Primate

Primates Temporal range: Palaeocene - Recent
Olive baboon, an Old World monkey
Scientific classification

Ring-tailed lemur, a strepsirrhine primate

Primates are an order of mammals. It includes all lemurs, monkeys and apes, including humans. Most primates (but not humans) are mainly or entirely forest dwellers.

There are about 400 species of primates. All primates are similar to humans in many ways, but language is an important advantage which only humans have. Other primates have a pattern of calls and gestures, but not language as we know it.

Primates have hands with five fingers and flat fingernails (most other animals have claws). All primates are covered with fur (hair), but in humans the body hair is only noticeable in two places: on the head and around the genitals.

Primates are split into two groups: Strepsirrhini and Haplorhini. Haplorrhini includes monkeys, tarsiers and apes including humans. Strepsirrhini includes lemurs, lorises, galagos (also called bush babies) and the Aye-Aye.

Primates are one of the few eutherian groups which re-evolved colour vision. Colour vision was lost in mammals during the long period when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and mammals were mainly small nocturnal animals.

Classification

• Order Primates
  • Suborder Strepsirrhini
    • Lemurs
    • Lorises
  • Suborder Haplorhini
    • Tarsiers
    • Platyrrhini: New World monkeys
    • Catarrhini:
      • Old World monkeys
      • Apes and humans

Clade

Euarchontoglires	Glires   Rodentia  Lagomorpha  Euarchonta   Scandentia Primatomorpha  Dermoptera  Primates   Strepsirrhini   (lemuriformes and lorisiformes)  Haplorhini   Tarsiiformes  Simiiformes (platyrrhini and catarrhini)

Related pages

Data related to Primates at Wikispecies