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54-623: See text Parapithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of primates which lived in the Eocene and Oligocene periods in Egypt . In some classifications all Parapithecoidea are placed within the family Parapithecidae . Seiffert et al. (2010) propose that Parapithecoidea arose during the Bartonian (middle Eocene ), with a split between Biretia and the Parapithecidae occurring early in

108-505: A characteristic type of keratin fingernail on the end of each finger and toe. The bottom sides of the hands and feet have sensitive pads on the fingertips . Most have opposable thumbs , a characteristic primate feature most developed in humans , though not limited to this order ( opossums and koalas , for example, also have them). Thumbs allow some species to use tools . In primates, the combination of opposing thumbs, short fingernails (rather than claws) and long, inward-closing fingers

162-525: A founding lemur population of a few individuals is thought to have reached Madagascar from Africa via a single rafting event between 50 and 80 mya. Other colonization options have been suggested, such as multiple colonizations from Africa and India, but none are supported by the genetic and molecular evidence. Until recently, the aye-aye has been difficult to place within Strepsirrhini. Theories had been proposed that its family, Daubentoniidae,

216-492: A four-one family distribution instead of five-two as presented here. During the Eocene , most of the northern continents were dominated by two groups, the adapiforms and the omomyids . The former are considered members of Strepsirrhini, but did not have a toothcomb like modern lemurs; recent analysis has demonstrated that Darwinius masillae fits into this grouping. The latter was closely related to tarsiers, monkeys, and apes. How these two groups relate to extant primates

270-485: A noun use of Latin primat- , from primus ('prime, first rank'). The name was given by Carl Linnaeus because he thought this the "highest" order of animals. The relationships among the different groups of primates were not clearly understood until relatively recently, so the commonly used terms are somewhat confused. For example, ape has been used either as an alternative for monkey or for any tailless, relatively human-like primate. Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark

324-456: A short spine (particularity the lumbar spine ), short fingernails (instead of claws), long curved fingers, reduced thumbs, long forelimbs and freely rotating wrists. Modern humans retain many physical characteristics that suggest a brachiator ancestor, including flexible shoulder joints and fingers well-suited for grasping. In lesser apes, these characteristics were adaptations for brachiation. Although great apes do not normally brachiate (with

378-417: Is a relict of the ancestral practice of gripping branches, and has, in part, allowed some species to develop brachiation (swinging by the arms from tree limb to tree limb) as a significant means of locomotion. Prosimians have clawlike nails on the second toe of each foot, called toilet-claws , which they use for grooming. Brachiation Upon further observations and more in depth understandings of

432-457: Is a quieter and less obvious mode of locomotion than quadrupedal jumping and climbing thereby more successfully avoiding predators . This form of brachiation occurs when the primate is moving at slower speeds and is characterized by the animal maintaining constant contact with a handhold, such as a tree branch. This gait type utilizes the passive exchange between two types of energy, gravitational potential and translational kinetic , to propel

486-400: Is an order of mammals , which is further divided into the strepsirrhines , which include lemurs , galagos , and lorisids ; and the haplorhines , which include tarsiers and simians ( monkeys and apes ). Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted for life in tropical forests : many primate characteristics represent adaptations to

540-500: Is compared to a "whip-like" motion. Due to its aerial phase, ricochetal brachiation is similar to bipedal running in humans. Continuous contact brachiation has often been compared to the movement of a simple pendulum. This is due to the out-of-phase fluctuation of energy that occurs while the moving primate is swinging between each tree appendage as the energy transfers from potential to kinetic, and vice versa. The use of gravitational acceleration to effect movement can be found in both

594-581: Is composed of two sister clades. Prosimian tarsiers in the family Tarsiidae (monotypic in its own infraorder Tarsiiformes), represent the most basal division, originating about 58 mya. The earliest known haplorhine skeleton, that of 55 MA old tarsier-like Archicebus , was found in central China, supporting an already suspected Asian origin for the group. The infraorder Simiiformes (simian primates, consisting of monkeys and apes) emerged about 40 mya, possibly also in Asia; if so, they dispersed across

