Simian

"Anthropoids" redirects here. For other uses, see Anthropoid (disambiguation) and Simian (disambiguation).
For an explanation of very similar terms, see Monkey.

Simians
Temporal range: Middle Eocene-Holocene, 40–0 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Haeckel, 1866[1][2][3]
Parvorders


sister: Tarsiiformes

Synonyms

The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes /ˈsɪmi.ɪfɔːrmiːz/) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and Catarrhini, the latter of which consists of the family Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys in the stricter sense) and the superfamily Hominoidea (apes – including humans).

The simians are sister group to the tarsiers (Tarsiiformes), together forming the haplorhines. The radiation occurred about 60 million years ago (during the Cenozoic era); 40 million years ago, simians colonized South America, giving rise to the New World monkeys. The remaining simians (catarrhines) split about 25 million years ago into Cercopithecidae and apes (including humans).

  1. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). "Simiiformes". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 128. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference SAP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c Haekel, Ernst (1866). Generelle Morphologie, Allgemeine Entwicklungsgeschichte der Organismen. pp. CLX.
  4. ^ Pocock, R. I. (1918-03-05). "On the External Characters of the Lemurs and of Tarsius". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 88 (1–2): 19–53. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1918.tb02076.x. ISSN 0370-2774.