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List of primates

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List of primates

Primates is a diverse order of placental mammals which includes monkeys, lemurs, galagos, lorisids, tarsiers, and apes (including humans). Members of this order are called primates. The order currently comprises 505 extant species, which are grouped into 81 genera. The majority of primates live in South and Central America, Africa, and southern and Southeast Asia, in a variety of habitats, particularly forests but also including grasslands, savannas, shrublands, wetlands, deserts, and rocky areas. The exception is humans, which have spread worldwide to every biome. Primates come in a variety of body plans but typically feature large brains, a shoulder girdle allowing a large degree of movement in the shoulder joint, dexterous hands, and tails, sometimes prehensile. They range in size from Margot Marsh's mouse lemur, at 8 cm (3 in) plus a 11 cm (4 in) tail, to the eastern gorilla, at 196 cm (77 in), not including limbs. Primates are also the most intelligent animals and non-human primates are recorded to use tools, communicate with gestures and vocalizations, and have complex social systems.

Primates is divided into two suborders: Haplorrhini and Strepsirrhini. The suborders are further subdivided into clades and families. Haplorrhini contains nine families in four major clades: Cercopithecoidea, containing the Old World monkeys of the family Cercopithecidae; Hominoidea, containing the great apes of the family Hominidae and the gibbons of the family Hylobatidae; Platyrrhines, or New World monkeys, divided into the families Aotidae, Atelidae, Callitrichidae, Cebidae, and Pitheciidae and containing night, howler, spider, woolly, capuchin, squirrel, and saki monkeys, marmosets, and tamarins; and Tarsiiformes, containing the tarsier family Tarsiidae. Strepsirrhini is split between two clades: Lemuroidea, divided into the families Cheirogaleidae (dwarf and mouse lemurs), Daubentoniidae (the aye-aye), Indriidae (wooly lemurs, sifakas, and indri), Lemuridae (lemurs), and Lepilemuridae (sportive lemurs); and Lorisoidea, split between the galago family Galagidae and the loris family Lorisidae. The exact organization of the species is not fixed, with many recent proposals made based on molecular phylogenetic analysis. No species have been recorded as going extinct since 1500 CE, but over 200 species, or more than 40 percent of all primates, are considered endangered or critically endangered.

The author citation for the species or genus is given after the scientific name; parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the collective range of species in that genera is provided. Ranges are based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species unless otherwise noted.

The order Primates consists of 505 extant species belonging to 81 genera. This does not include hybrid species or extinct prehistoric species. Modern molecular studies indicate that the 81 genera can be grouped into 16 families; these families are divided between two named suborders and are grouped in those suborders into named clades, and some of these families are subdivided into named subfamilies.

Suborder Haplorrhini

Suborder Strepsirrhini

The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Members of the Cercopithecidae family are called cercopithecids, or colloquially Old World monkeys, and include baboons, colobuses, guenons, lutungs, macaques, and other types of monkeys. Cercopithecidae comprises 158 extant species, divided into 23 genera. These genera are grouped into two subfamilies: Cercopithecinae, or cercopithecine monkeys, containing baboon, guenon, macaque, and other monkey species; and Colobinae, or leaf-eating monkeys, containing colobus, lutung, and other monkey species.

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