Catarrhini

Catarrhini
Temporal range: Late Eocene – Present
An infant Stump-tailed Macaque
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorrhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Catarrhini
É. Geoffroy, 1812
Families

Cercopithecidae
Hylobatidae
Hominidae

Catarrhini is one of the two subdivisions of the higher primates (the other being the New World monkeys). It contains the Old World monkeys and the apes, which in turn are further divided into the lesser apes or gibbons and the great apes, consisting of the orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. They are all native to Africa and Asia.

Contents

Description

The name Catarrhini means drooping nose[1] or downward nosed,[2] and refers to their narrow, downward pointing nostrils,[3] in contrast with the outward pointing nostrils of the New World monkeys (Platyrrhini).[4]

Like the platyrrhines (with the exception of the genus Aotus), the catarrhines are diurnal.[3]

Apes do not have tails.[1] The tails of Old World Monkeys are not prehensile, but serve as balancing organs. Catarrhines have flat finger- and toenails.[3] They have prehensile (grasping) hands, and all but humans also have prehensile feet.[2] Their dental formula is Upper: 2.1.2.3, lower: 2.1.2.3.[3]

Most species show considerable sexual dimorphism and do not form a pair bond. Most, but not all, species live in social groups.

Classification and evolution

The apes and Old World monkeys split from their New World monkey kin about 35 million years ago. The major catarrhine division occurred about 25 mya, with the gibbons separating from the great apes (including humans) about 15-19 mya.[5]

Late Asian catarrhines

In May 2005, three new primate fossils were discovered in the Bugti Hills of Pakistan. These hills lock away many primate mysteries. One of these mysteries was uncovered in 2001, when the early primate Bugtilemur was discovered and led to the assumption that lemurs came from Asia, not Africa. The three primates called Bugtipithecus inexpectans, Phileosimias kamali, and Phileosimias brahuiorum all date back to the Oligocene some 30 million years ago - when monkeys dominated only Africa. These were small lemur-like catarrhines that prospered in an ancient tropical rainforest. Possibly these Asian catarrhines led nowhere in evolution, a side branch from Eosimias. Other possible new catarrhines fossils have been uncovered in China, Thailand, and Burma. [7]

References

  1. ^ a b Baines, Elizabeth (1997). "Apes and Humans". The University of Edinburgh. http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=493.504.508.505. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  2. ^ a b catarrhine. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
  3. ^ a b c d "Catarrhini Infraorder". ChimpanZoo (The Jane Goodall Institute). http://www.chimpanzoo.org/catarrhi.html. Retrieved January 2010. 
  4. ^ "Haplorhine Infraorders" (PDF). p. 11. http://homepage.mac.com/wis/Personal/lectures/primate-adaptation/06TarsiersAndNWMs.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  5. ^ Carlos G. Schrago, Claudia A. M. Russo (2003-06-27). "Timing the Origin of New World Monkeys". Molecular Biology and Evolution. Oxford Journals. http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/10/1620.full. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
  6. ^ Groves, Colin P. (16 November 2005). "ORDER PRIMATES". In Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds. Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100001. 
  7. ^ Marivaux et al. (June 2005). "Anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Pakistan (Bugti Hills): Data on early anthropoid evolution and biogeography". PNAS 102 (24): 8436–41. doi:10.1073/pnas.0503469102. PMC 1150860. PMID 15937103. http://www.pnas.org/content/102/24/8436.  (Full text PDF)