Talk:Primate

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[edit] Tarsiers

Where do Tarsiers fall in under the classification scheme? john 08:05 May 11, 2003 (UTC)

Hoolie Doolie, what a mess! And here was me thinking that bird taxonomy was a tangled and ever-changing thing. Regard my recent addition of the tarsiers as a temporary patch-up and subject to revision. I consulted three pretty decent sources just now and got about 5 different answers. Still, at least the tarsiers appear in the box now. Tannin 09:23 May 11, 2003 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure that the Tarsiers are now in their own suborder. An expert source needs to be found first however. DarthVader 00:33, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

Please notice the age of the post you are replying to, and note that the whole set of primate articles are now being managed by WP:PRIM, and we're using the most recent primate taxonomy published by Colin Groves. - UtherSRG 02:42, July 20, 2005 (UTC)

Tarsiers, being small and nocturnal, are classified with lorises and lemurs as Prosimians on the suborder level, while they are in the same infraorder (haplorhines) as old world monkeys, new world monkeys, and apes.

Incorrect. Prosimii is no longer an accepted suborder. Tarsiers are more closely related to the simians than they are to the rest of the prosimians. Because of this, the entire classification was changed a bit. Tarsiers were moved out of Prosimii and into the Anthropoidea, and the two were renamed Strepsirrhini and Haplorrhini. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:18, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Language

I just deleted the pronunciation detail. I don't think it is encyclopaedic. I also changed the reference to Primate (religion), because I'm unaware which is older. Both are in current use, and I don't know how relevant the age of each is. - Cafemusique 21:49 26 Jun 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Weight comparisions

Just thought I'd note that the weights given for the gorilla are inconsistent with those given on the gorilla page.


Eh, 52kg for a human female and 75kg for a male? That seems a little low for your average westerner, at least for women. -- Kimiko 16:16, 18 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, perhaps it is a little low for average folks. Ah... I've found 62.5kg for women [1] and 78.4kg for men [2]. Thanks for the nudge. - UtherSRG 16:33, 18 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Great Apes

I looked it up, and humans are considered apes, but not great apes. Since gibbons(lesser apes) are also apes but not hominids, I changed "apes (including humans)" to "great apes and humans", since all apes (ie the gibbons) were already exclude.--Mishac 01:00, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Excellent! - UtherSRG 01:31, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Does "great apes" include humans? I thought "ape" could include humans, but that "great apes" was specifically orangs, gorillas and chimps....--Mishac 19:32, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I've always understood humans to be included in great apes. I wish the person who removes such a linkage would cite a source. - UtherSRG 19:37, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

The Great Apes share a common ancestor. The first to speciate from the common ancestor was the orangutan. Thus, gorillas, chimps, bonobos, and humans all share a common ancestor that orangutans do not share. Then the gorillas speciated, resulting in chimps, bonobos, and humans sharing a common ancestor that orangutans and gorillas do not share. Then humans speciated, resulting in the common ancestor of chimps and bonobos that humans, gorillas, and orangutans do not share. So, it is possible to group together chimps and bonobos without including humans, but once either gorillas or orangutans are also included in the group, humans must necessarily also be included. - Mcarling 10:23, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

