Primate Families

This group gathers taxon/Mammal Families subcategory members that are themselves mammal families belonging to the order Primates. It spans New World monkey families found across Central and South America, Old World monkey and ape families of Africa and Asia, and the more primitive strepsirrhine families such as the lemurs of Madagascar and the lorises and galagos of Africa and Asia, alongside the tarsiers, whose own family occupies a distinct evolutionary branch between the strepsirrhines and the monkeys and apes. Every family gathered here shares forward-facing eyes giving strong depth perception, grasping hands and, in most members, feet as well, and a relatively large brain for body size compared with most other mammal orders, traits that trace back to a shared ancestor adapted for life moving through trees.