UNIT 8 CLASSIFICATION AND

CHARACTERSTICS OF
LIVING PRIMATES*
Contents
8.0 Introduction
8.1 Taxonomy/Classification
8.2 Who are Primates?
8.3 Primate Origins
8.4 Taxonomy of Living Primates
8.5 Primate Characteristics
8.6 Summary
8.7 References
8.8 Answer/Hints to Check Your Progress

Learning Objectives
After going through this unit you will understand:
 origin of primates;
 taxonomy of primates; and
 characteristics of living primates.

8.0 INTRODUCTION
The order Primates is one of the twenty orders of the class mammalia. A
primate is any mammal from the group that includes the lemurs, lorises,
tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans. The members of the primate order are
characterized by a set of characteristics, which define this group. A majority
of the primates have nails instead of claws, a clavicle, a bony ring encircling
the orbits, males with a hanging penis and scrotal testes, females with a
pair of mammary glands on their chest, a well-developed caecum, a calcarine
fissure in brain and an opposable thumb or big toe. Before we try to learn
the details of classification of primates it would be worthwhile to understand
some basic concepts of classification.
The order Primate, with its 300 or more species, is the third most
diverse order of mammals, after rodents (Rodentia) and bats
(Chiroptera). Although there are some notable variations between
some primate groups, they share several anatomic and functional
characteristics reflective of their common ancestry. Primates are
a homogeneous group morphologically and it is only in the realm
of behaviour that differences between primate taxa are clearly
discriminant. It can be said that the most successful primates
(judged in terms of the usual criteria of population numbers and
territorial spread) are those that have departed least from the
ancestral pattern of behaviour (Rafferty, 2011).

Prof. Rajan Gaur, Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 103

Living Primates: Human
andNon-Human 8.1 TAXONOMY/CLASSIFICATION
Taxonomy is a branch of biology that is basically concerned with the
classification and naming of organisms. The term taxonomy is a combination
of two Greek roots, Taxis (arrangement) and Nomia (method). A taxonomy
or classification uses names or other such labels to arrange various groups
of plants and animals in “Pigeonholes” that demonstrate how all of them
are related. In a way, taxonomy is the classification of plant and animals
into groupings based on common biological features. It primarily deals with
the orderly arrangement of the organic world and their exact naming. Very
simply, taxonomy is the study of classification of organisms and the rationale
behind the classification. It is in some respects similar to systematics, which,
besides classification, encompasses more of evolution and biodiversity. In
addition to classification, taxonomy also helps scientists to understand how
various groups of organisms are related to one another.
The basis of taxonomy is the species, which are the basic units of living
world. Concept of species is of concern to geneticists, biologists,
palaeontologists, anthropologists, ecologists, bio-geographers, etc. But it is
a concept that is understood differently by different disciplines:
 ‘Evolutionary Species Concept’, explains a species as “a lineage
…evolving separately from others and with its own evolutionary role
and tendencies” (Simpson, 1961).
 ‘Biological Species Concept’, defines species as “groups of actually or
potentially interbreeding populations which are reproductively isolated
from other such groups” (Mayr, 1963).
 ‘Phylogenetic Species Concept’ describes species as “an irreducible
cluster of sexual organisms within which there is a parental platform
of ancestry and descent and that is diagnostically distinct from other
such clusters by a unique combination of fixed characters” (Christoffersen,
1995).
 ‘Genetic Species Concept’ delineates a ‘genetic species’ as “a group
of genetically compatible interbreeding natural population that is genetically
isolated from other such groups” (Baker and Bradley, 2006).
With this basic background of taxonomy we are better equipped to
understand primate taxonomy. However, it is also important to understand
who are primates and the various features that characterise primates.

