More Sponsored Links For:
primatePrimates are very unspecialized anatomically, and the order is more easily described by the evolutionary trends within it, tending generally toward increased dexterity and intelligence, than by specific traits characteristic of all its members. Significant trends have been the enlargement of the braincase, elaboration of the brain and of the sensory pathways to it, flattening of the face and shifting of the eyes to a forward position, development of stereoscopic vision, and increased flexibility of the hands and feet. Nearly all primates have flat fingernails and opposable thumbs and big toes.
The prosimians (premonkeys) are small, arboreal, mostly nocturnal animals. The most primitive, the tree-shrews, strongly resemble the insectivores, a primitive, unspecialized group of mammals from which primates branched at an early stage of mammalian evolution. The prosimians also include the lemurs and the aye-aye of Madagascar, the lorises of Africa and Asia, and the tarsiers of SE Asia.
Monkeys are diurnal animals, generally with flatter, more expressive faces and better developed brains than the prosimians. Like prosimians, they retain the skeletal structure of quadripedal animals and usually walk or run on four feet. The New World monkeys are anatomically distinct from Old World monkeys; most have prehensile tails, and all are arboreal. The Old World monkeys, which lack prehensile tails and include some terrestrial species, are more closely related to the hominids (apes and humans).
The apes (gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees) are characterized by modification of the upper skeleton for brachiation (arm swinging) and by high intelligence. Tool use and limited toolmaking are found among apes. Humans, of which Homo sapiens is the only living species, have a pelvic structure adapted to upright posture and is characterized by the use of language and by a highly developed ability to manipulate the environment (see human evolution).
The Columbia Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2001-09 Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
- aye-aye
Aye-aye, name for an aberrant primate, Daubentonia madagascariensis, related to the lemurs but distinguished by its specialized teeth and fingers. A large nocturnal and arboreal primate, it is...
- hand
Hand, terminal part of the forelimb in primates. The human hand consists of the wrist, palm, four fingers, and thumb. In humans and other primates, the thumb is opposable, i.e., it can be move...
- monkey
Monkey, any of a large and varied group of mammals of the primate order. The term monkey includes all primates that do not belong to the categories human, ape, or prosimian; however, monkeys d...
- anthropometry
Anthropometry, technique of measuring the human body in terms of dimensions, proportions, and ratios such as those provided by the cephalic index. Once the standard approach to racial classifi...
- Söderblom, Nathan
Söderblom, Nathan, 1866–1931, Swedish churchman, primate of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, archbishop of Uppsala. He was professor of the history of religion and from 1914 to 1931 vice chancel...
- ape
Ape, any primate of the subfamily Hominoidea, with the possible exception of humans. The small apes, the gibbon and the siamang, and the orangutan, one of the great apes, are found in SE Asia....
- tarsier
Tarsier, small, nocturnal, forest-dwelling prosimian primate, genus Tarsius. There are at least three species found in the Philippines, in Sumatra and Borneo, and in Sulawesi. Tarsiers are abo...
- Pázmány, Peter
Pázmány, Peter, 1570–1637, Hungarian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Of a Calvinist family, he was converted to Catholicism in 1583, entered the Society of Jesus in 1587, and...
- bush baby
Bush baby, name for several small, active nocturnal primates of the loris family, found in forested parts of Africa. Bush babies, also called galagos, form the subfamily Galaginae. The smalles...
- loris
Loris, name for slow-moving, nocturnal, arboreal primates of the family Lorisidae, found in India, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia. Lorises have round heads, large round eyes, and furry bodies. They ha...
