Classification of Primates

Traditionally, the order primate is divided into two suborders, Prosimii and
Anthropoidea
(Simians). The suborder is an intermediate group between order and family. Below this
suborder, we will find infraorder and superfamily. Recently, taxonomists have
replaced the
term prosimii and
anthropoidea with the term strepsirrhini and haplorhini. Strepsirhini
includes wet nosed non-tarsier prosimians, and the suborder
haplorhini, includes dry-nosed
tarsiers, broad (platyrrhine) and narrow nosed monkeys (catarhine), apes and the
humans.
Despite this preferred taxonomic division, the tem "prosimit" is still regularly found in textbooks
and academic literature because of its
familiarity. The word prosimii literally means 'Pre-
monkey' which refers to the primitive or the lower forms of primates. It includes lemurs,
lorises, and other related animals. They were once limited to the tropical
regions of the world,
including North America. However, they are now found almost in all partsofthe world.
 FAMILY
SUPER FAMILY
ORDER
sUB-ORDER INFRAORDER SERIES

LEMURIDAE

LEPILEMURIDAE

LEMURIFORMS LEMUROIDEA CHEIROGALEIDAE

INDRIDAE
DAUBENTONOIDAE

LORISIOIDEALORISIDAE

LORISIFORMES GALAGIDAE

TARSIIDAAE
TARSIIFORMES

CEBIDAE
CEBOIDEACALLITHRICIDAE

CERCOPTHECIDAE
ANTHROPOIDEA

HYLOBATIDAE

PONGIDAE
HOMINIDAE

Fig47:Classification or order Primate

Strepsirrhini
Some ofthe unique characteristics ofthe strepsirhines
are:

than the monkeys and apes.

1. The strepsirhines are comparatively smaller in size
the second toe which bears
2 They bear flat nails and fleshy pads on most digits, except
which has claws on toes.
aglooming claw. The exception is the aye aye lemur
3 Their firstfingers and toes are opposable. The big toe is widely separated from other
toes, allowing for a secure grip during locomotion.
4. They have pointed snouts and the senseofsmell and hearing are well developed. They

are mostly nocturnal terestrial animals.

 CXI-14
Foundation of Biological Anthropology
5. surrounded from the back and
a e large and are placed laterally. The eyes are
side by bony rim.
on the baCk O
y e s possess a reflective layer called Tapetum lucidum, present
etina.
7 The size ofthe brain is
reduced.
8. hey possess a distinctive feature of dentition called 'dental comb' in which incisors
and canines in the mandible projected forward and joined together to form a comb like

structure.
9 The tail is generally
long and bushy.
10. Most of the strepsirrhines are
good climbers and leapers.
h e suborder Strepsirrhini has two infraorder or series, Lemuriformes and
Lorisiformes. The Lemuriformes has one superfamily Lemuroidea and five families, namely,
Lemuridae, Lepilemuridae, Cheirogaleidae, Daubentoniidae and Indriidae. On the other
hand, the other superfamily Lorisiformes has two families, viz, Lorisidae and Galagidae.
Lemuridae: The family Lemuridae has more than 25
species and are found exclusivelyy
on the island of
Madagascar and the Comoro Islands of South West Africa. True lemur is one
ofthe best representatives of the family Lemuridae. Their size ranges from that of a small to a
large domestic cat. Most of them are arboreal and diurnal in nature, herbivorous in diet,
mostly eating fruit and some leaves. However, some of them are also terrestrial. Their hands
and feet are prehensile. Each hand and feet has five digits with flat nails except the second
digit of the foot, which bear a glooming claw. They have long bushy tails that are used for
balancing while jumping from one branch to the other.

of the Lemuridae
Fig, 48: Toothcombstructure
 Position of Man
Among Living Beings, Animal Kingdom, Mammals and Primate CXI-15
The dental formula of the lemur is 2-1-2-3/2-1-2-3.
The most important distinctive feature of
the teeth of the family is the formation of a
'toothcomb' by the teeth (Fig.48). Toothcomb is
the dental structure formed by the incisors and the
canine that tilt forward in front of the lower
jaw, followed by a canine shape first premolar. Their sense of smell is very strong and often
marks teritorial limits with scent.
Regarding their social life, they are found in small form
groups consisting of around 20 to 25 numbers. Unlike most other
primate species, lemur
females generally dominate males in their social interactions.

