The Primate order lies in a
tight clustering of related orders (the Euarchontoglires) within the Eutheria,
a subclass of Mammalia. Recent molecular genetic research on primates, flying
lemurs, and treeshrews has shown that the two species of flying lemur (Dermoptera)
are more closely related to the primates than the treeshrews of the order Scandentia,
even though the treeshrews were at one time considered primates. These three
orders make up the Euarchonta clade. This clade combines with the Glires clade
(made up of the Rodentia and Lagomorpha) to form the Euarchontoglires clade. Variously,
both Euarchonta and Euarchontoglires are ranked as superorders. Also, some
scientists consider Dermoptera a suborder of Primates and call the
"true" primates the suborder Euprimates.
Euarchontoglires |
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Ring-tailed
Lemur, a strepsirrhine primate
In older classifications,
the Primates were divided into two superfamilies: Prosimii and Anthropoidea. The
Prosimii included all of the prosimians: all of Strepsirrhini plus the
tarsiers. The Anthropoidea contained all of the simians.
In modern, cladistic
reckonings, the Primate order is also a true clade. The suborder Strepsirrhini,
the "wet-nosed" primates, split off from the primitive primate line
about 63 million years ago (mya). The seven strepsirhine families are the four
related lemur families and the three remaining families that include the lorises,
the Aye-aye, the galagos, and the pottos.[3] Some
classification schemes wrap the Lepilemuridae into the Lemuridae and the Galagidae
into the Lorisidae, yielding a three-two family split instead of the four-three
split as presented here.[3] Other lineages of lower
primates inhabited Earth. During the Eocene, most of the northern continents
were dominated by two dominant groups, the adapids and the omomyids. The former
is considered a member of Strepsirrhini, but it does not have a tooth-comb like
modern lemurs. The latter was related closely to tarsiers, monkeys, and apes. Adapids
survived until 10 mya; omomyids on the other hand perished 20 million years
earlier.
The Aye-aye is difficult to
place in Strepsirrhini.[3] Its family,
Daubentoniidae, could be a lemuriform primate and its ancestors split from
lemur line more recently than the lemurs and lorises split, about 50 mya. Otherwise
it is sister to all of the other strepsirrhines, in which case in evolved away
from the main strepsirrhine line between 50 and 63 mya.
Emperor
Tamarin, a New World monkey
The suborder Haplorrhini,
the "dry-nosed" primates, is composed of two sister clades.[3] The prosimian tarsiers in family Tarsiidae (monotypic
in its own infraorder Tarsiiformes), represent the most primitive division at
about 58 mya. The Simiiformes infraorder contains the two parvorders: the New
World monkeys in one, and the Old World monkeys, humans and the other apes in
the other.[3] This division happened about 40 mya. However
about 30 mya, three groups split from the main haplorrhine lineage. One group
stayed in Asia and are closest in kin to the "dawn monkey" Eosimias.
The second stayed in Africa, where they developed into the Old World primates. The
third rafted to South America to become the New World monkeys. Mysteriously the
aboriginal Asian Haplorrhini vanished from record once Africa collided with
Eurasia 24 mya. Apes and monkeys spread into Europe and Asia. Close behind came
lorises and tarsiers, also African castaways. The first hominid fossils were
discovered in Northern Africa and date back 7 mya. Modern humans did not appear
until 0.2 mya, eventually becoming the most prevalent primate and mammal on
Earth.
The discovery of new
species happens at a rate of a few new species each year, and the evaluation of
current populations as distinct species is in flux. Colin Groves lists about
350 species of primates in Primate Taxonomy in 2001.[4]
The recently published third edition of Mammal Species of the World
(2005) lists 376 species.[3] But even MSW3's list
falls short of current understanding as its collection cutoff was in 2003, and
a number publications since MSW3 push the number of species up to 404. Notable
new species not listed in MSW3 include the Bemaraha Woolly Lemur (Avahi
cleesei) (named after British actor and lemur enthusiast John Cleese) and
the GoldenPalace.com Monkey (whose name was put up for auction).
In The Variation Of
Animals And Plants Under Domestication Charles Darwin noted: "Several
members of the family of Lemurs have produced hybrids in the Zoological Gardens."
Many gibbons are hard to
identify based on fur coloration and are identified either by song or genetics.