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648-638: Is known as energy recovery. Maintaining a higher energy recovery during brachiation costs less energy and allows the animal to move to its destination quickly, however, this type of movement is also harder to control. Therefore, since the risk of missing a handhold can result in injury or death, the benefit of moving slower with a lower energy recovery and more control likely outweighs the cost of extra energy expenditure. Brachiation originated in Africa , thirteen million years ago. The emergence of bigger primates that learn to move hanging around by branches obliges

702-476: Is thought that gibbons gain evolutionary advantages through brachiation and being suspended by both hands ( bimanual suspension ) when feeding. While smaller primates cannot hold themselves by both hands for long periods, and larger primates are too heavy to exploit food resources on the ends of branches, gibbons can remain suspended for a significant period and use their long arms to reach food in terminal branches more easily. Another theory postulates that brachiation

756-470: Is unclear. Omomyids perished about 30 mya, while adapiforms survived until about 10 mya. According to genetic studies, the lemurs of Madagascar diverged from the lorisoids approximately 75 mya. These studies, as well as chromosomal and molecular evidence, also show that lemurs are more closely related to each other than to other strepsirrhine primates. However, Madagascar split from Africa 160 mya and from India 90 mya. To account for these facts,

810-946: Is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and six in the 2020s . Primates have large brains (relative to body size) compared to other mammals, as well as an increased reliance on visual acuity at the expense of the sense of smell , which is the dominant sensory system in most mammals. These features are more developed in monkeys and apes, and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs. Some primates, including gorillas , humans and baboons , are primarily ground-dwelling rather than arboreal, but all species have adaptations for climbing trees. Arboreal locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree and swinging between branches of trees ( brachiation ); terrestrial locomotion techniques include walking on two hindlimbs ( bipedalism ) and modified walking on four limbs ( quadripedalism ) via knuckle-walking . Primates are among

864-548: The Eocene by island hopping , facilitated by Atlantic Ocean ridges and a lowered sea level. Alternatively, a single rafting event may explain this transoceanic colonization. Due to continental drift , the Atlantic Ocean was not nearly as wide at the time as it is today. Research suggests that a small 1 kg (2.2 lb) primate could have survived 13 days on a raft of vegetation. Given estimated current and wind speeds, this would have provided enough time to make

918-543: The Priabonian (late Eocene). The examination of the dentition of Arsinoea by Seiffert et al. led them to consider that Arsinoea may or may not be a parapithecid, although certainly parapithecoidal, and suggest that Arsinoea kallimos be treated as incertae sedis within Parapithecoidea. Morphological analysis of fossil evidence presented in 2020 implies a parapithecid monkey species rafted across

972-583: The Tethys Sea from Asia to Africa soon afterwards. There are two simian clades, both parvorders : Catarrhini , which developed in Africa, consisting of Old World monkeys , humans and the other apes, and Platyrrhini, which developed in South America, consisting of New World monkeys . A third clade, which included the eosimiids , developed in Asia, but became extinct millions of years ago. As in

1026-509: The gibbons and orangutan ... the gorilla and chimpanzee ... and humans "; thereby Benton was using apes to mean hominoids. In that case, the group heretofore called apes must now be identified as the non-human apes. As of 2021 , there is no consensus as to whether to accept traditional (that is, common), but paraphyletic, names or to use monophyletic names only; or to use 'new' common names or adaptations of old ones. Both competing approaches can be found in biological sources, often in

1080-808: The Atlantic in the Paleogene and at least briefly colonized South America. Ucayalipithecus remains dating from the Early Oligocene of Amazonian Peru are deeply nested within the Parapithecidae, and have dental features markedly different from those of platyrrhines . Qatrania wingi of lower Oligocene Fayum deposits is considered the closest known relative of Ucayalipithecus . The absence of later fossil finds from this group in South America indicates they were outcompeted by platyrrhines. Primates sister: Dermoptera Plesiadapiformes ( cladistically including crown primates ) Primates

1134-486: The anatomy and behaviour of primates, the terms semibrachiator and probrachiator have largely fallen out of favour within the scientific community. Currently, researchers classify gibbons and siamangs as the only true brachiators and classify the great apes as modified brachiators. All other brachiation behaviours that do not meet either of these classifications are referred to as forearm suspensory postures and locomotion. Some traits that allow primates to brachiate include

