depicted as a possible prey of the famous giant bird ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Gastornis]]''; while the massive ''Coryphodon'' and ''Uintatherium'' were probably too powerful to be threatened by any predator when adults, like modern hippos, rhinos, and elephants today. One curiosity: a proposed clade inclusive of carnivores and odd-toed ungulates is named the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zooamata Zooamatans]], meaning "animal friends" or "beloved animals". This because this clade includes dogs, cats (both carnivorans) and horses (a perissodactyl) that are considered usually pets or friends rather than working or meat animals at least in modern Western Culture (in China and Korea, for example, dogs can be ''eaten''); while excludes the Artiodactyls (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, buffaloes, aka the even-toed ungulates), that are usually (but not always) considered only working, meat or wool animals and not pets in western culture.

* ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Phenacodus]]'' was once put in the obsolete order of basal mammals called the "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condylarth Condylarthrans]]", which included also the similar ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meniscotherium Meniscotherium]]'' and south-american ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didolodus Didolodus]]'', and less-ungulatian animals such as ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ectoconus Ectoconus]]'', ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyopsodus Hyopsodus]]'', the carnivorous Mesonychians, and even huge ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Andrewsarchus]]''; today the phenacodonts are mostly considered very basal odd-toed ungulates. ''Phenacodus'' ("imposter tooth") was not larger than a dog: with its several small hoofed digits, it was similar to ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Eohippus]]'' but with the long tail of the most basal hoofed mammals, and thus it is often mentioned as one of the prototypical "basal ungulates". Just like ''Eohippus/Hyracotherium'', ''Phenacodus'' was often depicted as a possible prey of the famous giant bird ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursSaurischianDinosaurs Gastornis]]''; while the massive ''Coryphodon'' and ''Uintatherium'' were probably too powerful to be threatened by any predator when adults, like modern hippos, rhinos, and elephants today.

* Traditionally we have put in the “insectivores” group all those mammals whose anatomy is comparable to that of most Mesozoic mammals: small size, generic mouse-like look and non-specialized teeth. Actually modern insectivores are very different among each other; while the most commonly known (hedgehogs, moles, shrews) ''are'' closely related (making the Eulipotyphles aka "true insectivores" together with the caribbean ''venomous'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenodontidae Solenodonts]] and the historically-extinct [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesophontidae Nesophonts]]), many other less familiar “insectivores” -- that is, the Asian banxrings or tree "shrews" (Scandents), the tenrecs of Madagascar & the golden "moles" and otter-"shrews" (Aftosoricids), and sengis or elephant "shrews" (Macroscelideans), all from mainland Africa -- are not. Their resemblance is just due to the fact they still preserve a body-plan similar to the most common one in the Mesozoic, while non-insectivoran mammals modified it becoming more recognizable. Several "insectivores" are known from the Cenozoic's fossil record, but they, being usually small, are rather uncommon just like the rodents and the lagomorphs. Maybe the most famous and specialized is ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Leptictidium]]'' ("slender weasel"), a long-legged animal similar to a 3 ft long kangaroo with shrew-like teeth and (maybe) a shrew-like mobile nose. Not related with any modern mammal, it was once put in the "protoeutherian" ("first eutherians") artificial group of basal placental mammals. Its uncertain if ''Leptictidium'' and its relative ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptictis Leptictis]]'' (from which the name ''Leptictidium'' comes) were runners like a ground bird or a small dinosaur, or more traditional hoppers: none of the kangaroo-shaped mammals today (the marsupial true kangaroos and the rodents jerboas, kangaroo-rats, springhares etc.) do run, but being the Leptictids not related with any of them, this is still possible. Furthermore, some jerboas are known to be able to walk bipedally other than jumping. The leptictidium appears as the main character in the first ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' episode, which portrays a whole family living in the ancient Eocene forests. This singular animal was even believed by some the inspiration for Scrat in the WesternAnimation/IceAge films; as it is, however, Scrat actually bears a close resemblance to the Mesozoic mammal ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronopio_(mammal) Cronopio]]'', although this was pure coincidence.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above. Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates. Togheter, ungulates, carnivores and bats were once çalled "Pegasoferae", literally "[[Myth/GreekMythology Pegasus]] Beasts": today are called "Scrotifera" because share originally a scrotum (lost secondarily in some subgroups, like seals, whales, and pangolins), that most other mammal lineages lacks. We primates, that are ''not'' scrotiferans, are a rare exception (another is the kangaroos). Returning to ''Plesiadapis'', it was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandentia banxring]]. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