That assumes a cladistic understanding of taxonomy, doesn't it? By that standard, "reptiles" can't be considered a group without including birds, since crocodiles and birds diverged more recently than crocodiles and turtles. Mammals might have to be included as well. While understanding the order of speciation is certainly very important, I'm not sure why this should be assumed to trump the more standard way of classifying animals. john 00:12, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
That, John, is best understood as a comment about the problems with the current classification of birds & reptiles. The fact that there is an exception to the usual rule (which will presumably be corrected sooner or later) doesn't mean we have to throw the whole baby out the window along with the bathwater. Tannin 00:27, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I suppose, but the whole phylogenetic system doesn't actually work very well with the Linnaean classification scheme. Classification schemes based on monophyletic trees invariably have many, many, many, many more groupings than the other way of doing things - generally such that there aren't even widely agreed upon names for what classification level each division is actually at. Perhaps that means that that whole current classification scheme needs to be abandoned, but as long as its around, isn't it rather unlikely that crocodiles, lizards, and turtles will all be split off into separate classes? At any rate, here we are discussing a common name, "Great Apes". I see even less reason why such a term should be monophyletic than that ordinary taxonomic groups be. john 03:00, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)
There is an argument (on the reptile/bird model) for not including humans among the apes or among the great apes - if you suppose we are so different that we no longer share key characteristics that the (other) apes share. But there can be no argument for excluding us from the great apes but including us among the apes, since if we are apes, we are clearly descended from the same stock as the great apes after they split off from the gibbons. And it seems to me that the first argument was lost at the point where the Pongidae were renamed as the Hominidae. I agree that there is a need for a name for the group consisting of the orangutan, gorilla, and chimpanzees: I don't think at present we have anything less clumsy than "the non-human great apes" or "the great apes (excluding humans)". In nontechnical speech, it should be reasonable to refer to them just as "the great apes", just as we often talk about "animals" rather than "non-human animals" when we mean to exclude humans; the trouble is that there are people around who, for nonbiological reasons, don't want to recognise that humans are among the great apes, and this usage gives them hostages. seglea 10:26, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Body plan

Can someone explain what is meant by "unspecialised body plan"? thanks :)--Mishac 10:27, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I unerstand it to mean "not adapted to special needs". Feline bodies are specialized catching prey: for running fast, including a tail for balance, and dentition designed to clamp onto the prey to kill it. Cetacean bodies are desgned to survive for full-time aquatic life, while other mammals have made similar adaptions to living some of the time in water. Different avian ody types adapted to the particular niches they occupy (long bills, short bills, long legs, webbed feet, etc.). Primates are generally unspecialized in these regards. The gripping hand for brachiation is the most specialized form common to primates. Obviously some primates are less specialized and others are more specialized, but in general the form is considered unspecialized. - UtherSRG 16:58, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Sexual dimorphism

Someone asked in an edit summary whether the link between sexual dimorphism and polygyny is secure. Yes, it is. It is predicted on the basis of parental investment theory (an important component of sociobiology), and it is documented in detail for the primates in papers by Clutton-Brock and Harvey, if I remember rightly (I don't have my books here). We should really put a fuller table in - the present one is haphazard, and the data are all there to quote from - we need references, too. The same rule of course holds in other taxa, though in birds the dimorphism is more obvious in terms of colour, etc than size; however females are typically bigger than males in polyandrous species, as you'd expect. seglea 18:59, 28 May 2004 (UTC)

Originally, the article stated that pair-bonding was caused by lack of sexual dimorphism; now it says that lack of sexual dimorphism is caused by pair-bonding. Which is correct? Or is this a kind of feedback loop?
It's interesting to see that humans, who are the rare Old World species that mostly practices pair bonding, also have relatively low sexual dimorphism. Stormwriter 21:52, 28 May 2004 (UTC)
The human females breasts being enlarged even when not pregnant / producing milk in confusing to some. I believe thats unique among animals. (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 11:45, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Human

Please come help out on Human. Were facing a number of questions regarding a past poll and its results, the positioning of the taxobox and an image, the definition of "Human", if Homo Sapiens should split off into its own article, and even if the "article in need of attention" header is appropriate. I'd like as much expert involvement as possible, if you please. Cheers, (Sam Spade | talk | contributions) 11:45, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Legal status

Marskell, could you discuss the legal status section here, please, rather than just changing it back and forth? You seem to have two objections: first, you keep changing "human primate" to "human being." The reason I wrote human primate versus non-human primate is because this is an article about primates, and we are primates too, which ties in with the point of the section, namely that some primates have their individual interests protected, and some don't.

