What is the importance of geological events (e.g., plate tectonics, climate shifts) for understanding primate?

Question

What is the importance of geological events (e.g., plate tectonics, climate shifts) for understanding primate evolution? Make sure to include specific examples from primate evolution. How does this relate to these concepts natural selection, speciation, adaptive radiation, ecological niche?

Answer 1

The most important geologic event, apart from the fact that the earth has vastly different climates throughout the globe, is that the deeper you dig into sediment layers, to find fossilized primate remains, the farther back into the measurable past your journey will take you!

Answer 2

Here's my take on this Q:

How about geophysical upwelling in East Africa about 3.5 to 4 millions years a ago replacing the equatorial forest with savanna, forcing our ancestors out of the now disappearing trees and onto the ground. This caused our ancestors to walk on two hind legs so they could see predators better and see to flee better. This new posture allowed a longer laryngeal organ to develop making more complex sounds possible eventually leading to rudimentary proto-speech.

But maybe that's just me!

Answer 3

Eternal is correct but I think they are looking for something a bit different.  Plate techtonics is responsible for continents moving.  30 million years ago our ape ancestors were living in Africa.  It was hot and tropical since there were no continents near the poles (partially responsible for ice ages).  Over time, as continents split and came together, those ancestors moved in Eurasia in the Miocene.  The apes flourished.  About 3 million years ago, due to continents moving toward the poles and the Isthmuth of Panama forming, as well as the Indian Subcontinent colliding into Asia, and the formation of the Indonesian Archepelego, an Ice Age dominated the earth.  Tropical Africa and Eurasia became more dry savana and open.  This may have facilitated our bipedal ape ancestors to branch out and expand into new niches.

How does this relate to these concepts natural selection, (It demonstrates that as environments change new species form as they adapt to it) speciation (As continents drift and separate by seas and formed mountain ranges (etc), separate species form from split  populations),  adaptive radiation (wow that is a tough one.  I suppose you could include different species of monkeys evolving separately into terrestrial species, i.e macaques and baboons), ecological niche (evolved to savana)?