8.2 WHO ARE PRIMATES?

Primates are a diverse and very successful group of eutherian mammals
(Eutheria or Placentalia is the most taxonomically diverse of three branches
of extant mammals, the other two being Metatheria or Marsupialia and
Prototheria or Monotremata). The word ‘primate’ in Latin means ‘first’. It
is a name of an order of class mammalia that contains prosimians, monkeys,
apes and humans. Primates are an ancient group that probably separated
from the primitive mammalian stock about 65 million years. It is probable
that primates originated from some type of an insectivorous mammal that lived
in the late Cretaceous (Fleagle, 1998; Szalay and Delson, 2013). From tiny
shrew-like creatures, the primates in time have grown into an amazing variety
104 of forms. Some of the primates are the most generalized of the mammals
while others display unmatched morphological and behavioural specializations. Classification and
The living primates greatly vary in size. The smallest living primate, the pygmy Characteristics of Living
Primates
mouse, weighs around 30 grams while the largest, the male eastern low-
land gorilla, may weigh over 200 kilograms. The study of how the primates
evolved and how they live today is termed as primatology.
With the exception of humans, almost all of the living primates are found
in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world on north and south of
the equator, in South and Central America, Africa, Asia and the islands
of Indonesia. But the primates have always not been restricted to these parts.
Fossils of many primates have been discovered from regions which are not
tropical at all, such as parts of British Isles, Northern United States, tip
of South America - places where no primate of today could survive (Devore
& Eimerl, 1966).
Check Your Progress 1
1) What do you understand by taxonomy?
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2) Who are the primates?
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8.3 PRIMATE ORIGIN

Primates are one of the better-known mammalian groups. There are about
400 living species and they have maximum diversity in lowland tropical
rainforests, including mangrove and freshwater swamp forests (Heads, 2010).
Though primate phylogeny is now better understood but there is hardly any
consensus about their evolution with respect to where and when they
originated. The earliest primates probably evolved sometimes in the late
Cretaceous or in the Palaeocene (Fleagle, 2013). The earliest recognised
species of Plesiadapiformes, Purgatoriusceratops, is commonly considered
the earliest and most primitive primate (Radhakrishnan, 2006). However, it
has also been suggested that the basal primate in a phylogenetic sense may
be the fossil Altanius, from the Eocene of Mongolia and the oldest primate
fossil may be Altiatlasius, from the Late Paleocene of Morocco (Fleagle
and Gilbert 2006). Still, the interpretation of these fragmentary fossils, in
particular their phylogenetic status, is controversial. Where did the primates
first originate? This question has always concerned palaeoanthropologists.
Anthropologists and other biologists have been debating for over a hundred
years whether the true centre of origin of primates was in Africa, Asia or
America. But no indisputable answer is as yet available. The issue has
become more vexed with the recent developments in molecular biology. The
problem of primate origins in space is related to the question of their origin
in time. While dates based on fossils suggest an origin for primates in the
Palaeocene, at approximately 56 million years, while the molecular clocks
indicate a date of approximately 90 million years in the Cretaceous period
(Janecka et al., 2007).
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Living Primates: Human Several views are available for the centre of origin of primates. Fleagle and
andNon-Human Gilbert (2006) supported Asia as centre of origin. But Rasmussen (2002)
favoured Africa or India. On the other hand Bloch et al. (2007) supported
North America while Arnason et al. (2008) proposed South America as the
centre of origin of primates. Of the various theories, the African origin
hypothesis appears to be the front runner although some also favour the
Indo-Madagascar hypothesis (Heads, 2010). The debate thus remains
unsettled.
In simple terms, the primate phylogeny can be considered to begin in the
Palaeocene epoch spanning approximately from 65 to 55 millions of years
ago with the appearance of the Plesiadapiformes in Europe and North
America. The Plesiadapiformes are believed to have been a group of small
mammals with primate-like characteristics. True primates or euprimates or
primates of modern aspect, appeared in the Eocene epoch (spanning ~55
to 37.5 million years ago). The primate evolutionary history is not so straight
forward due the general fragmentary and incomplete nature of the primate
fossil record and the differences in their interpretation.