The second thing you object to is the Great Ape Project paragraph. Could you say why? Great apes are primates, and this project, which is taken very seriously and isn't just a crank thing, aims to extend the protection of individual interests to non-human primates through this campaign. I don't see that it matters that they're focusing on only one group of primates: the point here is that they seek to cross the line between human and non-human primates legally. It's a revolutionary idea and very much worth mentioning, in my view. SlimVirgin (talk) 17:57, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

I'll take a quick stab at this befor eI run off to a meeting.
  1. Humans are mammals and only some mammals have legal rights. Shouldn't we put this on the mammal page? How about animal? How about eukarayote?
  2. The Great Ape Project is about great apes. A small mention as a link is appropriate here, and a reasonable section is appropriate on Hominidae.
- UtherSRG (talk) 18:16, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
The reason it's more pertinent with primates is because the idea that primates (not just great apes) need some protection for their individual interests is one that is gaining currency and becoming more mainstream, that is, it's no longer a tiny-minority opinion. Of course, we could add it to lots of Wikipedia pages e.g. we could add to Murder that "the killing of primates doesn't count as murder because they have no rights in law," and so on, but it would be stretching the point. My argument here is that I don't feel a point is being stretched on a page that specifically deals with primates. For example, it would have been odd to write a story about African-Americans while there was still slavery, without mentioning that they had no, or few, legal rights, or a story about Jews during the Holocaust that didn't talk about their treatment in Nazi Germany. Similarly, it would strike me as odd, in an article about primates, not to mention how they are very often treated, and to say something about the reasons for that treatment, given that there is such widespread, and increasingly mainstream, concern about it: even George Bush has said something about it. I thought it was you, Stacey, who originally moved this section higher, which I took to mean you liked it. Perhaps I'm thinking of someone else, or some other page.
As for your point about the Great Ape Project, I'll go back into the article and reduce that paragraph, and perhaps that will be a reasonable compromise. SlimVirgin (talk) 19:54, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
It may well have been me who put it up higher earlier, but we have more sections in the article now. - UtherSRG (talk) 20:05, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

First Slim, my edit summary was very clear: it belongs on the ape page not here. You say "not just apes" but can you clarify that the Great Ape Project extends to non-ape primates? I know it's not a crank but is anyone seriously arguing that lemurs should be considered person? If no, then not here. Chimps, Gorillas and Orangs are of course the best known non-human primates but they are three species (three genera, actually - UtherSRG) out of many dozens. I will abreviate this as it was before and move it the ape page. That is, not suppressing info but moving it to the appropriate spot. Marskell 23:30, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

I've reduced it as discussed earlier. I'd appreciate it if you would stop simply reinserting your edits, Marskell. This is a properly sourced relevant section, which has been here for months. The article is about all primates, and I have offered information about the legal status of them, including information about people who are trying to change that legal status, and yes, people are very serious about extending the notion of personhood, a legal concept, to lemurs. It strikes me that you're personally dismissive of the idea and therefore feel it has no place here, but that's your POV. This is not a tiny-minority opinion. SlimVirgin (talk) 23:41, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
This edit summary of yours is indicative of your POV: "placing legal status at bottom and removing great ape project ref. should lemurs be considered persons under law? a) no b) i don't care. save it for the ape page." SlimVirgin (talk) 23:43, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
You asked for talk consideration and I have given it: it makes sense on the ape page, not here. The paragraph has now been inserted on ape (which I'd guess actually gets more read-throughs, so in no way is the info being suppressed). I'm not going to revert but edit to avoid duplication with ape as it now stands. K?
"And yes, people are very serious about extending the notion of personhood, a legal concept, to lemurs." Source? Marskell 23:45, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
If you've inserted it wholesale into Ape, you'd better adjust the figures in it to cover only apes. As for finding a source for you, you can find one yourself in five minutes, probably from the same places you'll find the figures you need to correct the Ape edit. I only look for sources for material I've inserted into articles. Please do not adjust this section any further. You got what you wanted: it's now right at the bottom of the page as though it's the least important issue, and the Great Ape Project paragraph has been reduced to one sentence. I would appreciate it if you would agree to that compromise and leave the rest of it alone. SlimVirgin (talk) 23:51, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

"As for finding a source for you, you can find one yourself in five minutes." Wow. Conversation over. Marskell 23:55, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

Well, no, Marskell, the conversation isn't over. It never began, because you're determined to do whatever you want regardless. If you don't correct the figures in the Ape article, I will remove the section entirely. You're now engaged in WP:POINT, deliberately inserting false material elsewhere so that you can claim it's duplicated and therefore remove it from here. That is a violation of policy. SlimVirgin (talk) 23:59, 5 October 2005 (UTC)
I was out of order accusing Marskell of WP:POINT. He did no such thing, of course, and I'm sorry for being so sharp and short-tempered about this issue. It was because of things happening elsewhere. I'll have calmed down by tomorrow, no doubt, and I'm sorry for taking it out on people here. I'll leave the sections in Ape and here alone. SlimVirgin (talk) 01:21, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
I hope this isn't a permanent withdrawal from primate work, and is simply a chance to have some breathing room. I'd like to reorganize the ape article, as its sections are a bit disjoint. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:09, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