These morphological ambiguities have led to hybrids in zoos. Zoo gibbons
usually come from the black market pet trade in Southeast Asia, which
transported gibbons across countries all over the region. As a result, perhaps
as much as 95% of zoo gibbons are of unknown geographic origin. As most zoos
rely on morphological variation or labels that are impossible to verify to
assign species and subspecies names, it is unfortunately common for gibbons to
be misidentified and housed together. For example, some collections' supposedly
pure breeding pairs were actually mixed pairs or hybrids from previous mixed
pairs. The hybrid offspring were sent to other gibbon breeders and led to
further hybridization in captive gibbons. Within-genus hybrids also occur in
wild gibbons where the ranges overlap (Agile Gibbons and Pileated Gibbons x Lar
Gibbons, Agile Gibbons x Müller's Bornean Gibbon, Yellow-cheeked Gibbons x Northern
White-cheeked Gibbons).
Intergeneric gibbon
hybridizations have only occurred in captivity. Silvery Gibbons (Hylobates
moloch) and Müller's Bornean Gibbon (H. muelleri) have hybridized
with Siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus) in captivity - a female Siamang
produced hybrid "Siabon" offspring on 2 occasions when housed with a
male gibbon; only one hybrid survived.
Anubis Baboons and Hamadryas
Baboons have hybridized in the wild where their ranges meet. A Rheboon is a
captive-bred Rhesus Macaque/Hamadryas Baboon hybrid with a baboon-like body
shape and macaque-like tail.
Different macaque species
can interbreed. In "The Variation Of Animals And Plants Under
Domestication" Charles Darwin wrote: A Macacus, according to Flourens,
bred in Paris; and more than one species of this genus has produced young in
London, especially the Macacus rhesus, which everywhere shows a special
capacity to breed under confinement. Hybrids have been produced both in Paris
and London from this same genus. The Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata)
has interbred with the introduced Taiwanese Macacque (M. cyclopis) when
the latter escaped into the wild from private zoos.
Various hybrid monkeys are
bred within the pet trade, for example:
Among Old World monkeys, natural
hybridization is not uncommon. There numerous field reports of hybrid monkeys
and detailed studies of zones where species overlap and hybrids occur.
Among the great apes, Sumatran
and Bornean orangutans are considered separate species with anatomical
differences, producing sterile or poorly fertile hybrids. Hybrid orangutans are
genetically weaker, with lower survival rates than pure animals.
Monkeys
imported for experimentation in a crate. Credit: BUAV
Humans are recognized as persons
and protected in law by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human
Rights[5] and by all governments, though to varying degrees. Non-human
primates are not classified as persons, which means their individual interests
have no formal recognition or protection. The status of non-human primates has
generated much debate, particularly through the Great Ape Project[6]
which argues for their personhood.
Thousands of primates are
used every year around the world in scientific experiments because of their
psychological and physiological similarity to humans. Chimpanzees, baboons, marmosets,
macaques, and green monkeys are most commonly used in these experiments. In the
European Union, around 10,000 were used in 2004, with 4,652 experiments
conducted on 3,115 non-human primates in the UK alone in 2005.[7] As of 2004, 3,100 non-human primates were living in
captivity in the United States, in zoos, circuses, and laboratories, 1,280 of
them being used in experiments.[6] European campaign
groups such as the BUAV are seeking a ban on all primate use in experiments as
part of the European Union's current review of existing law on animal
experimentation.
Laughter might not be
confined or unique to humans, despite Aristotle's observation that "only
the human animal laughs". The differences between chimpanzee and human
laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable human
speech. However, some behavioural psychologists argue that self-awareness of
one's situation, or the ability to identify with somebody else's predicament,
are prerequisites for laughter, so animals are not really laughing in the same
way that we do.
Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans
show laughter-like vocalizations in response to physical contact, such as
wrestling, play chasing, or tickling. This is documented in wild and captive
chimpanzees. Chimpanzee laughter is not readily recognizable to humans as such,
because it is generated by alternating inhalations and exhalations that sound
more like breathing and panting. The differences between chimpanzee and human
laughter may be the result of adaptations that have evolved to enable human
speech. There are instances in which non-human primates have been reported to
have expressed joy. One study analyzed and recorded sounds made by human babies
and bonobos also known as pygmy chimpanzees were tickled. It found although the
bonobo’s laugh was a higher frequency, the laugh followed the same
spectrographic pattern of human babies to include as similar facial
expressions. Humans and chimpanzees share similar ticklish areas of the body
such as the armpits and belly. The enjoyment of tickling in chimpanzees does
not diminish with age. Discovery 2003A chimpanzee laughter sample. Goodall 1968
& Parr 2005
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Primate&action=history
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