88-497: Incertae sedis New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico , Central and South America : Callitrichidae , Cebidae , Aotidae , Pitheciidae , and Atelidae . The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ( / s ə ˈ b ɔɪ d i . ə / ), the only extant superfamily in the parvorder Platyrrhini ( / p l æ t ɪ ˈ r aɪ n aɪ / ). Platyrrhini
176-427: A dental formula of 2.1.3.3 2.1.3.3 or 2.1.3.2 2.1.3.2 (consisting of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 2 or 3 molars). This is in contrast with Old World Anthropoids, including gorillas , chimpanzees , bonobos , siamangs , gibbons , orangutans , and most humans , which share a dental formula of 2.1.2.3 2.1.2.3 . Many New World monkeys are small and almost all are arboreal , so knowledge of them
264-505: 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
352-529: A continent in that southern part; full of animals and more populous than our Europe, or Asia, or Africa, and even more temperate and pleasant than any other region known to us. Vespucci's letter was a publishing sensation in Europe that was immediately and repeatedly reprinted in several other countries. Peter Martyr, who had been writing and circulating private letters commenting on Columbus's discoveries since 1493, often shares credit with Vespucci for designating
440-485: A flat structure. One possible arrangement of the five families and their subfamilies of Rylands & Mittermeier can be seen in Silvestro et al. (2017): titis sakis and uakaris howler monkeys spider, woolly spider, and woolly monkeys capuchins squirrel monkeys marmosets and lion tamarins tamarins and saddle-back tamarins night monkeys New World monkeys are small to mid-sized primates, ranging from
528-525: 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,
616-544: 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
704-584: A large open ocean between China on the east side of the map, and the inchoate largely water-surrounded North American and South American discoveries on the western side of map. Out of uncertainty, they depicted a finger of the Asian land mass stretching across the top to the eastern edge of the map, suggesting it carried over into the western hemisphere. E.g. the Cantino Planisphere denotes Greenland as "Punta d'Asia"—"edge of Asia". Some maps, e.g.,
792-676: A line that split off about 40 million years ago. About 40 million years ago, the Simiiformes infraorder split into the parvorders Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and Catarrhini (apes and Old World monkeys ) somewhere on the African continent. Platyrrhini are currently conjectured to have dispersed to South America on a raft of vegetation across the Atlantic Ocean during the Eocene epoch, possibly via several intermediate now submerged islands. Several other groups of animals made
880-485: 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
968-568: A single gene on the X-chromosome to produce pigments that absorb medium and long wavelength light, which contrasts with short wavelength light. As a result, males rely on a single medium/long pigment gene and are dichromatic , as are homozygous females. Heterozygous females may possess two alleles with different sensitivities within this range, and so can display trichromatic vision. Platyrrhines also differ from Old World monkeys in that they have twelve premolars instead of eight; having
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#17327794749281056-466: 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. New World The term " New World " is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth 's Western Hemisphere , particularly
1144-400: 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
1232-581: 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
1320-569: Is derived from the Greek for "broad nosed", and their noses are flatter than those of other simians, with sideways-facing nostrils. Monkeys in the family Atelidae, such as the spider monkey , are the only primates to have prehensile tails . New World monkeys' closest relatives are the other simians , the Catarrhini ("down-nosed"), comprising Old World monkeys and apes . New World monkeys descend from African simians that colonized South America,
1408-517: Is less comprehensive than that of the more easily observed Old World monkeys. Unlike most Old World monkeys, many New World monkeys form monogamous pair bonds , and show substantial paternal care of young. They eat fruits, nuts, insects, flowers, bird eggs, spiders, and small mammals. Unlike humans and most Old World monkeys, their thumbs are not opposable (except for some cebids ). Primate sister: Dermoptera Plesiadapiformes ( cladistically including crown primates ) Primates
1496-477: Is now named South America, that same map famously labels simply " America ". Martin Waldseemüller 's map of 1516 retreats considerably from his earlier map and back to classical authority, with the Asian land mass merging into North America, which he now calls Terra de Cuba Asie partis , and quietly drops the "America" label from South America, calling it merely Terra incognita . The western coast of
1584-539: Is the feature used most commonly to distinguish between the two groups. The clade for New World monkeys, Platyrrhini, means "flat nosed". The noses of New World monkeys are flatter than the narrow noses of Old World monkeys, and have side-facing nostrils. New World monkeys are the only monkeys with prehensile tails —in comparison with the shorter, non-grasping tails of the anthropoids of the Old World. Prehensility has evolved at least two distinct times in platyrrhines, in
1672-470: 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,
1760-946: 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
1848-690: The Terra Australis that had been posited as a hypothetical southern continent. All of the New World countries use the Latin script as its official script. The Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci is usually credited for coming up with the term "New World" ( Mundus Novus ) for the Americas in his 1503 letter, giving it its popular cachet, although similar terms had been used and applied before him. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto used