8.4 TAXONOMY OF LIVING PRIMATES

The order primate is traditionally divided into Prosimii and Anthropoidea,
based on a classification system proposed by Simons (1972) and subsequently
by Fleagle (1998). According to the traditional system, the prosimians
included lemurs, lorises and tarsiers. They are clubbed together because they
were considered morphologically more primitive than other primates. The
anthropoids included the monkeys, apes and humans. However, recent
biochemical, DNA hybridization, RNA sequencing and anatomical studies
indicate that tarsiers are closer to anthropoids. Furthermore, the nostrils of
tarsiers and anthropoids are encircled by dry skin while lorises and lemurs
humans (genus Homo)
Hominibae
Chimpanzees and bonobos (genus pan)
Hominidea
Hominoidea
gonilas (subfamily Gonillinae)
Catarmini
Anthropoidea
organutans (subfamily ponginae)
Haplorhin prosimians
gibbons (family Hylobatidae) monkeys
Primates great apes
humans
Old World mondeys (super family Cercopitheo idea)
lesser
apes
New World monkeys (panvorder Platymini)

Tarsiiformes tarsiers (super family Tarsioidea

Lemurs (super family Lemuro idea)

Streosimini Lemuniformes
Lonses and allies (super family Lorisoidea)

Fig. 1: Classification of Living Primates

Source: Cartmill and Smith, 2011; Groves, 2001
106
have wet nostrils. Apart from these, there are other physical differences, Classification and
for example the absence of a tapetum (a layer in the retina that helps in Characteristics of Living
Primates
night vision) in tarsiers and anthropoids, due to which several taxonomists
have created two new primate suborders- the Strepsirrhines (which includes
lemurs and lorises) and the Haplorrhines (that incorporates tarsiers, monkeys,
apes and humans). Thus, in the new system the tarsiers have been removed
from prosimii and included under anthropoidea.

Another major difference between the traditional and the new classification
system of primates is the position of apes vis-à-vis humans. In the traditional
system (Fleagle, 1998), humans and apes were grouped under superfamily
hominoidea. The great apes, which included orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees
and bonobos, were then separated into the family pongidae, while humans
were grouped into the family hominidae. In recent years, this practice has
lost favour. Molecular evidence has convinced most taxonomists that
African apes (Gorilla and chimpanzee) are closer to humans than Asian
Orangutan.

The taxonomic classification of order primates (modified after Fleagle, 2013)

is summarized in Table-1. The Table below shows classification of the living
primates along with their groups and commonly used names (shown on the
right).
Table 1: Taxonomic Classification of Extant Primates
(Modified after Fleagle, 2013)
Order Suborder Infraorder Superfamily Family Subfamily Tribe
Lemuridae
Lemuri- Lemuroidea Indriidae
formes Cheirogaleidae
Strepsirrhini Lepilemuridae
Daubentonoidea
Daubentonidae

Lorisiformes Lorisidae
Galagidae
Primates
Pithecinae
Tarsiidae Callicebinae
Tarsiformes Tarsioidea Alouattina
Atelinae
Pithecoidea Pitheciidae Aotinae
Platyrrhini
Haplorrhini Atelidae
Ceboidea Cebinae
Cebidae
Callitrichinae
Crcopi-
Cercopi- Cercopithecidae thecinae
thecoidea
Colobinae
Catarrhini