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1188-406: The animal forward at a low mechanical cost. This mode of brachiation has been compared to the movement patterns of bipedal walking in humans. This type of brachiation is used by primates to move at faster speeds and is characterized by a flight phase between each contact with a handhold. Ricochetal brachiation uses an exchange of translational and rotational kinetic energy to move forward, and

1242-814: The author, Colin Groves , increased that number to 376 for his contribution to the third edition of Mammal Species of the World (MSW3). However, publications since the taxonomy in MSW3 was compiled in 2003 have pushed the number to 522 species, or 708 including subspecies. Primate hybrids usually arise in captivity, but there have also been examples in the wild. Hybridization occurs where two species' range overlap to form hybrid zones ; hybrids may be created by humans when animals are placed in zoos or due to environmental pressures such as predation. Intergeneric hybridizations, hybrids of different genera, have also been found in

1296-553: The brachiating primate and the moving ball in a pendulum model. A brachiator can make use of this momentum in several different ways: during the downswing the primate can maximize its change in kinetic energy, during the upswing it can minimize loss of kinetic energy or it can avoid moving laterally during its upward swing. Brachiating primates have adapted these three strategies for maximizing forward movement by adjusting its posture during each swing. The amount of energy transferred from potential to kinetic during pendulum-like movement

1350-428: The case of lemurs, the origin of New World monkeys is unclear. Molecular studies of concatenated nuclear sequences have yielded a widely varying estimated date of divergence between platyrrhines and catarrhines, ranging from 33 to 70 mya, while studies based on mitochondrial sequences produce a narrower range of 35 to 43 mya. The anthropoid primates possibly traversed the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to South America during

1404-543: The challenging environment among tree tops , including large brain sizes , binocular vision , color vision , vocalizations , shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs , and opposable thumbs (in most but not all) that enable better grasping and dexterity . Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur , which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla , weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification

1458-419: The clade Euarchontoglires , which is nested within the clade Eutheria of Class Mammalia . Recent molecular genetic research on primates, colugos , and treeshrews has shown that the two species of colugos are more closely related to primates than to treeshrews, even though treeshrews were at one time considered primates. These three orders make up the clade Euarchonta . The combination of this clade with

1512-642: The clade Glires (composed of Rodentia and Lagomorpha ) forms the clade Euarchontoglires. Variously, both Euarchonta and Euarchontoglires are ranked as superorders. Some scientists consider Dermoptera to be a suborder of Primates and use the suborder Euprimates for the "true" primates. The primate lineage is thought to go back at least near the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary or around 63–74 ( mya ). The earliest possible primate/proto-primate may be Purgatorius , which dates back to Early Paleocene of North America ~66mya. The oldest known primates from

1566-405: The elaboration of the brain, in particular the neocortex (a part of the cerebral cortex ), which is involved with sensory perception , generation of motor commands , spatial reasoning, conscious thought and, in humans, language . While other mammals rely heavily on their sense of smell , the arboreal life of primates has led to a tactile , visually dominant sensory system, a reduction in

1620-556: The exception of orangutans ), human anatomy suggests that brachiation may be an exaptation to bipedalism , and healthy modern humans are still capable of brachiating. Some children's parks include monkey bars which children play on by brachiating. As well as shaping the evolution of gibbon body structure, brachiation has influenced the style and order of their behaviour. For example, unlike other primates who carry infants on their back, gibbons will carry young ventrally. It also affects their play activities, copulation, and fighting. It

1674-419: The eye sockets reinforces weaker bones in the face, which are put under strain during chewing. Strepsirrhines have a postorbital bar , a bone around the eye socket, to protect their eyes; in contrast, the higher primates, haplorhines , have evolved fully enclosed sockets. Primates show an evolutionary trend towards a reduced snout . Technically, Old World monkeys are distinguished from New World monkeys by

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1728-577: The first time. The primate skull has a large, domed cranium , which is particularly prominent in anthropoids . The cranium protects the large brain, a distinguishing characteristic of this group. The endocranial volume (the volume within the skull) is three times greater in humans than in the greatest nonhuman primate, reflecting a larger brain size. The mean endocranial volume is 1,201 cubic centimeters in humans, 469 cm in gorillas , 400 cm in chimpanzees and 397 cm in orangutans . The primary evolutionary trend of primates has been