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#17327794749281936-481: The Americas . The term arose in the early 16th century during Europe 's Age of Discovery , after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci published the Latin -language pamphlet Mundus Novus , presenting his conclusion that these lands (soon called America based on Amerigo's name ) constitute a new continent . This realization expanded the geographical horizon of earlier European geographers, who had thought that
2024-484: 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
2112-606: The Gulf of Paria implied that a previously unknown continent must lie behind it. Columbus proposes that the South American landmass is not a "fourth" continent, but rather the terrestrial paradise of Biblical tradition, a land allegedly known, but undiscovered, by Christendom . In another letter to the nurse of Prince John, written 1500, Columbus refers to having reached a "new heavens and world" ("nuevo cielo é mundo") and that he had placed "another world" ("otro mundo") under
2200-583: 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
2288-576: The West Indies with what returning sailors told him of the East Indies . Vespucci wrote a preliminary letter to Lorenzo, while anchored at Bezeguiche, which he sent back with the Portuguese fleet, which expressed a certain puzzlement about his conversations. Vespucci ultimately was convinced while on his mapping expedition of eastern Brazil from 1501 to 1502. After returning from Brazil in
2376-509: 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
2464-407: The pygmy marmoset (the world's smallest monkey), at 14 to 16 cm (5.5 to 6.5 in) and a weight of 120 to 190 g (4.2 to 6.7 oz), to the southern muriqui , at 55 to 70 cm (22 to 28 in) and a weight of 12 to 15 kg (26 to 33 lb). New World monkeys differ slightly from Old World monkeys in several aspects. The most prominent phenotypic distinction is the nose, which
2552-520: The turkey were originally domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples in Mesoamerica . Agriculturalists in the Andean region of South America brought forth the cassava , peanut , potato , quinoa and domesticated animals like the alpaca , guinea pig and llama . Other New World crops include the sweetpotato , cashew , cocoa , rubber , sunflower , tobacco , and vanilla , and fruits like
2640-553: The "discoverer of the new globe" ("Colonus ille novi orbis repertor"). A year later, on 20 October 1494, Peter Martyr again refers to the marvels of the New Globe ("Novo Orbe") and the " Western Hemisphere " ("ab occidente hemisphero"). In Columbus's 1499 letter to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, reporting the results of his third voyage, he relates how the massive waters of South America's Orinoco delta rushing into
2728-480: The 1506 Contarini–Rosselli map and the 1508 Johannes Ruysch map, bowing to Ptolemaic authority and Columbus's assertions, have the northern Asian landmass stretching well into the western hemisphere and merging with known North America, Labrador, Newfoundland, etc. These maps place the island of Japan near Cuba and leave the South American continent—Vespucci's "New World" proper—detached and floating below by itself. The Waldseemüller map of 1507, which accompanied
New World monkey - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-503: The 2n value varies from 16 in the titi monkey to 62 in the woolly monkey . A Bayesian estimate of the most recent common ancestor of the extant species has a 95% credible interval of 27 million years ago - 31 million years ago . The following is the listing of the various platyrrhine families, as defined by Rylands & Mittermeier (2009), and their position in the Order Primates: The arrangement of
2904-419: The Americas as a new world. Peter Martyr used the term Orbe Novo , meaning "New Globe", in the title of his history of the discovery of the Americas, which began appearing in 1511. The Vespucci passage above applied the "New World" label to merely the continental landmass of South America . At the time, most of the continent of North America was not yet discovered, and Vespucci's comments did not eliminate
2992-591: The Americas remained unclear. That there must be a large ocean between Asia and the Americas was implied by the known existence of vast continuous sea along the coasts of East Asia . Given the size of the Earth as calculated by Eratosthenes this left a large space between Asia and the newly discovered lands. Even prior to Vespucci, several maps, e.g. the Cantino planisphere of 1502 and the Canerio map of 1504, placed
3080-445: The Americas until they were introduced by post-Columbian contact in the 1490s. Many common crops were originally domesticated in the Americas before they spread worldwide after Columbian contact, and are still often referred to as " New World crops ". Common beans ( phaseolus ), maize , and squash —the " three sisters "—as well as the avocado , tomato , and wide varieties of capsicum ( bell pepper , chili pepper , etc.), and
3168-770: The Americas, to distinguish them from their counterparts in the "Old World" (Europe, Africa and Asia)—e.g., New World monkeys , New World vultures , New World warblers . The label is also often used in agriculture. Asia, Africa, and Europe share a common agricultural history stemming from the Neolithic Revolution , and the same domesticated plants and animals spread through these three continents thousands of years ago, making them largely indistinct and useful to classify together as "Old World". Common Old World crops, e.g., barley , lentils , oats , peas , rye , wheat , and domesticated animals, e.g., cattle , chickens , goats , horses , pigs , sheep , did not exist in
3256-468: The Atelidae family (spider monkeys, woolly spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and woolly monkeys), and in capuchin monkeys ( Cebus ). Although prehensility is present in all of these primate species, skeletal and muscular-based morphological differences between these two groups indicate that the trait evolved separately through convergent evolution. The fully prehensile tails that have evolved in Atelidae allow
