Primates (Lemurs, Lorises, Tarsiers, Monkeys and Apes)

The modern primates are a diverse order of mammals that includes lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans. They are united by a 65 My evolutionary history originally built on an adaptive foundation of tropical arboreality and so they share a collection of traits that are unique among mammals, such as an excellent sense of balance, acute vision, good hand–eye coordination, a large grasping first toe, prehensile feet and hands and a flexible, athletic limb anatomy. Primates also tend to live in relatively large social groups and often have correlatively enlarged brains. They almost always give birth to singletons that grow over a prolonged period, which is advantageous to cognitive development, learning and socialisation. Fossil nonhuman primates have been found on all continents but Australia and Antarctica. Primates have been important elements of tropical and subtropical faunas since mammals rebounded following the mass extinction that also promoted the demise of dinosaurs.