1782-569: The fossil record date to the Late Paleocene of Africa, c.57 mya ( Altiatlasius ) or the Paleocene-Eocene transition in the northern continents, c. 55 mya ( Cantius , Donrussellia , Altanius , Plesiadapis and Teilhardina ). Other studies, including molecular clock studies, have estimated the origin of the primate branch to have been in the mid-Cretaceous period, around 85 mya. By modern cladistic reckoning,

1836-568: The living Strepsirrhini divides them into two infraorders, Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes. Order Primates was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in the tenth edition of his book Systema Naturae , for the genera Homo (humans), Simia (other apes and monkeys), Lemur (prosimians) and Vespertilio (bats). In the first edition of the same book (1735), he had used the name Anthropomorpha for Homo , Simia and Bradypus (sloths). In 1839, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville , following Linnaeus and aping his nomenclature, established

1890-737: The living primates: groups that use common (traditional) names are shown on the right. Dermoptera [REDACTED] lemurs (superfamily Lemuroidea) [REDACTED] lorises and allies (superfamily Lorisoidea) [REDACTED] tarsiers (superfamily Tarsioidea) [REDACTED] New World monkeys (parvorder Platyrrhini) [REDACTED] Old World monkeys (superfamily Cercopithecoidea) [REDACTED] gibbons (family Hylobatidae) [REDACTED] orangutans (subfamily Ponginae) [REDACTED] gorillas (tribe Gorillini) [REDACTED] humans (g. Homo ) [REDACTED] chimpanzees, bonobos (g. Pan ) [REDACTED] All groups with scientific names are clades , or monophyletic groups, and

1944-563: The most cognitively advanced animals, with humans (genus Homo ) capable of creating complex languages and sophisticated civilizations , and non-human primates are recorded to use tools . They may communicate using facial and hand gestures, smells and vocalizations. Close interactions between humans and non-human primates (NHPs) can create opportunities for the transmission of zoonotic diseases , especially virus diseases including herpes , measles , ebola , rabies and hepatitis . Thousands of non-human primates are used in research around

1998-405: The most social of all animals, forming pairs or family groups, uni-male harems, and multi-male/multi-female groups. Non-human primates have at least four types of social systems , many defined by the amount of movement by adolescent females between groups. Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals, reach maturity later, and have longer lifespans. Primates are also

2052-412: The new generations to make some corporal changes that have lasted until today, in many species, including the humans . Specialized locomotor behaviours, such as brachiating, are thought to have evolved from arboreal quadrupedalism . This behaviour is the ancestral and most common locomotor mechanism among primates. This would explain why living apes and humans share many unusual morphological aspects of

2106-475: The number of cusps on their molars : monkeys have four, apes have five - although humans may have four or five. The main hominid molar cusp ( hypocone ) evolved in early primate history, while the cusp of the corresponding primitive lower molar (paraconid) was lost. Prosimians are distinguished by their immobilized upper lips, the moist tip of their noses and forward-facing lower front teeth. Primates generally have five digits on each limb ( pentadactyly ), with

2160-467: The olfactory region of the brain and increasingly complex social behavior. The visual acuity of humans and other hominids is exceptional; they have the most acute vision known among all vertebrates, with the exception of certain species of predatory birds . Primates have forward-facing eyes on the front of the skull; binocular vision allows accurate distance perception, useful for the brachiating ancestors of all great apes. A bony ridge above

2214-491: The order Primates is monophyletic . The suborder Strepsirrhini , the " wet-nosed " primates, is generally thought to have split off from the primitive primate line about 63 mya, although earlier dates are also supported. The seven strepsirrhine families are the five related lemur families and the two remaining families that include the lorisids and the galagos . Older classification schemes wrap Lepilemuridae into Lemuridae and Galagidae into Lorisidae , yielding

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2268-413: The orders Secundates (including the suborders Chiroptera , Insectivora and Carnivora ), Tertiates (or Glires ) and Quaternates (including Gravigrada , Pachydermata and Ruminantia ), but these new taxa were not accepted. Before Anderson and Jones introduced the classification of Strepsirrhini and Haplorhini in 1984, (followed by McKenna and Bell's 1997 work Classification of Mammals: Above

2322-430: The primates, several of these groups are paraphyletic , or rather they do not include all the descendants of a common ancestor. In contrast with Clark's methodology, modern classifications typically identify (or name) only those groupings that are monophyletic ; that is, such a named group includes all the descendants of the group's common ancestor. The cladogram below shows one possible classification sequence of

