2. Suppose a paleontologist discovered a fossil skull that he believes might be distantly related to primates. Unlike true primates, the face is not quite flat and the eyes do not face completely forward. The paleontologist would most likely conclude that the animal lacked (1 point) a) the ability to form extended family groups. b) the ability to grip branches precisely. c) the ability to manipulate tools. d) the ability to judge the location of tree branch.

An anatomical feature for the primates group is the stereoscopic vision, they can recognize shapes because theirs eyes face forward with overlap in the visual fields, as an advantage for an animal that moves in the tops of big trees. Different to the fossil skull because its eyes do not face completely forward. Forward facing eyes give better depth perception and allow better view of what is in front therefore there is less need for a longer snout and the faces are flatter different to the fossil.

It has been speculated that the face flatter and the eyes face forward have evolved to aid the process of moving through trees from branch to branch and that forward facing eyes are ideal for depth perception because of the need to be able to see exactly what is in front . this is called as “arboreal locomotion theory”. The fossil discovered couldn´t be very good moving through trees.