Primates

Pri`ma´tes

n. pl.

1.

(Zool.) The highest order of mammals. It includes man, together with the apes and monkeys. Cf. Pitheci.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Primates - an animal order including lemurs and tarsiers and monkeys and apes and human beings order Primates animal order - the order of animals Eutheria, subclass Eutheria - all mammals except monotremes and marsupials primate - any placental mammal of the order Primates; has good eyesight and flexible hands and feet Anthropoidea, suborder Anthropoidea - monkeys; apes; hominids Prosimii, suborder Prosimii - not used in all classifications; in some classifications considered coextensive with the Lemuroidea; in others includes both Lemuroidea and Tarsioidea Adapid, Adapid group - extinct small mostly diurnal lower primates that fed on leaves and fruit; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; their descendents probably include the lemurs; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins Lemuroidea, suborder Lemuroidea - Lemuridae; Lorisidae; Daubentoniidae; Indriidae; used in some classifications instead of Prosimii; in others considered a subdivision of Prosimii Strepsirhini, suborder Strepsirhini - in some classifications either coextensive with the Lemuroidea or comprising the true lemurs Omomyid, Omomyid group - extinct tiny nocturnal lower primates that fed on fruit and insects; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; probably gave rise to the tarsiers; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins suborder Tarsioidea, Tarsioidea - in some classifications assigned to the suborder Prosimii