A B

C D
Fig. 49: Strepsirrhines primate: (A) Ring tailed lemur (B)
Slow Loris (C) Mouse
Loris (D) Slender Loris

Cheirogaleidae
The family Cheirogaleidae consists of the smallest primate species,
the Dwarfand the
found in Madagascar Island. Dwarflemurs
Mouse lemurs. They are nocturnal animal and
Mouse lemurs (Microcebus) are the smallest
are larger and less active than mouse lemurs.
is covered with soft long fur. They have small ears
primates in the world. Their whole body
lucidum is present in the
with closely set large eyes surrounded by dark rings. The tapedium
Like all strepsirrhines, they have fine claws at the second toe of
eyes. The hind legs are long.
 the hind legs. The tail is very
long, sometimes up to one and a halftimes as long as the boay.
They weigh no more than 500 grams, with some species weighing as little as 60 grams. Their
dental formula is 2-1-3-3/2-1-3-3. Unlike
lemurs, they have long upper incisors, although
they do have the comb-like teeth typical ofall strepsirrhines. The females usually have three
pairs ofnipples. Their omnivorous diet consists mostly of fruit and easily obtainable animal
prey such as insects, frogs, and baby birds in nests. Their average gestation period is 60 days
and they give birth to two to four
young ones. In captivity, they can live for up to 17-20 years,
although their life expectancy in the wild is probably significantly shorter.

Indriidae
The family Indriidae includes three groups of species, namely, indris, avahis and
sifakas. Like all other lemurs, they are also confined to the island of Madagascar. They are
relatively big in size compare to the other prosimians. The indris are the largest in size,
reaching about four feet from head to toe and weighing up to 29 pounds (13.2 kg.). All the
species ofthe Indriidae are arboreal. The tails ofthe different species of this family varies from
Species to species. The length ofthe tail of avahi and sifakas are long and almost equal to that
ofthe length of their body, while the tail ofthe indri is very short. The colours of the skin of the
faces are bare and black. The length of the hind limbs exceeds that of the forelimbs. The
colour ofthe fur varies from whitish to reddish and grey. The eye colour is often brown in
wooly lemurs, orange or amber in sifakas, and yellow-green in indris. The fur is short, dense,
and of various colours including brown, beige, white, orange, and black; often with head
crowns, head ruffs, saddle backs, and eyebrows contrasting colours from the rest of the
body. The skull ofthe Indriidae is comparatively shorter and higher than the skull of the lemur.
The snout is considerably shorter than the lemur. The gestation period is about five months
and they give birth to a single offspring at a time. Indrids are herbivores, eating mostly leaves,
fruits and flowers. Females and males usualy mate monogamously for many years.

Daubentoniidae
The family Daubentoniidae has only a single species called Aye-Aye lemur and are
found in the Madagascar Island. Their whole boay is covered with long, woollv, black or
dark brown fur. They have a very long tail Which is almost twice the
bodylength. Its head is
nded with a short and reduced face. 1heir ears are large, naked and
mobile. They have
 large eyes with yellowish brown irises. The aye-aye has white around its nose and above its
eyes. The aye-aye lemur does not have the specialised 'tooth comb' dentition pattern of the
lemurs. The anterior tooth of the aye-aye is
unique among the extant prosimians. They
completely resemble the dentition of the rodents. The front teeth are
large, curved and projecting
forward in the maxilla and the mandible. The snout is short
compared to the other lemurs. The
adult dental formula is 1/0,0/0,1/0,3/3. The adult incisors are
large and ever growing as they
are worn down by the aye-aye
gnawing on trees. The molar teeth are flattened and have
indistinct cusps. The diastema is present posterior to the incisor. The post orbital bar is
complete,
and the foramen magnum is shifted towards the base of the skull. An aye-eye weighs about 6
pounds (2.7 kilograms). Males and females are about the same size. The length of the upper
and lower limbs ate ofequal size. The fingers of the aye-aye lemurs are five in numbers with
an extremely long thin bony middle finger. All the fingers and toes have pointed claw like nail
except for the big toes, which have flat nails. Another unusual feature of the aye-aye lemur is
the position of the nipples. It is placed in the lower abdomen instead of the chest. They
generally eat insect larvae, fruits, nectar, eggs and bamboo shoots. They are nocturnal and
arboreal in habits and most ofthe time they live on trees.