Gorillini
Hominoidea Hylobatidae Ponginae
Panini

Hominidae Homininae Hominini

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Living Primates: Human The major characteristics of various taxonomic groups of primates are given
andNon-Human as follows:
Suborder: Strepsirrhini (earlier Prosimii)
Fleagle (2013) calls it a Semiorder while many others term it as a Suborder.
It includes lemurs and lorises. The nostrils (rhinarium) of strepsirrhines is
moist and bare, like that of a dog. Strepsirrhines have a reflective layer,
the tapetumlucidum, behind the retina, which increases the amount of light
for night vision. Most are nocturnal with prominent whiskers, large and
mobile ears and large eyes adapted for a nocturnal lifestyle. Highly
developed sense of smell. Upper lip is divided and attached to gums by a
membrane. They have a protruding snout (rostrum), a tooth comb formed
of lower incisors and canines, an orbital bar and a grooming claw on second
digit of foot and flat nails everywhere else. Suborder strepsirrhini has two
infraorders: Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes.
Infraorder: Lemuriformes
It includes all lemurs. They are restricted to the island of Madagascar and
the neighbouring island of Comores. They range in body size from the 30
gram pygmy lemur to the 10kg for Indri. Lemuriformes show a broad range
of dietary and locomotor adaptations. Some species, like the sifaka, primarily
leap using long hindlimbs and cling to vertical branches. Others are arboreal
quadrupeds, or spend substantial time on the ground. Lemuriformes has two
superfamilies: Daubentonoidea and Lemuroidea.
Daubentonoidea
This superfamily has a single subfamily, Daubentonidae with a single genus
Daubentonia (the aye-aye). This moderately sized, black animal with large
ears has extreme specializations but still retains some basic features to be
classified under lemuriformes.
Lemuroidea
It includes four families: Chirogaleidae, Indriidae, Lepilemuridae and lemuridae.
The chirogaleids are the most primitive and the smallest of the Lemmuroids.
The family Indriidae includes genera Indrii, Propithecus and Avahi.
Lepilemuridae family consists of the genus Lepilemur and Lemuridae family
includes Lemur, Hapalemur, Prolemur, Eulemurand Varecia.
Infraorder: Lorisiformes
The lorisiformes are all nocturnal primates who exist in forest regions of
Africa and Asia. Their diets primarily consist of fruits, gums/exudates and
insects. Like lemurs they have a tooth comb and a grooming claw on the
second digit. The tympanic ring in the ear region of lorisiformes is fused
to the later wall rather than being suspended in the bulla as in lemurs. The
infraorder consists of two families: Lorisidae and Galagidae.
Suborder: Haplorrhini (termed Semiorder by some)
It is a new suborder created to incorporate tarsiers which were earlier
included under prosimii in the traditional primate classification system. The
haplorhines are considered the “higher” primates. This suborder includes
tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans. Scientists believe that haplorhines first
appeared in the Eocene around 50 million years ago. These are the ancestors
of today’s monkeys and apes. The extant haplorhines are divided into three
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infraorders namely Tarsiiformes, Platyrrhini and Catarrhini. The platyrrhines Classification and
and catarrhines are together termed as anthropoids. Characteristics of Living
Primates
Infraorder: Tarsiiformes
Tarsiiformes are amongst the smallest and very unusual of all extant primates.
They are found in Southeast Asia. They show a mixture of prosimian and
anthropoid traits. Several of the traits which they share with lower primates
are primitive features such as high cusped molars, unfused mandibular
symphysis, multiple nipples, grooming claws on second digit of feet. Tarsiers
have very long legs and ankles. Tarsiers possess some striking and unique
features also, which include the unusually large size of its eyes that is even
larger than the size of its brain.
This infraorder has only one family – Tarsiidae. Currently there are three
living genera of Tarsiformes: Carlito (from Philipines), Cephalopachus
(mainly from Borneo and Sumatra) and Tarsius (manly from Sulawesi
islands).
Infraorder: Platyrrhini
The platyrrhines are also known as the New World monkeys. All anthropoid
primates living in Central and South America are included in this infraorder.
The term platyrrhini refers to the shape of nose in these primates. Living
platyrrhines are small to medium size anthropoids. Platyrrhines have broad,
flat dry noses with outwardly directed nasal openings. This feature probably
distinguishes them from the Old World monkeys, which generally have narrow
nostrils. They lack a bony tube between eardrum and outer ear, tympanic
ring fused to the side of the auditory bulla, presence of three premolars
in contrast to two of Old World monkeys, absence of a hypoconulid on
the first two lower molars in most members, lack ischial callosities (bare
patches of skin on rump) found in some Old World monkeys, most have
a well-developed tail which is prehensile and used like fifth limb in some
genera, imperfect opposability of thumb and poorly developed finger grip,
large and strongly opposable hallux, special scent glands in some, arboreal
and mostly diurnal.
In traditional classification, platyrrhines are subdivided into two families –
Cebidae and Callithricidae. But based on recent molecular systematics, it
is divided into three families: Pitheciidae, Atelidae and Cebidae consisting
of 19 living genera (Fleagle, 2013).
Family: Pitheciidae
This family consists of two subfamilies: Callicebinae and Pitheciinae.
Family: Atelidae
It includes two subfamilies: Alouattinae and Atelinae.
Family: Cebidae
This family consists of three subfamilies: Aotinae, Callitrichinae and Cebinae.
Infraorder: Caterrhini
The catarrhines comprise the old world monkeys, apes and humans. The
word Catarrhini, like Platyrrhini, refers, to the shape of the nose. Caterrhine
nostrils are narrow, close together and face downward, unlike the platyrrhine
monkeys in whom the nostrils are round and laterally facing. The catarrhine
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Living Primates: Human monkeys are in general larger than playrrhine monkeys. Catarrhines have
andNon-Human only two premolars in each quadrant as compared three among the
platyrrhines. They have a bony tube between eardrum and outer ear. They
are mostly diurnal. Most have a well-developed grip and opposable thumb
and big toe, except humans. This infraorder is usually divided into two
superfamilies, the Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys) and the Hominoidea
(apes and humans).
Superfamily: Ceropithecoidea
Cercopithecoids are also commonly known as Old World Monkeys. Of all
the living caterrhines, they are the most numerous and diverse. Ceropithecoids
are found all over Africa and Asia and some parts of Europe. It has one
family, cercopithecidae and two subfamilies: Cercopithecinae and Colobinae.
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Superfamily hominoidea comprises the humans and the apes. Living hominoids
are characterized by the absence of tails and by rather primitive rounded
molars. In the new systematic classification of primates that also considers
molecular evidence, Hominoidea comprises two families: Hylobatidae and
Hominidae.
Family: Hylobatidae
Hylobatids are the smallest and most numerous of the apes and comprise
the siamangs and the gibbons (Hylobates, Symphalangus, Hoolock).
Because of their size they are occasionally referred to as lesser apes. The
hylobatids are distributed in northeast India and tropical forests of Southeast
Asia.
Family: Hominidae
This family includes the great apes and the humans: chimpanzees, orangutans,
gorillas, bonobos and humans. Some of the main features of Hominidae
include a larger brain compared to body size, sexual dimorphism, relatively
larger body size, semi-upright to upright posture and the associated
differences in skeletal parts.
There is an on-going debate as to how close humans are to the African
great apes. In the traditional classification apes are considered in a separate
family, the Pongidae and the humans are included in their own family, the
Hominidae. In the new taxonomic system that considers molecular evidence,
humans are combined with the great apes in family Hominidae but are
separated from them at a lower classification category—the tribe. In a
growing concensus among primatoloists, humans are assigned to the tribe
Hominini while chimpanzees and bonobos are relegated to the tribe Panini.
Check Your Progress 2
3) Describe in brief taxonomy of living primates.
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8.5 PRIMATE CHARACTERISTICS

