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fandomhigh2011-04-14 08:21 am
bootlessjane.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2011-04-14 08:21 am
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Primatology; Thursday, Fourth Period [ 04/14 ].
"Can you believe it, class?" Jane asked once the period had begun and everyone had settled at their desks. "The semester is already over and, I must say, I've had a wonderful time and you've all been an incredibly fascinating first class! Remember, next week is the exam, and we'll be covering everything discussed thus far in class, from the very first day to today's lecture. There will be two parts to your exam; one will be written," and Jane tried ever so hard not to glance toward Miss Norwood, "and cover things like types of primate, diet, habitat, social structure, use of tools, theory of mind, and everything under the primatology sun. The second part will be an oral exam and what I expect of you from that is to pick a primate, any primate at all, and present a short presentation on what you find particularly interesting about that primate. Every primatologist plays favourites, it's true, because every primatologist has a species that they are just so passionate about that they can barely stand it! So I want you to explore any sparks of passion you may have about any primate that may have caught your eye in the course of the class.
"But that is all for next week, unless there are any questions; if there are, I'd be happy to answer them at the end of the lecture. Today, we've saved the best primate for last: the genus Homo," and bless her scientific, Victorian heart for not even thinking anyone might snicker at that as she turned to the board to begin her flurry of writing, "that is, the genus in which most of us, Homo sapien, are derived. Homo sapien, or the modern human, are the only living bipedal species in this genus in the Hominidae family, which is the same family as the great ape. This includes chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, making them all our very, very, very very distant cousins.
"The advent of the genus Homo is said to coincide with the development of the use of stone tools, at the beginning of the Ice Age; as you've seen in previous classes, many primates are known to use tools to help them with daily tasks, but it was Homo erectus," and, okay, blame the Victorian heart and Jane still being quite young and warm blooded for the little subtle chuckle there, "and Homo ergaster who really started on the evolutationary path toward humans as we know them today.
"Evolution. Now there's a fascinating study that really took off in the twentieth century! Back where I'm from, it was a new and startling idea, and it's been incredibly fascinating, and sometime daunting, to catch up with it all, but it's basically been continuing to confirm what we first believed under Darwin's hypothesis. That life adapts and changes, becoming one thing after the other in a span of millions and millions of years. Let us have a look at the suggested timeline, shall we?"
And so there was a great many sketchings going on, as Jane rambled on about how cells appeared and developed into chordates, and chordates started growing legs, and how the first reptiles actually branched off into the string of reptiles known today and the string that started mammals, which eventually developed, among other mammals, primates. Naturally, as they knew, there were many different primates, and some of them were hominidae, some of which started to show increasingly human-like characteristics, and so she provided many sketches to show the development and changes that lead them all right up to Homo.
She told it with the passion and flair of someone telling the greatest story in all the world, filling up the board with digressions and diagrams until she was red-faced from excitement and surprisingly not hoarse from all the talking.
"And, so, there you have a very brief look at how humans diverged from our ape cousins and developed into the species we are today! It's only the briefest of introductions, and, really, there's been so much in the past hundred or so years that I'm honestly still catching up myself, but surely you can see the similarities between the species, and, hopefully, this class has shown many other ways in which our primate pals resemble how humans might have been in the very infancy of our development. Our discussion question today, then, will be helpful for your review: in which ways does primate society resemble our own? Have you any other questions for the examination coming up?"
She smiled at the students. "I've done quite enough talking today, I should think, so the floor is all yours."
[[ and the OCDis approaching has evolved! ]]
"But that is all for next week, unless there are any questions; if there are, I'd be happy to answer them at the end of the lecture. Today, we've saved the best primate for last: the genus Homo," and bless her scientific, Victorian heart for not even thinking anyone might snicker at that as she turned to the board to begin her flurry of writing, "that is, the genus in which most of us, Homo sapien, are derived. Homo sapien, or the modern human, are the only living bipedal species in this genus in the Hominidae family, which is the same family as the great ape. This includes chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, making them all our very, very, very very distant cousins.
"The advent of the genus Homo is said to coincide with the development of the use of stone tools, at the beginning of the Ice Age; as you've seen in previous classes, many primates are known to use tools to help them with daily tasks, but it was Homo erectus," and, okay, blame the Victorian heart and Jane still being quite young and warm blooded for the little subtle chuckle there, "and Homo ergaster who really started on the evolutationary path toward humans as we know them today.
"Evolution. Now there's a fascinating study that really took off in the twentieth century! Back where I'm from, it was a new and startling idea, and it's been incredibly fascinating, and sometime daunting, to catch up with it all, but it's basically been continuing to confirm what we first believed under Darwin's hypothesis. That life adapts and changes, becoming one thing after the other in a span of millions and millions of years. Let us have a look at the suggested timeline, shall we?"
And so there was a great many sketchings going on, as Jane rambled on about how cells appeared and developed into chordates, and chordates started growing legs, and how the first reptiles actually branched off into the string of reptiles known today and the string that started mammals, which eventually developed, among other mammals, primates. Naturally, as they knew, there were many different primates, and some of them were hominidae, some of which started to show increasingly human-like characteristics, and so she provided many sketches to show the development and changes that lead them all right up to Homo.
She told it with the passion and flair of someone telling the greatest story in all the world, filling up the board with digressions and diagrams until she was red-faced from excitement and surprisingly not hoarse from all the talking.
"And, so, there you have a very brief look at how humans diverged from our ape cousins and developed into the species we are today! It's only the briefest of introductions, and, really, there's been so much in the past hundred or so years that I'm honestly still catching up myself, but surely you can see the similarities between the species, and, hopefully, this class has shown many other ways in which our primate pals resemble how humans might have been in the very infancy of our development. Our discussion question today, then, will be helpful for your review: in which ways does primate society resemble our own? Have you any other questions for the examination coming up?"
She smiled at the students. "I've done quite enough talking today, I should think, so the floor is all yours."
[[ and the OCD
Sign In - Primatology, 04/14.
Listen to the Lecture - Primatology, 04/14.
...talky, talky meat, with a herd of teal deer gathering outside the window. Oh, how they love that Jane Porter.
Discussion - Primatology, 04/14.
Alternatively, what questions might you have about the final examination before you're sent off to study until next week?
As Jane said, the floor is now yours!
Talk to Jane - Primatology, 04/14.
OOC - Primatology, 04/14.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 04/14.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 04/14.
Re: Sign In - Primatology, 04/14.