What are Primates?
Primates are an order of placental mammals which includes between 190 and 400 species, depending on whether certain groups are considered subspecies or true distinct species of their own. The number of primate species is sometimes exaggerated for environmental protection purposes, as approximately 10% of the world’s primates are at risk of extinction. Primate species include lemurs, monkeys, the rare aye-aye, lorises, pottos, galagos, angwantibos, tarsiers, titis, sakis, uakaris, marmosets, tamarins, capuchins, macaques, baboons, mangabeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, mandrills, drills, and many others, including the familiar humans. Primates are characterized by five fingers on each hand and toes on each foot, large brain-to-body ratios, great diversity in size, manual dexterity, improved vision with the simultaneous sacrifice of the size of noses and olfactory centers in the brain, arboreal lifestyles, including hands and an upper body specialized for grasping tree branches, s
Monkeys belong to the order of primates. What makes a primate a primate? Here are some typical characteristics of primates: shortened snout (which reduces the number of teeth they have), different types of teeth for a varied diet (incisors, canines, premolars and molars), forward facing eyes, clavicles (a collarbone) which create lots of shoulder motion, nails instead of claws, opposable thumbs for grasping. Humans also are primates.why are we considered primates (see the above characteristics-do we have them all?)? How are we different from every other animal in the world? Range Old World Monkeys are found in Africa, central to southern Asia, Japan and India. New World Monkeys are found in Mexico, Central and South America. Monkeys are either arboreal or terrestrial. New World monkeys tend to be arboreal and Old World monkeys are mostly terrestrial (although they sometimes go into the trees). Differences between Old World and New World Monkeys New World Old World Smaller Larger Prehen
Primates are a group of mammals, a scientific category that contains over 230 species of lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans. All primates, including humans, share at least part of a set of common characteristics, many of which evolved as adaptations for life in the trees, an environment in which the earliest primates evolved. These characteristics include more reliance on sight than smell; overlapping fields of vision, allowing three-dimensional sight; limbs and hands adapted for clinging on, leaping from and swinging in the trees; the ability to grasp and manipulate small objects using fingers with nails instead of claws; large brains in relation to body size; and complex social lives.