* Traditionally we have put in the “insectivores” group all those mammals whose anatomy is comparable to that of most Mesozoic mammals: small size, generic mouse-like look and non-specialized teeth. Actually modern insectivores are very different among each other; while the most commonly known (hedgehogs, moles, shrews) ''are'' closely related (making the Eulipotyphles aka "true insectivores" together with the caribbean ''venomous'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solenodontidae Solenodonts]] and the historically-extinct [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesophontidae Nesophonts]]), many other less familiar “insectivores” -- that is, the Asian tupays or tree "shrews", the tenrecs of Madagascar, the golden "moles", otter-"shrews", and sengis or elephant "shrews", all from mainland Africa -- are not. Their resemblance is just due to the fact they still preserve a body-plan similar to the most common one in the Mesozoic, while non-insectivoran mammals modified it becoming more recognizable. Several "insectivores" are known from the Cenozoic's fossil record, but they, being usually small, are rather uncommon just like the rodents and the lagomorphs. Maybe the most famous and specialized is ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Leptictidium]]'' ("slender weasel"), a long-legged animal similar to a 3 ft long kangaroo with shrew-like teeth and (maybe) a shrew-like mobile nose. Not related with any modern mammal, it was once put in the "protoeutherian" ("first eutherians") artificial group of basal placental mammals. Its uncertain if ''Leptictidium'' and its relative ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptictis Leptictis]]'' (from which the name ''Leptictidium'' comes) were runners like a ground bird or a small dinosaur, or more traditional hoppers: none of the kangaroo-shaped mammals today (the marsupial true kangaroos and the rodents jerboas, kangaroo-rats, springhares etc.) do run, but being the Leptictids not related with any of them, this is still possible. Furthermore, some jerboas are known to be able to walk bipedally other than jumping. The leptictidium appears as the main character in the first ''Series/WalkingWithBeasts'' episode, which portrays a whole family living in the ancient Eocene forests. This singular animal was even believed by some the inspiration for Scrat in the WesternAnimation/IceAge films; as it is, however, Scrat actually bears a close resemblance to the Mesozoic mammal ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronopio_(mammal) Cronopio]]'', although this was pure coincidence.

* The late Mesozoic and early Cenozoic saw the rise of the primates and their relatives from an ancestor fairly close to rodents. Living at the very start of the Cenozoic, ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Plesiadapis]]'' ("almost Adapis", see below) is often mentioned in books as the "first primate", but it was probably only a close relative, like the Dermopterans above.[[note]]Bats too (expecially the megabats) used to be considered related with primates until recently, but again, [[ScienceMarchesOn modern genetic research]] has shown they were actually linked with carnivorans and true ungulates.[[/note]] It was a sort of middle way between a squirrel and a monkey, with a lemur-body but gnawing teeth like a rodent. Living in trees, it resembled a lot some ancient mammals which lived in the Mesozoic, particularly ''Purgatorius'' (see [[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeNonDinosaurianReptiles The Origin Of Mammals]]). Today, there’s still an animal which strongly resembles ''Plesiadapis'' and ''Purgatorius'', though devoid of gnawing teeth unlike the former: the tupay. Improperly called “tree shrew”, the latter was once classified as an “insectivore” (see above). Interesting that one modern true primate, the lemur Aye-Aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis''), has independently developed gnawing teeth as well.

'''The Mammals' First Flight:''' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeochiropteryx Palaeochiropteryx]]'' & ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icaronycteris Icaronycteris]]''

* During mammal evolution, some groups reached the ability to glide: some rodents, some marsupials, and the dermopterans. The most known extinct glider is ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs Planetetherium]]'' ("gliding beast"), belonging to the same group of the so-called “flying lemur”, the Dermopterans of our days. But ''only bats'' developed powered flight. Unfortunately, Chiropterans (the scientific name of bats, meaning "winged hand") are a very poorly-known group in the fossil record because their skeleton is way too fragile to fossilize well. Despite this, awesomely well-preserved bat remains have been discovered in the most famous fossil deposit from Early Cenozoic: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messel_pit Messel Pit]], in Germany. This deposit has also many, many other early mammals: among them, the aforementioned hopping bug-eater ''Leptictidium'', the early pangolins ''Eurotamandua'' & ''Eomanis'', and even a basal ungulate, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propalaeotherium Propalaeotherium]]''. These and other mammals from this deposit are so well preserved that ''even their fur and stomach contents are known''. In short, we know'em almost like they were still-living animals. One of the very first bats, ''Palaeochiropteryx'' ("ancient chiropteran") has been discovered here, and show us all the traits associated with their modern relatives: fingered wings, large ears, and even structure for echolocating are known from these finds. Even earlier but also fully-chiropteran was ''Icaronycteris'' ("[[Myth/GreekMythology Icarus]] bat") from North America, believed the most ancient known bat to science. The younger ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteropus Archaeopteropus]]'' from Italy was one of the first ancestors of megabats or "flying foxes". According to experts, bats achieved their nocturnal habits to not compete with the mainly-diurnal birds in the search of food. The earliness of the "first bats" has lead scientists to make an intriguing hypothesis: perhaps some sort of gliding proto-bats were already living on Earth ''before'' pterosaurs and non-avian dinosaurs disappeared? This would also mean bat-winged critters ''did'' exist at the Age of Dinosaurs, thus making the [[PteroSoarer Mesozoic bat-winged fliers]] trope partially TruthInTelevision (see also ''Yi'' in "UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods").