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 wastebasket 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

  1. ^ The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved on 2006-08-26.

[edit] External links