2376-538: The same work, and sometimes by the same author. Thus, Benton defines apes to include humans, then he repeatedly uses ape-like to mean 'like an ape rather than a human'; and when discussing the reaction of others to a new fossil he writes of "claims that Orrorin ... was an ape rather than a human". A list of the families of the living primates is given below, together with one possible classification into ranks between order and family. Other classifications are also used. For example, an alternative classification of

2430-430: The sequence of scientific classification reflects the evolutionary history of the related lineages. Groups that are traditionally named are shown on the right; they form an "ascending series" (per Clark, see above), and several groups are paraphyletic: Thus, the members of the two sets of groups, and hence names, do not match, which causes problems in relating scientific names to common (usually traditional) names. Consider

2484-406: The species level ), Primates was divided into two superfamilies: Prosimii and Anthropoidea . Prosimii included all of the prosimians : Strepsirrhini plus the tarsiers . Anthropoidea contained all of the simians . Rodentia (rodents) Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas) Scandentia (treeshrews) Dermoptera (colugos) † Plesiadapiformes crown primates Order Primates is part of

2538-687: The structure of the nose, and from apes by the arrangement of their teeth . In New World monkeys, the nostrils face sideways; in Old World monkeys, they face downwards. Dental pattern in primates vary considerably; although some have lost most of their incisors , all retain at least one lower incisor. In most strepsirrhines, the lower incisors form a toothcomb , which is used in grooming and sometimes foraging. Old World monkeys have eight premolars , compared with 12 in New World monkeys. The Old World species are divided into apes and monkeys depending on

2592-438: The superfamily Hominoidea: In terms of the common names on the right, this group consists of apes and humans and there is no single common name for all the members of the group. One remedy is to create a new common name, in this case hominoids . Another possibility is to expand the use of one of the traditional names. For example, in his 2005 book, the vertebrate palaeontologist Benton wrote, "The apes, Hominoidea, today include

2646-452: The upper limb and thorax. The transition to brachiation is regarded as a major shift during primate evolution and is thought to be a possible precursor to the adaptation of bipedal walking in early hominids . Specialized suspensory behaviour was shown to have evolved independently between hominid groups. There are several hypotheses for how early brachiating primates may have transitioned into bipedalism. The most generally accepted of these

2700-769: The voyage between the continents. Apes and monkeys spread from Africa into Europe and Asia starting in the Miocene . Soon after, the lorises and tarsiers made the same journey. The first hominin fossils were discovered in northern Africa and date back 5–8 mya. Old World monkeys disappeared from Europe about 1.8 mya. Molecular and fossil studies generally show that modern humans originated in Africa 100,000–200,000 years ago. Although primates are well studied in comparison to other animal groups, several new species have been discovered recently , and genetic tests have revealed previously unrecognised species in known populations. Primate Taxonomy listed about 350 species of primates in 2001;

2754-465: The wild. Although they belong to genera that have been distinct for several million years, interbreeding still occurs between the gelada and the hamadryas baboon . On 24 January 2018, scientists in China reported in the journal Cell the creation of two crab-eating macaque clones , named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua , using the complex DNA transfer method that produced Dolly the sheep , for

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2808-454: The world because of their psychological and physiological similarity to humans. About 60% of primate species are threatened with extinction. Common threats include deforestation , forest fragmentation , monkey drives , and primate hunting for use in medicines, as pets, and for food. Large-scale tropical forest clearing for agriculture most threatens primates. The English name primates is derived from Old French or French primat , from

2862-429: Was either a lemuriform primate (meaning its ancestors split from the lemur line more recently than lemurs and lorises split) or a sister group to all the other strepsirrhines. In 2008, the aye-aye family was confirmed to be most closely related to the other Malagasy lemurs, likely having descended from the same ancestral population that colonized the island. Suborder Haplorhini , the simple-nosed or "dry-nosed" primates,

2916-408: Was one of the primatologists who developed the idea of trends in primate evolution and the methodology of arranging the living members of an order into an "ascending series" leading to humans. Commonly used names for groups of primates such as prosimians , monkeys , lesser apes , and great apes reflect this methodology. According to our current understanding of the evolutionary history of

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