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| Could Primates evolve to use echolocation? | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 28 2011, 03:32 PM (856 Views) | |
| lone shee | Mar 28 2011, 03:32 PM Post #1 |
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Fetus
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Really, would it work? If so to what extent? What sort of primates? What might be the reason behind it? |
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| Adman | Mar 28 2011, 03:36 PM Post #2 |
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Totally not lamna
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I think that the only reason primates could evolve ecolocation would be if they would evolve bat-like or ceatcean-like forms. |
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Projects and concepts that I have stewing around Extended Pleistocene- An alternate future where man died out, and the megafauna would continue to thrive (may or may not include a bit about certain future sapients) Inverted World- An alternate timeline where an asteroid hit during the Barremian, causing an extinction event before the Maastrichtian. Dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and notosuchians make it to the present, along with a host of other animals. Badania- Alien planet that has life at a devonian stage of development, except it exists in the present day. Ido- Alien world where hoppers (derived flightless ballonts) and mouthpart-legged beasts are prevalent. Leto- Life on a moon orbiting a gas giant with an erratic orbit; experiences extremes of hot and cold. The Park- ??? Deeper Impact- a world where the K-Pg extinction wipes out crocodilians, mammals, and birds; squamates, choristoderes, and turtles inherit the earth. World of Equal Opportunity- alternate history where denisovans come across Beringia and interact with native fauna. Much of the Pleistocene fauna survives, and the modern humans that end up crossing into North America do not overhunt the existing animals. 10,000 years later, civilizations exist that are on par with European and Asian societies. The Ditch- Nothing is what if seems.. | |
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| lamna | Mar 29 2011, 10:04 AM Post #3 |
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It sounds like it could be very useful for tarsiers, mouse lemurs, night monkeys, bush babies, etc. |
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| Jasonguppy | Mar 29 2011, 11:17 AM Post #4 |
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Cardinal
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Yes, but aye-aye's have the best hearing and use a form of echolocation already |
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I do art sometimes. "if you want green eat a salad" Projects: Amammalia: A strange place where mammals didn't make it and the land is, once again, dominated by archosaurs. Oceanus: An endless sea dotted with islands, reefs, and black holes. Literally endless, literal black holes. ❤️❤️~I'm not a boy~❤️❤️ | |
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| lamna | Mar 29 2011, 11:54 AM Post #5 |
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Not really, I mean they listen for echos but so does everything with ears. I think they are talking about a primate that makes a noise and uses the sounds for navigation. Humans can do it, so I don't think it's absurd. |
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| bloom_boi | Mar 29 2011, 02:18 PM Post #6 |
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What The?
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But that requires intelligence to define an echo from an alien sound no? |
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"You shall perish, whatever you do! If you are taken with arms in your hands, death! If you beg for mercy, death! Whichever way you turn, right, left, back, forward, up, down, death! You are not merely outside the law, you are outside humanity. Neither age nor sex shall save you and yours. You shall die, but first you shall taste the agony of your wife, your sister, your sons and daughters, even those in the cradle! Before your eyes the wounded man shall be taken out of the ambulance and hacked with bayonets or knocked down with the butt end of a rifle. He shall be dragged living by his broken leg or bleeding arm and flung like a suffering, groaning bundle of refuse into the gutter. Death! Death! Death!" | |
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| lamna | Apr 12 2011, 05:49 AM Post #7 |
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Well if bats can cope I think primates can. |
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| urufumarukai | Apr 12 2011, 09:13 AM Post #8 |
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Hitler is my spirit animal
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Howler mokeys? |
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Henry you dick! Mr. Hands "Am I boring? Depends, do you like watching documentaries about 19th and 18th century warfare, having complicated feelings about bismark and crying over the film of winston churchill putting flowers on FDR's grave. If so then I'm so fucking boring. " | |
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| Cephylus | Apr 12 2011, 10:24 AM Post #9 |
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Torando of Terror
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I think, a nocturnal primate which uses echolocation to jump from branch to branch is not so far-fetched. |
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Spoiler: click to toggle
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| Ànraich | Apr 12 2011, 03:20 PM Post #10 |
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L'évolution Spéculative est moi
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Uh, no. That's why they use a high frequency sound or one on a specific frequency. As has already been mentioned, some monkeys and lemurs, particularly from Madagascar, already use a form of ultrasound to identify mates of their own species (since they often look very much alike). It wouldn't take much effort to adapt it to echolocation, although I don't see why they'd do that with their enormous, night-vision eyes. Perhaps the primates in question live in caves and feed on the myriad of insects in it, using echolocation to navigate in the darkness. Maybe they even swing and jump from stalactites instead of branches! |
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We should all aspire to die surrounded by our dearest friends. Just like Julius Caesar. "The Lord Universe said: 'The same fate I have given to all things from stones to stars, that one day they shall become naught but memories aloft upon the winds of time. From dust all was born, and to dust all shall return.' He then looked upon His greatest creation, life, and pitied them, for unlike stars and stones they would soon learn of this fate and despair in the futility of their own existence. And so the Lord Universe decided to give life two gifts to save them from this despair. The first of these gifts was the soul, that life might more readily accept their fate, and the second was fear, that they might in time learn to avoid it altogether." - Excerpt from a Chanagwan creation myth, Legends and Folklore of the Planet Ghar, collected and published by Yieju Bai'an, explorer from the Celestial Commonwealth of Qonming Tree That Owns Itself
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| Empyreon | Apr 12 2011, 04:01 PM Post #11 |
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Are you plausible?
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One possible evolutionary pressure for echolocation is an obstructed view. No matter how good your eyes are, if the jungle is too thick to see you won't see that predator sneaking up on you until it's perhaps too late. A very sensitive auditory sense may be able to pick out the slight modulations of an echo that indicate the presence-- and perhaps even distance-- of incoming predators. These primates would in effect be able to see around the trees. Of course, all that active sonar might just point out exactly where the primate is to a sensitive predator. Let the evolutionary arms race begin!!! |
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Take a look at my exobiology subforum of the planet Nereus! COM Contributions food for thought
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| Brock Slabson, Ph.D. | Apr 12 2011, 09:09 PM Post #12 |
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Alas, poor Yorickosaurus.
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Well, if forests were thick enough, and the primate was heavy enough to not need to climb trees, I suppose that over the course of a couple million years of evolution, the eyes could diminish in size, like those of a cave-dwelling creature. This would increase the need for echolocation greatly. |
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SAGUENAY An Evolutionary Experiment Gone Awry CP STUDIOS Purveyors of Aural Mystery and Wonder | |
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2:28 PM Jul 11