Incursions and Excursions

ZOO EXCURSION 

On Wednesday the 5th of August the Year 12 Biology students visited the Melbourne Zoo as part of their Unit 4 studies on human evolution.

 Students were guided by a zoo teacher to examine the characteristics that distinguish mammals from primates, and primates from hominoids (apes) and hominins (humans).

 The students were able to apply their understanding of structural morphology to organise real animal skulls in order of relatedness to humans, looking for features such as binocular (forward facing) eye sockets and larger craniums.

The highlight of this trip was watching a training session with the Siamangs, a lesser ape that is distinguished from other primates (such as monkeys) by its lack of tail. 

While Siamangs are not as closely related to humans as other apes such as Gorillas, Orangutangs and Chimpanzees, they do share a common trait in a lack of tail, and ability for (limited) bipedal locomotion.

As we watched the training session, the students observed that the siamangs were very adept at walking upright (albeit having to hold their long arms out of the way) but were even more efficient at swinging from ropes and structures using their long forearms – a mode of locomotion called brachiation. Humans on the other hand have evolved to be efficient bipeds due to the advantage of height and speed over plains which the Siamang does not benefit from with its short legs.

These observations, in addition to the practical activities of the day, deepened the students' understanding of relatedness between Homo sapiens and our ape cousins, essential knowledge for their upcoming Biology SAC and VCE exam.

By Sarah Garvan