Primate

For another meaning of the word Primate, see Primate (religion).

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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia
Families
Suborder Strepsirhini (prosimians[?]) Superfamily Lorisoidea Galagidae (galagos) Lorisidae (lorises and pottos) Daubentoniidae (aye-aye) Cheirogaleidae (dwarf lemurs and mouse lemurs) Superfamily Lemuroidea Megaladapidae[?] Lemuridae (common lemurs) Superfamily Indrioidea Indridae Suborder Haplorhini (monkeys and apes) Superfamily Tarsioida Tarsiidae Superfamily Platyrrhini Callitrichidae Cebidae Superfamily Catarrhini Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys[?]) Hylobatidae (gibbons) Hominidae (great apes and humans)

The primates are members of the Primates order of mammals. These include lemurs, monkeys, and apes (including humans). The English singular primate is a back-formation from the Latin name Primates, which itself was the plural of the Latin primas.

All primates exhibit pentadactyly (they have five fingers), a generalized dental pattern, and a primitive (unspecialized) body plan. Another distinguishing feature of primates is fingernails. Opposing thumbs are also a defining primates feature, but are not limited to this order; opossums, for example, also have opposing thumbs. In primates, the combination of opposing thumbs, short fingernails (rather than claws) and long, inward-closing fingers is a relic of the ancestral practice of brachiating through trees. In this context, this mosaic of features was useful for grasping branches, especially mid-sized ones no thicker than three inches in diameter. Forward-facing color binocular vision was also useful for our brachiating ancestors, particularly for finding and collecting food. All primates, even those that lack the features typical of other primates (like lorises), share eye orbit characteristics that distinguish them from other taxonomic orders.

In primate species, the males have a larger figure than the females. The following is a table in kilogram (kg), pound (lb), gram (g), and ounce (oz).

Species	Female	Male
Gorilla	105 kg (231 lb)	205 kg (452 lb)
Human	52 kg (114 lb)	75 kg (165 lb)
Patas monkey[?]	5.5 kg (12 lb)	10 kg (22 kg)
Proboscis Monkey[?]	9 kg (20 lb)	19 kg (42 lb)
Pygmy marmoset[?]	120 g (4.2 oz)	140 g (5 oz)