*Many primates have become extinct since they emerged on this earth.
A primate is any mammal of the group that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. The order Primates, with its 300 or more species, is the third most diverse order of mammals, after rodents and bats. This is a list of selected primates ordered alphabetically by taxonomic group. (See also mammal; mammalogy; Jane Goodall.)
lemurs, lorises, and relatives (suborder Strepsirrhini)
infraorder Chiromyiformes
aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)
lemurs (infraorder Lemuriformes)
lorises and bush babies (infraorder Lorisiformes)
bush babies (family Galagidae)
family Lorisidae
lorises (subfamily Lorisinae)
subfamily Perodicticinae
pottos (genus Perodicticus)
suborder Haplorrhini
monkeys, great apes, and humans (infraorder Simiiformes)
family Atelidae
howler monkeys (genus Alouatta)
spider monkeys (genus Ateles)
woolly monkeys (genus Lagothrix)
woolly spider monkeys (genus Brachyteles)
durukulis (family Aotidae)
marmosets and tamarins (family Callitrichidae)
golden lion marmoset (Leontopithecus rosalia)
family Cebidae
capuchin monkeys (genera Cebus and Sapajus)
squirrel monkeys (genus Saimiri)
family Cercopithecidae
baboons (genus Papio)
hamadryas (Papio hamadryas)
colobus (genera Colobus, Piliocolobus, and Procolobus)
guereza (C. guereza)
DeBrazza’s monkey (Cercopithecus neglectus)
diana monkey (Cercopithecus diana)
mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona)
owl-faced monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni)
simakobu (Simias concolor)
macaque (genus Macaca)
Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus)
bonnet monkey (Macaca radiata)
crested black macaque (Macaca nigra)
rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)
genus Mandrillus
mangabeys (genera Cercocebus and Lophocebus)
patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas)
proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)
snub-nosed monkeys (genus Rhinopithecus)
swamp monkey (Allenopithecus nigroviridis)
talapoins (genus Miopithecus)
vervets (genus Chlorocebus)
gibbons (family Hylobatidae)
siamang (Hylobates syndactylus)
great apes and humans (family Hominidae)
bonobo (Pan paniscus)
chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
family Pitheciidae
tarsiers (infraorder Tarsiiformes)
extinct primates
adapiforms (families Adapidae, Sivalapidae, and Notharctidae)
genus Notharctus
A. afarensis
genus Dryopithecus
genus Gigantopithecus
genus Homo
Java man (H. erectus erectus)
Lantian man (H. erectus lantianensis)
Peking man (H. erectus pekinensis)
Solo man (H. erectus soloensis)
Cro-Magnon (H. sapiens sapiens)
Paranthropus boisei
genus Ramapithecus
genus Sivapithecus
hominid fossils of uncertain species
other
This article was most recently revised and updated by Richard Pallardy.
species of apes Representative apes (superfamily Hominoidea).
primate
mammal
Also known as: Primates
What is a primate?
How are primates different from other mammals?
What are some examples of primates?
Where do most primates live?
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Old World and New World monkeys
species of lemursLemurs (suborder Strepsirrhini).
primate, in zoology, any mammal of the group that includes the lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. The order Primates, including more than 500 species, is the third most diverse order of mammals, after rodents (Rodentia) and bats (Chiroptera).
Although there are some notable variations between some primate groups, they share several anatomic and functional characteristics reflective of their common ancestry. When compared with body weight, the primate brain is larger than that of other terrestrial mammals, and it has a fissure unique to primates (the Calcarine sulcus) that separates the first and second visual areas on each side of the brain. Whereas all other mammals have claws or hooves on their digits, only primates have flat nails. Some primates do have claws, but even among these there is a flat nail on the big toe (hallux). In all primates except humans, the hallux diverges from the other toes and together with them forms a pincer capable of grasping objects such as branches. Not all primates have similarly dextrous hands; only the catarrhines (Old World monkeys, apes, and humans) and a few of the lemurs and lorises have an opposable thumb. Primates are not alone in having grasping feet, but as these occur in many other arboreal mammals (e.g., squirrels and opossums), and as most present-day primates are arboreal, this characteristic suggests that they evolved from an ancestor that was arboreal. So too does primates’ possession of specialized nerve endings (Meissner’s corpuscles) in the hands and feet that increase tactile sensitivity. As far as is known, no other placental mammal has them. Primates possess dermatoglyphics (the skin ridges responsible for fingerprints), but so do many other arboreal mammals.
The eyes face forward in all primates so that the eyes’ visual fields overlap. Again, this feature is not by any means restricted to primates, but it is a general feature seen among predators. It has been proposed, therefore, that the ancestor of the primates was a predator, perhaps insectivorous. The optic fibres in almost all mammals cross over (decussate) so that signals from one eye are interpreted on the opposite side of the brain, but, in some primate species, up to 40 percent of the nerve fibres do not cross over.
Primate teeth are distinguishable from those of other mammals by the low, rounded form of the molar and premolar cusps, which contrast with the high, pointed cusps or elaborate ridges of other placental mammals. This distinction makes fossilized primate teeth easy to recognize.
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Fossils of the earliest primates date to the Early Eocene Epoch (56 million to 41.2 million years ago) or perhaps to the Late Paleocene Epoch (59.2 million to 56 million years ago). Though they began as an arboreal group, and many (especially the platyrrhines, or New World monkeys) have remained thoroughly arboreal, many have become at least partly terrestrial, and many have achieved high levels of intelligence.
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By the 21st century the populations of approximately 75 percent of all primate species were falling, and some 60 percent were considered either threatened or endangered species. Habitat loss and fragmentation from logging, mining, urban sprawl, and the conversion of natural areas to agriculture and livestock raising are the primary threats to many species. Other causes of widespread population declines include hunting and poaching, the pet trade, the illegal trade in primate body parts, and the susceptibility of some primates to infection with human diseases.
*All primates are mammals with a backbone. All humans are Homo Sapiens mammal human primates. However, there "are" and "were" many different types of primates that we evolved from once our souls matched with the earliest ones from all over the earth not just from Africa.
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