A group of living things
Primates
Primates
Grasping hands, forward-facing eyes and big brains
Its members' last common ancestor lived about 70 million years ago.
You are part of this group. See how.
Grasping hands, forward-facing eyes and relatively big brains link lemurs, monkeys and apes, including you. Their surprise cousins shown beside them on the tree are rodents. Two large eyes face forward, giving depth perception for judging distances. Hands grasp, and often feet too, with long fingers, opposable thumbs or big toes, flat nails on some fingers and toes and soft pads for touch.
Apart from humans, most live in warm, wet forests in tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Central and South America, spending much time in trees. Faces range from long moist snouts in lemurs, lorises and bushbabies to short flat faces in monkeys and apes. Tails vary too: most lemurs and most monkeys have long tails for balance. Some monkeys in Central and South America have strong grasping tails, while apes have no tail outside the body.
Fur and hair colour is very varied. For example, older male gorillas have dark fur with silvery-grey backs. Male gorillas can stand as tall as a grown man at about 1.8 metres.
Clever stone tools
Wild bearded capuchin monkeys pick stones of the best weight to crack hard palm nuts on stones used as anvils.
Knuckle-walking and fingerprints
Gorillas walk on all fours on their knuckles, with arms longer than legs. Each animal has its own fingerprints and nose prints.
Active at night and grooming combs
Lorises and bushbabies are active at night, while lemurs vary with some active by day and some at night. Many have lower front teeth that form a comb for grooming fur, and a claw on the second toe.