Catarrhini
Catarrhini is the unranked group of the
Primates, one of the three major divisions of the
suborder Haplorhini. It contains the
family Cercopithecidae (
Old World monkeys), the
gibbons or lesser apes (
Hylobatidae) and the
Hominidae (hominids), which include
humans,
chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and
orangutan). Some count the
orangutan as its own family, called
Pongidae.
Older authors described humans and their most close extinct relatives/ancestors as family on its own and placed the great
apes in the family Pongidae. (see
Primates).
They also contain several extinct taxa.
The other haplorhines are the
prosimian tarsiers, which were formerly classified as strepsirhines, and the
Platyrrhini (
New World monkeys), which live in
South America.
Catarrhini means narrow nose, and the term describes their narrow, downward pointing nostrils. Unlike the platyrrhini, they are generally diurnal and their tails (if they have tails at all) are not prehensile. They have flat fingernails.
Their dental formula is
Most species show considerable
sexual dimorphism and do not form a pair bond. Most but not all species live in social groups.
They are all native to
Africa and
Asia. (except for us humans of course)
Classification
External link