According to Mivart (1873), “Primates are unguiculate, claviculate placental
110 mammals, with orbits encircled by bone; three kinds of teeth at least one
time of life; brain always with a posterior lobe and calcarine fissure; the Classification and
innermost digits of at least one pair of extremities opposable; hallux with Characteristics of Living
a flat nail or none; a well-developed caecum; penis pendulous; testes scrotal; Primates
always two pectoral mammae”. They have incisors, canines, premolars and
molars (premolars may be absent in milk dentition). They have at least one
pair of grasping extremities (grasping hands or feet). Either the thumb or
the big toe is opposable. One pair of mammary glands present on the chest
and in males, a hanging penis and testes in a pouch of skin. Main
characteristics of primates are:
 Pentadactyle hands and feet: Except spider monkey, which has four
finger on each hand and five toes on each feet, all primates have retained
the ancient mammalian trait of pentadactylism.
 Increasing refinement of hands and feet for grasping objects: This
characteristic has been one of the main hallmarks of primate evolution.
There is a trend of increasing manual dexterity. This feature has been
further enhanced by the development of highly sensitive tactile pads at
the tips of fingers and toes, in contrast to most other mammals.
 Presence of flat nails: Primates possess flat nails to protect fingertips
with dermatoglyphs (fingerprints) on fingers and toes.
 Presence of opposable thumbs: Primates have opposable thumb
for power grip (for holding on) and precision grip (for manipulating small
objects, as in humans and some apes).
 Presence of clavicle and the generalized limb structure of early
mammals: Primates have retained the primitive mammalian limb structure,
one upper limb bone (e.g. humerus in fore limbs and femur in hind limbs)
and two lower limb bones (e.g. radius and ulna in fore limbs and tibia
and fibula in hind limbs). Strong clavicles and highly flexible shoulder
joints have permitted most primates to use their arms very efficiently
in climbing trees. Many mammalian orders have lost various bones,
particularly fusing of the two lower limb bones, as in the case of horses.
 Erect posture: All primates have a marked tendency towards erectness
in their upper bodies. This can be seen in their sitting and standing
postures as well as in occasional bipedalism.
 Reduction in the sense of smell: The importance of sense of smell
has been reduced in primates. Consequently, the olfactory center of the
brain, the rhinocephalon, has proportionally decreased in size. The
skeletal structures associated with smell, the snout length and facial
protrusion, have steadily and progressively decreased (the lemurs and
the baboons are exceptions).
 Increased dependence on visual sensation: The orbits of primates
(eye sockets) exhibit a high degree of frontation (placement toward the
front of the face), which increased the overlap of visual fields thus
enhancing the binocular vision and depth perception and producing what
is termed as stereoscopic vision. All living members of the order primates
have stereoscopic vision. Most living diurnal primates probably have
some sort of colour vision, which is very helpful for a diurnal life.
 Relatively large brain, as compared to body size: There is a trend
of continuous development of brain with increasing elaboration and
differentiation of the cerebral cortex. The enlargement of cerebral cortex
is related to improved manual dexterity and enhanced hand-eye 111
Living Primates: Human coordination, which is a significant aspect of primate evolution.
andNon-Human
 Reduction in number of teeth: Primates have reduced number of
teeth, as compared to primitive mammalian dentition, with a maximum
of two incisors, one canine, three premolars and three molars in each
quadrant of jaw. They have retained a simple generalized cusp pattern
on molars. This allows them to exploit different food sources.
 Presence of mammary glands: Most primates have one pair of
mammae on the chest.
 A trend towards smaller litter size, longer gestation periods and
prolonged period of juvenile growth: The gestation period increases
from at least 4 months in case of more primitive small prosimians such
as Microcebus and Galago to nine months in case of humans. The
consequence of long gestation period is that offsprings are born more
mature and therefore, have a greater chance of survival. Reduced litter
size (usually just one in most primates) permits more individual attention
to young and allows more mobility with young clinging to the mother.
There is a trend of increase in the postnatal growth period from lower
to higher primates, which may vary from less than 1 year among
nocturnal prosimians to roughly 15 years in case of man (Buettner-
Janusch, 1969).
 Increase in the natural life span: There is a trend of marked increase
in the natural life span of all primates. Tiny mouse lemurs (Microcebus)
are known to survive for 8 years while equivalent-sized rodent mice
rarely survive beyond 2 years. Large monkeys, such as baboons, the
males of which may weigh up to 90 lbs, have may live up to 30 years,
while domestic dogs of comparable size may have a life span of only
10-12 years. The average life span of humans ranges between 70 to
80 years.
 Complex social behavior: The vocalizations, visual displays and
specific social behaviours, such as infant care and grooming, are very
complex and diverse among primates. It would not be wrong to state
that the primates are the most social of all the mammals.
It may be noted that all the above characteristics may not be found in each
and every member of the order. But several of these traits occur in most
living primate groups.
Check Your Progress 3
4) What are the characteristics of primates?
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8.6 SUMMARY
The order Primates is one of the twenty orders of the class Mammalia.
There are roughly 400 species of living primates which are distributed, with
the exception of humans, in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world
on north and south of the equator, in South and Central America, Africa,
Asia and the islands of Indonesia. The primates are characterised by a set
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 Classification and
of traits such as possession of nails instead of claws, a clavicle, a bony Characteristics of Living
ring encircling the orbits, males with a hanging penis and scrotal testes, Primates
females with a pair of mammary glands on their chest, a well-developed
caecum, a calcarine fissure in brain and an opposable thumb or big toe.
All these traits may not be found in each and every member of the order
primates. Dates based on fossils suggest an origin for primates in the
Palaeocene, at approximately 56 million years ago. The separation of the
ape-line from the Old World monkey lineage is thought to have happened
in the Miocene epoch (~22.5 million years ago). Order Primate, these days,
is considered to have two suborders: Strepsirrhini (which includes lemurs
and lorises) and the Haplorrhini (that incorporates tarsiers, monkeys, apes
and humans). The humans and great apes are now placed together in the
family hominidae separate from gibbons and siamangs which are grouped
under family hylobatidae. The gorilla and chimpanzee are grouped into
subfamily homininae along with humans distinct from orangutan that is
placed in the subfamily ponginae. Apart from anatomical features, the recent
primate classification has also taken into consideration the molecular
evidence.