3344-528: The Atlantic coast of North America in what is present-day Canada and the United States . The term "New World" is still commonly employed when discussing historic spaces, particularly the voyages of Christopher Columbus and the subsequent European colonization of the Americas . It has been framed as being problematic for applying a colonial perspective of discovery and not doing justice to either
3432-487: The Indies "), and consequently came up with alternative names to refer to them. Only a few weeks after Columbus's return from his first voyage, Martyr wrote letters referring to Columbus's discovered lands as the "western antipodes" ("antipodibus occiduis", letter of 14 May 1493), the "new hemisphere of the earth" ("novo terrarum hemisphaerio", 13 September 1493). In a letter dated 1 November 1493, he refers to Columbus as
3520-471: The New World monkey families, indeed the listing of which groups consist of families and which consist of lower taxonomic groupings, has changed over the years. McKenna & Bell (1997) used two families: Callitrichidae and Atelidae, with Atelidae divided into Cebinae, Pitheciinae, and Atelinae. Rosenberger (2002 following Horowitz 1999) demoted Callitrichidae to a subfamily, putting it under the newly raised Cebidae family. Groves (2005) used four families, but as
3608-534: The New World, including the Pacific Ocean , was discovered in 1513 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa , twenty years after Columbus' initial voyage. It was a few more years before the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan 's between 1519 and 1522 determined that the Pacific Ocean definitely formed a single large body of water that separates Asia from the Americas. Several years later, the Pacific Coast of North America
New World monkey - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-814: 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
3784-536: The base of the Platyrrhini, as are Szalatavus , Lagonimico , and Canaanimico . Possible evidence for a third transatlantic dispersal event comes from a fossil molar belonging to Ashaninkacebus simpsoni , which has strong affinities with stem anthropoid primates of South Asian origin, the Eosimiidae . The chromosomal content of the ancestor species appears to have been 2n = 54. In extant species,
3872-428: 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
3960-543: 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
4048-554: The chief of the navigation of Spain. Although the proceedings of the Toro-Burgos conferences are missing, it is almost certain that Vespucci articulated his recent 'New World' thesis to his fellow navigators there. During these conferences, Spanish officials seem to have accepted that the Antilles and the known stretch of Central America were not the Indies as they had hoped. Though Columbus still insisted they were. They set out
4136-419: 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
4224-642: 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
4312-510: The current estimate of the Atlantic mid-ocean ridge formation processes spreading rate of 25 millimetres per year (1 in/year)). The non-platyrrhini Ucayalipithecus of Amazonian Peru who might have rafted across the Atlantic between ~35–32 million years ago, are nested within the extinct Parapithecoidea from the Eocene of Afro-Arabia, suggesting that there were at least two separate dispersal events of primates to South America, Parvimico and Perupithecus from Peru appear to be at
4400-534: The dominion of the Kings of Spain. The term "New World" ( Mundus Novus ) was coined in Spring 1503 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter written to his friend and former patron Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici , which was published in Latin ) in 1503–04 under the title Mundus Novus . Vespucci's letter contains the first explicit articulation in print of the hypothesis that the lands discovered by European navigators to
4488-405: 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
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#17327794749284576-419: 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
4664-422: The famous Cosmographiae Introductio volume, which includes reprints of Vespucci's letters, comes closest to modernity by placing a completely open sea, with no stretching land fingers, between Asia on the eastern side and the New World. It is represented two times in the same map in a different way: with and without a sea passage in the middle of what is now named Central America on the western side—which, on what
4752-577: 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
4840-569: 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,
4928-420: The historic or geographic complexity of the world. It is argued that both 'worlds' and the age of Western colonialism rather entered a new stage, as in the ' modern world '. In wine terminology , "New World" uses a particular definition. " New World wines " include not only North American and South American wines, but also those from South Africa , Australia , New Zealand , and all other locations outside
5016-568: 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
5104-737: 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
5192-563: 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
5280-405: 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
5368-441: The new goal for Spanish explorers: find a sea passage or strait through the Americas, a path to Asia proper. The term New World was not universally accepted, entering English only relatively late, and has more recently been subject to criticism . While it became generally accepted after Amerigo Vespucci that Christopher Columbus ' discoveries were not Asia but a "New World", the geographic relationship between Europe and
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#17327794749285456-475: 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
5544-467: 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