Lepilemuridae
The family Lepilemuridae has only one extant genus, Lepilemuar with 26 species. They
are found in the forest of Madagascar. Their fur is grey brown or reddish colored on the top
and whitish yellowundemeath. They typically have a short head with large, round ears. One
ofthe typical dental features ofthe genus Lepilemur is that the upper incisors are reduced in
size to small band short cylindrical teeth. The premaxillare is reduced to a mere strip ofbone.
The lower dentition has procumbent toothcomb. They have relatively long legs and tail. They
growto a length of30 to35 cm (witha tail just about as long as their body) and weigh upto
0.9 kg. Tapedium lucidum ispresentbehind the retina. Sportive lemurs are strictly nocturnal
and predominantly arboreal moving among the trees withlong jumps poweredby their strong
hind legs. On the ground, they prefer vertical postures and move by quadrupedal running and
leaping. During the day they hide in leafy covering or tree hollows. They are mainly folivorous,
but they cannot digest cellulose, which is the main component of leaves. They completely
depend on the bacteria for digestionofthe leaves, which is present in the digestive tract. They
give births to a single one at a time. The male Lepilemur has a solitary life, while the females
live with the offspring. Males usually give loud crow calls during night time.
 Lorisidae
Lorisioidea has two families, Lorisidae and Galagidae. Theihe lorises
The superfamily
family Lorisidae, while galagos is the sne
species of the
pottos, angwantbos are the species ofthe
central Africa as well as in south and
nd Sou
family Galagidae. Lorisids live in tropical,
The genera are Arcto.
Southeast
Asia. There are five genera and eleven species of Lorisidae.
Loris and Nycticebus. The whole bodies of the members
ctocebus,
ne
members of the
Perodicticus, Pseudopotto,
family Lorisidae are covered with woolly fur, which
is usually grey or brown, darker on s
top side. The eyes are large and face forward. The ears are small and often partially hidden
in
the fur. The thumbs are opposable and the index finger is short. The second toe ofthehin
d
legs has a fine claw for grooming, typical for strepsirrhines. Their tail is short or is mising
completely. They grow to a length of 17 to 40 cm and a weight in between 0.3 and 2 ke
ssing
kg
depending on the species. There dental formula is 2.1.3.3.and is similar to that oflemurs
They are nocturnal and arboreal. Some lorisids moves fast and some have slow deliberate
move movements. Most lorisids are solitary or live in small family groups. Lorisids havea
gestation period of four to six months and give birth to two young one at a time. The liífe
expectancy of lorises can be to up to 20 years. The families of the Lorisioidea can be
distinguished largely on the basis oftheir style oflocomotion. The Asian lorises and their close
African relatives, the pottos and angwantibos, are slow, deliberate climbers and creepers on
forest branches. Their size is that of a domesticated cat. In contrast, the smaller African
galagos, or bush babies, are agile hoppers; they canjump 30 timesoftheir own body length
Galagidae
The members of the family Galagidae are commonly knownas bush babies or nagapies
and native to continental Africa. Regarding their taxonomic classification, diverse opinions ae
found among the scholars. Some are of view that the family has one
genus with four su
genera, while some others are ofopinion that the family have four separate genera. Again
1996, Shoshaní and others in 1996 have assigned four valid genera to the family Galagida
They Galagos (bush babies), Galagoides (dwarf bush babies), Otelemur (greater bu
are

babies) and Euoticas (needle-clawed bush babies). Their whole body is covered with so
and woolly fur. The colour of the fur is darker on the dorsal ayto
surface and it ranges from gey
brown in ventral surface. Regarding their
morphological characters, they have large ro
directed eyes, suggesting their nocturnal habits. They are characterised large
by go
heads, strong hind limbs whose length exceeds the forelimbs, nails on most ts,
of the dug
 Position of Man Among Living Beings, Animal Kingdom, Mammals and Primate CXI-19

except for the second toe ofthe hind foot, which bears a grooming claw. Their pollux (thumb)
is non-opposable, their tails are long that help them to balance. The most distinguishing feature
of the bush babies is their large mobile ears. They have large membranous folded ears and
can move independently. They have relatively largest ears among the primates. They have

pectinate (comb-like) incisors called toothcombs, and the dental formula: 2.1.3.3. They are
fast, agile creatures. They move through the trees fast leaping from branch to branch in
contrast

to the slow motion of the loris. Their diet is a mixture of insects and other
small animals, fruit,

and tree gums. Their gestation period is in between 110-133 days. They give birth to singles,
males and females have
twins, or triplets. Galagos have remarkablejumping abilities. The
the male offspring lives
their own territory. The female offspring lives with mother, whereas,
with mother only up to the time till they attain puberty.