apes on Pandora
 

Well, as you all know on Pandora there are the Na'vi and there are also Prolemurs. So do you think there is anything in between? On earth we have all sorts of apes like gorillas, chimps, monkeys and so on. Do you think there's anything like these guys on Pandora? There must be something that links the 6 limbed form to the 4 limbed Na'vi. Discuss :)

I think the Prolemuris are the link... having 4 hands, with their arms splitting at the elbow.
As for other similar species, I guess it's possible, there are obviously a lot of species we haven't seen yet...

Those are the closest thing to quadruped 'apes' that Pandora has that we've seen. I think it was shown to the audience to give that visual link between our ancestry and the Na'vi. Compared to all the other animals seen, the Na'vi are the only upright bipedal quadrupeds on the planet. That makes them very, very unique.
Pandora likely has a version of an 'ape' which the Prolemuris are one of them, whether there is a lower evolved 'Na'vi' ape is questionable.
We have seen the difference between the Toruk and the regular Banshee, the smaller form lost a pair of legs in the process...but kept the vestigial hook finger on the lower wings.
It's entirely possible that if we were able to look at Na'vi physiology there might be a vestigial second pair of limbs somewhere on that torso. They didn't need the intermediate pair as they learned to walk upright but kept the longer body and limbs.
That's the best explanation I can come up with based on what I know of Earth evolution in various animals.
(Good lord! I haven't had a science class since high school and listen to me! I must be channeling Grace!)

I don't understand why the Na'vi would perhaps have a vestigial pair of limbs somewhere - if the evolution of them went as we see it in the Prolemuris, that means that their two upper limb pairs fused, and the main difference between Prolemuris and Na'vi limbs are simply that the former have the arms parted at the elbow, with two fingers on each hand, while the Na'vi have their arms fully fused.

As for the Toruk, Ikran and so - I don't understand why the Ikran and Ikranay has four limbs, while every other flying creature we've seen so far has six. I mean, there is the Tetrapteron too, but when it comes to the Stingbat, I'm not sure.

I guess they have a few extra bones in their arms reflecting this heritage. Would be interesting to see.

For the ikran, it makes sense evolutionarily as those limbs were not used, so they would likely be lost over time. The Toruk is more of a large predator so it has separate clawed 'feet' - also, it needs significantly more lift so having a large wing surface means its rear wings are more adapted for flight.

As for Na'vi arms, it is possible, humans have a similar structure in their legs anyway :P - although the separate bones could also have formed a single one for greater strength.

so you guys are saying it went straight from prolemurs to the na'vi.... wow, quick evolution.

Going 'straight to' something isn't how evolution works. There are always many intermediate forms, which usually die out due to being outcompeted and are only found in the fossil record.

really? i never knew that ._.

Ok for the Toruk, but Tetrapteron? They have the same limbs as the Toruk, but weighs only a few pounds.
And then there is the Stingbat, to add to the confusion... but I'll take that in another thread, this was about apes. :shy:

The stingbats at least sleep hanging from things, although the tetrapteron is a harder one.

This is actually one of the things that I wanted to see in the movie. A much larger species linked to the Prolemuris in terms of design and ancestry. Besides the Prolemuris, all the other animals we saw were grounded on all 6 legs.

Oh well, surely we'll see wilder stuff like that in the sequels.