5632-400: The opinion of the ancients was, that the greater part of the world beyond the equinoctial line to the south was not land, but only sea, which they have called the Atlantic; and even if they have affirmed that any continent is there, they have given many reasons for denying it is inhabited. But this opinion is false, and entirely opposed to the truth. My last voyage has proved it, for I have found
5720-491: 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
5808-413: 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
5896-462: The possibility that the islands of the Antilles discovered earlier by Christopher Columbus might still be the eastern edges of Asia, as Columbus continued to insist until his death in 1506. A 1504 globe , possibly created by Leonardo da Vinci , depicts the New World as only South America , excluding North America and Central America . A conference of navigators known as Junta de Navegantes
5984-520: The primates to suspend their entire body weight by only their tails, with arms and legs free for other foraging and locomotive activities. Semi-prehensile tails in Cebus can be used for balance by wrapping the tail around branches and supporting a large portion of their weight. New World monkeys (except for the howler monkeys of genus Alouatta ) also typically lack the trichromatic vision of Old World monkeys. Colour vision in New World primates relies on
6072-430: 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
6160-502: The same journey across the Atlantic, notably including caviomorph rodents. At the time the New World monkeys dispersed to South America, the Isthmus of Panama had not yet formed, so ocean currents , unlike today, favoured westward dispersal, the climate was quite different, and the width of the Atlantic Ocean was less than the present 2,800 km (1,700 mi) width by about a third (possibly 1,000 km (600 mi) less, based on
6248-538: 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
6336-430: 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
6424-406: 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
6512-675: The spring of 1503, Vespucci authored the Mundus Novus letter in Lisbon and sent it to Lorenzo in Florence , with the famous opening paragraph: In passed days I wrote very fully to you of my return from new countries, which have been found and explored with the ships, at the cost and by the command of this Most Serene King of Portugal; and it is lawful to call it a new world, because none of these countries were known to our ancestors and to all who hear about them they will be entirely new. For
6600-573: 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
6688-438: 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
6776-463: The term "un altro mondo" ("another world") to refer to sub-Saharan Africa , which he explored in 1455 and 1456 on behalf of the Portuguese. This was merely a literary flourish, not a suggestion of a new "fourth" part of the world. Cadamosto was aware that sub-Saharan Africa was part of the African continent. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera , an Italian chronicler at the service of Spain , doubted Christopher Columbus 's claims to have reached East Asia ("
6864-504: The traditional wine-growing regions of Europe, North Africa and the Near East . The usefulness of these terms for wines though have been questioned as arbitrary and too generalized. In a biological context, species can be divided into those in the Old World ( Palearctic , Afrotropic ) and those in the New World ( Nearctic , Neotropic ). Biological taxonomists often attach the "New World" label to groups of species found exclusively in
6952-769: 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;
7040-475: The watering stop at Bezeguiche in present-day Dakar , Senegal , as Vespucci was on his expedition to chart the coast of newly discovered Brazil and the ships of the Second Portuguese India armada , commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral , were returning from India . Having already visited the Americas in prior years, Vespucci likely found it difficult to reconcile what he had already seen in
7128-489: The west were not the edges of Asia, as asserted by Christopher Columbus , but rather an entirely different continent that represented a "New World". According to Mundus Novus , Vespucci realized that he was in a "New World" on 17 August 1501 as he arrived in Brazil and compared the nature and people of the place with what Portuguese sailors told him about Asia . A chance meeting between two different expeditions occurred at
7216-465: 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
7304-454: 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
7392-490: The world only included Afro-Eurasian lands. Africa , Asia , and Europe became collectively called the " Old World " of the Eastern Hemisphere , while the Americas were then referred to as "the fourth part of the world", or the "New World". Antarctica and Oceania are considered neither Old World nor New World lands, since they were only discovered by Europeans much later. They were associated instead with
7480-461: Was assembled by the Spanish monarchs at Toro in 1505 and continued at Burgos in 1508 to digest all existing information about the Indies, come to an agreement on what had been discovered, and set out the future goals of Spanish exploration. Amerigo Vespucci attended both conferences, and seems to have had an outsized influence on them—at Burgos, he ended up being appointed the first piloto mayor ,
7568-429: 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,
7656-487: Was mapped. The discovery of the Bering Straits in the early 18th century, established that Asia and North America were not connected by land. But some European maps of the 16th century, including the 1533 Johannes Schöner globe , still continued to depict North America as connected by a land bridge to Asia. In 1524, the term "New World" was used by Giovanni da Verrazzano in a record of his voyage that year along
7744-408: 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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