You probably don't need to hear this, BUT, coming in new and reading "Legal Status," the sentences pertaining to humans sound dissonant. Humans are editing Wikipedia. We are very nearly in every article either literally or from a human point of view. Why not say that humans are covered elsewhere and let it go at that. Not even sure that should be there. Just doesn't sound encyclopedic and detached.Student7 22:12, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] rewriting

I've decided to rewrite the first few sections of the article. I finally got annoyed at the size difference table, rewrote that entire section, merged it with the general description section, and expanded the lead ection to include a bit of division and habitation information. Feel free to comment, undo, or continue this work. - UtherSRG (talk) 08:53, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Diet

Could somebody put in something about diet here? Maybe this is too broad a page for that topic, but can something sensible be said about the general range of diets in (non-human) primates? Some are very highly specialized, some not, and I think it would be interesting to have a very brief overview and perhaps some references (and a bit more on some species specific pages). Abu Amaal 23:01, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

Some are herbivores, some are more specifically foliovores and fugivores. Some are omnivores. I'm not sure if any are strictly carnivores. I'll add your comment to the ongoing peer review for this article and work on adding some information. - UtherSRG (talk) 23:13, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Primitive. Helpful?

"Generally speaking, the Primates are divided into three main groupings. The prosimians are the group of primates that represent the more primitive evolutionary line. "

Is there a different way to phrase that - our last common ancestor wasa long time ago, so unless they are like Coelocanths, which doesn't seem to be brought out and would be notable in itself, have they not done as much evolving since as the rest of us? Midgley 05:37, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Prosimians are considered more "primitive" because their adaptiations have not moved them far from our common ancester with them. They are tree dwelling, generalist insectivores. Yet I see your point about the word "primitive". I'll see what I can do. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:57, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
Thanks. One should be polite about distant cousins<grin> Midgley 14:16, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] vandalism

The TAXOBOX has been vandalized —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.51.13.11 (talk • contribs) .

Oh? How so? I don't see any vandalism to the taxobox. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:11, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed move

This page should be moved to Non-human primate.

Exploding Boy 19:07, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Support

  1. Exploding Boy 22:58, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Oppose

  1. No it shouldn't. This article is about the whole order. Ucucha 19:57, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
  2. Absolutely not. - UtherSRG (talk) 11:06, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
  3. No. --Vjam 11:38, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Legal Status which was complete mess

Legal status of primates is regulated by several international conventions in animal trade. I personally feel that it is superfluous in this short intro, but maybe some user with technical info feels it is necessary.

Short information about endangered primates & extiction risk, on the other hand, is needed.~~ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 131.152.84.114 (talk • contribs) .

So add information abut those conventions. And add information about endangered species. - UtherSRG (talk) 23:04, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

How about a pointer to "Endangered Species," which already exists and an expansion of that topic to include primates (other than the aye-aye, which is already there)?Student7 22:32, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Brachiation

The physical description section correctly states that primates have opposable thumbs, fingernails and long inward-closing fingers, but wrongly implies this to be a result of a common brachiating ancestor. Only the apes can brachiate (swing through the trees), and this is reflected in their anatomy, notably in the shape of the shoulder, hip and wrist joints, and the relative strength of the arms. The other primates move along the branches of trees, rather than swing between them. I suggest deleting the part about brachiation, without losing any of the information on the hands themselves. Perhaps the brachiating part could be replaced by the more general point that primates hands developed because they can grip branches, but I don't have any sources for that. I wanted to check though before changing. --Robbie251 19:10, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I think i was wrong in saying only apes can brachiate (the spider monkey can too, at least), but the point remains that it is not a feature common to all primates. --Robbie251 19:15, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you. I believe I have updated the text in an appropriate manner. - UtherSRG (talk) 12:15, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
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