8.7 REFERENCES
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Baker, R. J., & Bradley, R. D. (2006). Speciation in Mammals and the
Genetic Species Concept. Journal of Mammalogy, 87(4), 643-662.
Bloch, J. I., Silcox, M. T., Boyer, D. M., & Sargis, E. J. (2007). New
Paleocene Skeletons and the Relationship of Plesiadapiforms to Crown-
Clade Primates. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(4),
1159-1164.
Buettner-Janusch, J. (1969). Origins of Man: Physical Anthropology. John
Wiley & Sons Inc.
Cartmill, M., & Smith, F. H. (2011). The Human Lineage (Vol. 2). John
Wiley & Sons.
Christoffersen, M. L. (1995). Cladistic Taxonomy, Phylogenetic Systematics
and Evolutionary Ranking. Systematic Biology, 44(3), 440-454.
Devore, I., & Eimerl, S. (1966). The Primates. Time-Life Books.
Fleagle, J. G., & Gilbert, C. C. (2006). The Biogeography of Primate
Evolution: the Role of Plate Tectonics, Climate and Chance. In Primate
Biogeography (pp. 375-418). Springer, Boston, MA.
Fleagle, J. G. (1998). Primate Adaptation & Evolution. Academic Press, New
York..
Fleagle, J. G. (2013). Primate Adaptation and Evolution. 3rd Edition.
Elsevier, New York.
Groves, C. P. (2001). Primate Taxonomy. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Heads, M. (2010). Evolution and Biogeography of Primates: a New Model
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8.8 ANSWER/HINTS TO CHECK YOUR

