Portal:Primates

The Primates Portal A primate is a member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains lemurs, the aye-aye, lorisids, galagos, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes, with the last category including great apes. With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth, most primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of the Americas, Africa and Asia. Primates range in size from the 30-gram (1 oz) pygmy mouse lemur to the 200-kilogram (440 lb) mountain gorilla. According to fossil evidence, the primitive ancestors of primates may have existed in the late Cretaceous period around 65 mya (million years ago), and the oldest known primate is the Late Paleocene Plesiadapis, c. 55–58 mya. Molecular clock studies suggest that the primate branch may be even older, originating in the mid-Cretaceous period around 85 mya. Primates exhibit a wide range of characteristics. Some primates do not live primarily in trees, but all species possess adaptations for climbing trees. Locomotion techniques used include leaping from tree to tree, walking on two or four limbs, knuckle-walking, and swinging between branches of trees (known as brachiation). Primates are characterized by their large brains relative to other mammals. These features are most significant in monkeys and apes, and noticeably less so in lorises and lemurs. Many species are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have different physical traits, including body mass, canine tooth size, and coloration. More about Primates... Selected article Slow lorises (genus Nycticebus) are strepsirrhine primates found in South and Southeast Asia. They range from Northeast India to the southern Philippines and from the Yunnan province in China in the north to the island of Java in the south. There are currently five species recognized: Sunda slow loris (N. coucang), Bengal slow loris (N. bengalensis), pygmy slow loris (N. pygmaeus), Javan slow loris (N. javanicus), and the Bornean slow loris (N. menagensis). Slow lorises are most closely related to other lorisids, such as slender lorises, pottos, the false potto, and angwantibos. Like other living ("crown") strepsirrhines, these nocturnal primates have a reflective layer in their eye called the tapetum lucidum, which enhances their night vision. They also have a rhinarium or "wet nose", which is a touch-based sense organ. Because of their close relation to lemurs and other lorisiforms, they also possess a toothcomb, which is used in personal and social grooming, as well as feeding. Like nearly all prosimian ("pre-monkey") primates, they have a toilet-claw, which is also used in grooming. Slow lorises have a round head, narrow snout, large eyes, and distinctive coloration patterns. Their arms and legs are nearly equal in length, and their trunk is long, allowing them to twist and extend to nearby branches. The hands and feet of slow lorises have several adaptations that give them a pincer-like grip and enable them to grasp branches for long periods of time. Slow lorises and possibly some of their closest relatives have a toxic bite—a rare trait among mammals. Little is known about their social structure, but they are known to communicate by scent-marking. Males are highly territorial. Slow lorises reproduce slowly, and the infants are initially parked on branches or carried by either parent. They are omnivores, eating small animals, fruit, tree gum, and other vegetation. All slow loris species are listed as either "Vulnerable" or "Endangered" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) and are threatened by the wildlife trade and habitat loss. Although their habitat is rapidly disappearing and becoming fragmented, making it nearly impossible for slow lorises to disperse between forest fragments, unsustainable demand from the exotic pet trade and traditional medicine has been the greatest cause for their decline. Selected picture {{{caption}}} The brown spider monkey, Ateles hybridus, is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from South America. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. Like all spider monkeys, it has very long, spindly limbs and a lengthy prehensile tail which can almost be called a fifth limb. The tail is made up of highly flexible, hairless tips with skin grooves which improves grip on tree branches and is adapted to its strictly arboreal lifestyle. It is currently critically endangered, with few examples of them remaining in the wild. Categories Select [►] to view subcategories Primates Lists of primates Primates by location Primate anatomy Primate behavior Primate conservation Evolution of primates Extinct primates Primate health Primates and humans Primate taxa Primate stubs Selected species {{{caption}}} Extinct (IUCN 3.1)|Extinct Homo floresiensis ( /flɔːrˈɛziːˌɛn.sɪs/ also known as "Flores Man") is an extinct species of small archaic human that inhabited the island of Flores, Indonesia, until the arrival of modern humans about 50,000 years ago. The remains of an individual who would have stood about 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) in height were discovered in 2003 at Liang Bua cave. Partial skeletons of at least nine individuals have been recovered, including one complete skull, referred to as "LB1". (Full article...) Did you know? ... that both Margot Marsh's mouse lemur and Arnhold's mouse lemur are separated from their closest relatives by species barriers? ... that the gestation period of the ring-tailed lemur is approximately 146 days? ... that the endangered golden lion tamarin has a long, but not prehensile, tail? ... that until December 2008, the red lemur and the red-fronted lemur (pictured) were considered the same species? ... that the gray-handed night monkey is nocturnal and monogamous? ... that Corcovado National Park is the only national park in which all of Costa Rica's four native monkey species can be found? Primate lists List of lemur species List of Central American monkey species List of Costa Rican monkey species List of Panamanian monkey species List of Neanderthal sites List of apes List of fictional apes List of fictional monkeys List of human evolution fossils List of monkeys List of placental mammals in Order Primates WikiProjects WikiProject Science WikiProject Biology WikiProject Tree of Life WikiProject Animals WikiProject Mammals Wikiproject Primates Topics Humans  Human body • Human evolution • Human ecology • Human development Strepsirrhines  Lemur • Lorisoidea • Adapiformes • List of lemur species Haplorhines  Tarsier • Omomyidae • Monkey • Old World monkey • New World monkey • Ape Related portals Mammals Science History of Science Biology Ecology Evolutionary biology Things to do Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : Article requests Cleanup : Ebu Gogo, Primate basal ganglia system, More Copyedit : Homo erectus, Multiregional origin of modern humans Expand : Ah Meng, Multiregional origin of modern humans, More Merge : Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium into Chimpanzee genome project Stubs : Giant Aye-aye, Godinotia, Equatorial Saki, Furry-eared Dwarf Lemur, More... 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