Since the beginning of time, man has evolved through primate evolution. Each primate has acquired different characteristics over a period of millions of years. The ecosystem has experienced an enormous change in this phase. Most major changes have occurred due to the phenomenon of continental drift. Other such factors are deforestation, natural calamities and, more recently, global warming. These changes have caused primates to become less arboreal and more and more terrestrial. In order to survive the pressures of natural selection, terrestrial life and other factors primates have developed more upright locomotion, changes in body configuration, increase in size and loss of hair. Over a period of millions of years, the planet has gone through a number of changes. To adjust to these changes the residents of this planet have also had to adapt. For the time span encompassing vertebrate evolution, there are three eras: the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic and the Cenozoic. The highly successful mammalian adaptive radiation is almost entirely within the most recent era of geological history, the Cenozoic. There are seven epochs in the Cenozoic - Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene. In Paleocene (65 m.y.a.), the Lemuroids were the group of primates that existed. The Ruffed Lemur originated in the tropical rainforests of Madagascar. They ate mostly fruits, flowers, and leaves. Lemurs feature a somewhat elongated snout with a slight overlap on their eyes. They are large in size and are adapted to the ground. That ahs made them slower and thus they find it to harder to escape from their predators. They have gaps between their teeth and are extremely loud because of their strong vocal cords. They have muzzled faces, which are pointed with whiskers, and wet noses making them look less like humans. The Coquerel’s Sifaka are another example from this era. They originated from the forests of Northwest Madag...
