Primate
hideA primate (pronounced /ˈprаɪmeɪt/, us dict: prī′·māt) is a member of the biological order Primates (/prаɪˈmeɪtiːz/ prī·mā′·tēz; Latin: "prime, first rank"), the group that contains lemurs, the Aye-aye, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including great apes. With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth,[a] most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas, Africa and Asia. Primates range in size from the Pygmy Mouse Lemur weighing only 30 grams (1.1 oz) to the Mountain Gorilla weighing 200 kilograms (440 lb). According to fossil evidence, the primitive ancestors of primates may have existed in the late Cretaceous period around 65 million years ago, and the oldest known primate is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis, c. 55–58 million years ago. Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older, originating in the mid-Cretaceous period around 85 mya.
The Primates order has traditionally been divided into two main groupings: prosimians and simians. Prosimians have characteristics most like those of the earliest primates, and included the lemurs of Madagascar, lorisiforms, Aye-aye and tarsiers. Simians included the monkeys and apes. More recently, taxonomists have created the suborder Strepsirrhini, or "curly-nosed" primates, to include non-tarsier prosimians and the suborder Haplorrhini, or "dry-nosed" primates, to include tarsiers and the simians. Simians are divided into two groups: the platyrrhines ("flat nosed") or New World monkeys of South and Central America and the catarrhine ("narrow nosed") monkeys of Africa and southeastern Asia. The New World monkeys include the capuchin, howler and squirrel monkeys, and the catarrhines include the Old World monkeys (such as baboons and macaques) and the apes. Humans are the only catarrhines that have spread outside of Africa, South Asia, and East Asia, although fossil evidence shows many species once existed in Europe as well.
Considered generalist mammals, primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. Some primates (including some great apes and baboons) do not live primarily in trees, but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees. Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree, walking on two or four limbs, knuckle-walking, and swinging between branches of trees (known as brachiation). Primates are characterized by their large brains, relative to other mammals, as well as an increased reliance on stereoscopic vision at the expense of smell, the dominant sensory system in most mammals. These features are most significant in monkeys and apes, and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs. Three-color vision has developed in some primates. Most also have opposable thumbs and some have prehensile tails. Many species are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have different physical traits, including body mass, canine tooth size, and coloration. Primates have slower rates of development than other similarly sized mammals, and reach maturity later but have longer lifespans. Some species live in solitude, others live in male–female pairs, and others live in groups of up to hundreds of members.
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News tagged with primates
Hyenas cooperate, problem-solve better than primates
Sep 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Spotted hyenas may not be smarter than chimpanzees, but a new study shows that they outperform the primates on cooperative problem-solving tests.
Monkeys get a groove on, but only to monkey music (w/ Audio)
Sep 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Music is one of the surest ways to influence human emotions; most people unconsciously recognize and respond to music that is happy, sad, fearful or mellow. But psychologists who have tried ...
New fossil primate suggests common Asian ancestor, challenges primates such as 'Ida'
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jul 01, 2009 |
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According to new research published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences) on July 1, 2009, a new fossil primate from Myanmar (previously known as Burma) suggests that the co ...
Snakes and how they helped our big brains evolve
May 01, 2009 |
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The threat of snakes gave primates superior vision and large brains -- and fueled a critical aspect of human evolution, UC Davis anthropology professor Lynne Isbell argues in a new book.
'You will give birth in pain': Neanderthals too
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Apr 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from the University of California at Davis (USA) and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany) present a virtual reconstruction of a female Neanderthal ...
Humans, Other Mammals Similarly Voice Frustrations
Nov 05, 2009 |
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Pet owners and scientists who spend a lot of time in the wild say that they can tell when an animal is upset by the sound of its voice. Now new analyses of animal calls may offer an explanation; humans seem ...
Global warming cycles threaten endangered primate species
Oct 27, 2009 |
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Two Penn State University researchers have carried out one of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates. This innovative work by Graduate Student Ruscena Wiederholt and ...
The African origin of anthropoid primates called into question
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 15, 2009 |
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Well-preserved craniodental fossil remains from two primate species have been discovered during excavations at an Algerian site. They reveal that the small primate Algeripithecus, which is 50 million years ...
Key feature of immune system survived in humans, other primates for 60 million years
Aug 18, 2009 |
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A new study has concluded that one key part of the immune system, the ability of vitamin D to regulate anti-bactericidal proteins, is so important that is has been conserved through almost 60 million years of evolution and ...
Renowned canine researcher puts dogs' intelligence on par with two-year-old human
Aug 08, 2009 |
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Although you wouldn't want one to balance your checkbook, dogs can count.
New theory on why male, female lemurs same size
Jul 14, 2009 |
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When it comes to investigating mysteries, Sherlock Holmes has nothing on Rice University biologist Amy Dunham. In a newly published paper, Dunham offers a new theory for one of primatology's long-standing ...
Battle of the sexes benefits offspring, says research
Jul 06, 2009 |
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Parents compensate for a lazy partner by working harder to bring up their offspring, but not enough to completely make up for the lack of parenting, says research by bird biologists at the University of Bath.
In 'reading' a gaze, what we believe changes what we see
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jun 25, 2009 |
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In primates including ourselves, the ability to register where others are looking is key in social circles. And, according to a new report published online on June 25th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, the wa ...
Baboons, Humans Adapted Similarly to Malaria (w/ Video)
Jun 24, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Evolutionarily speaking, baboons may be our more distant cousins among primates. But when it comes to our experiences with malaria over the course of time, it seems the stories of our two ...
Individual primates display variation in general intelligence
Jun 17, 2009 |
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Scientists at Harvard University have shown, for the first time, that intelligence varies among individual monkeys within a species - in this case, the cotton-top tamarin.
