• Primates are composed by Lemurs, Lorises, Tarsiers, Monkeys, and Apes.
• Primates in general have big round skulls, with big brains compared to their bodies.
• They have forward-looking eyes, which provide them stereoscopic vision, or the ability to see deepness.
• They also have highly mobile arms and dexterous hands, and sometimes feet too, with greatly mobile ankles and sometimes even shoulders.
• Their fingers and toes are highly sensitive, and most have nails rather than claws.
• Finally, many of them have completely opposable thumbs, which give them an incredible dexterity for moving and manipulating objects.
• Most of these characteristics are present separately in other kinds of mammals, but it is the combination of these what defines a primate.
• The difference between monkeys and apes is that monkeys have a tail and are more adapted to life in trees, while apes lack the tail and tend to spend more time in land, even standing and walking on two legs for at least short periods.

Aye aye ; photo by Frank.Vassen cc-by	Black Spider Monkey; photo by Wwarby cc-by	Gorilla, photo by Brockinhrt2 c-by

Sources:

-The Variety of Life, Colin Tudge, 2000

Citation: García, A.I. 2015. The Tree Of Nature (Online) at http://thetreeofnature.com

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