PROGRESS
1) Taxonomy is a branch of biology that is basically concerned with the
classification and naming of organisms. The term taxonomy is a
combination of two Greek roots, Taxis (arrangement) and Nomia
(method). For more details kindly refer section 8.1
2) Primates are a diverse and very successful group of eutherian mammals.
The word ‘primate’ in Latin means ‘first’. It is a name of an order
of class mammalia that contains prosimians, monkeys, apes and humans.
For more details kindly refer section 8.2
3) The order primate is traditionally divided into Prosimii and Anthropoidea.
According to the traditional system, the prosimians included lemurs,
lorises and tarsiers. The anthropoids included the monkeys, apes and
humans. However, recent biochemical, DNA hybridization, RNA
sequencing and anatomical studies indicate that tarsiers are closer to
anthropoids. Several taxonomists have created two new primate
suborders- the Strepsirrhines (which includes lemurs and lorises) and
the Haplorrhines (that incorporates tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans).
For further details kindly refer section 8.4
4) Primates are unguiculate, claviculate placental mammals, with orbits
encircled by bone; three kinds of teeth, at least one time of life; brain
always with a posterior lobe and calcarine fissure; the innermost digits
of at least one pair of extremities opposable; hallux with a flat nail or
none; a well-developed caecum; penis pendulous; testes scrotal; always
two pectoral mammae. (Mivart, 1873). For more details kindly refer
section 8.5.

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