Simia
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In his Systema Naturae of 1758, Carolus Linnaeus divided the Order Primates into four genera: Homo, Simia, Lemur, and Vespertilio. His Vespertilio included all bats, and has since been moved from Primates to Chiroptera.[1] Homo contained humans (Homo sapiens and Homo troglodytes), Lemur contained four lemurs and a colugo, and Simia contained all the rest — it was, in modern terms, a wastebin taxon for the primates. It is interesting to note that Linnaeus did not think that Homo should form a distinct group from Simia, but he classified them that way primarily to avoid conflict with religious authorities. If we take this into account, Simia (including Homo) would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Haplorrhini of the Primates (while Lemur would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Strepsirrhini).
Homo, Lemur, and Vespertilio have survived as generic names, but Simia has not. All the species have since been moved to other genera, and in 1929, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled (in opinion 114) that Simia be suppressed. However, the genus Simias is valid and contains a single species, the Pig-tailed Langur (Simias concolor).
The original genus Simia came to include these species:
| Modern genus | Modern common name | Original scientific name |
|---|---|---|
| Tarsius Storr, 1780 | Philippine Tarsier | Simia syrichta Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Callithrix Erxleben, 1777 | Common Marmoset | Simia jacchus Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Leontopithecus Lesson, 1840 | Lion tamarin | Simia rosalia Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Saguinus Hoffmannsegg, 1807 | Red-handed Tamarin | Simia midas Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Cottontop Tamarin | Simia oedipus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Cebus Erxleben, 1777 | White-headed Capuchin | Simia capucina Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Tufted Capuchin | Simia apella Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Simia fatuellus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
| Saimiri Voigt, 1831 | Common Squirrel Monkey | Simia sciurea Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Pithecia Desmarest, 1804 | White-faced Saki | Simia pithecia Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Alouatta Lacépède, 1799 | Red-handed Howler | Simia belzebul Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Venezuelan Red Howler | Simia seniculus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Ateles É. Geoffroy, 1806 | Red-faced Spider Monkey | Simia paniscus Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Lagothrix É. Geoffroy, 1812 | Brown Woolly Monkey | Simia lagotricha Humboldt, 1812 |
| Chlorocebus Gray, 1870 | Grivet | Simia aethiops Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Green Monkey | Simia sabacea Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Cercopithecus Linnaeus, 1758 (named as a subsection of Simia) |
Moustached Guenon | Simia cephus Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Diana Monkey | Simia diana Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Simia faunus Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
| Greater Spot-nosed Monkey | Simia nictitans Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Macaca Lacépède, 1799 | Southern Pig-tailed Macaque | Simia nemestrina Linnaeus, 1766 |
| Lion-tailed Macaque | Simia silenus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Barbary Macaque | Simia sylvanus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Simia inuus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
| Papio Erxleben, 1777 | Hamadryas Baboon | Simia hamadryas Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Yellow Baboon | Simia cynocephalus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Mandrillus Ritgen, 1824 | Mandrill | Simia sphynx Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Simia maimon Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
| Pongo Lacépède, 1799 | Bornean Orangutan | Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 |
| Pan Oken, 1816 | Common Chimpanzee | Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 |
[edit] References
- ^ The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved on 2006-08-26.
