∞ generated and posted on 2016.11.09 ∞
Formal name for lemur-, tarsier-, and monkey-like mammals.
The primates display numerous adaptations particularly to an arboreal, that is, tree-dwelling existence, though various primates, particularly larger ones, spend a substantial amount of time instead on the ground.
Primates tend to be large brained with good eyesight, including possessing three-color vision (roughly, red, yellow, and blue), a relatively poor sense of smell, nails instead of claws, and opposable thumbs. These features tend to be more developed in some primates, particularly monkeys and their descendants, than they are in others.
The primates are an incredibly diverse lineage particularly in terms of their means of locomotion, employing their hands (yes, hands), feet, legs, and arms in a large combination of different approaches, moving along both in the trees and on the ground. Compare, for example, the brachiation of the gibbons with, for example, the quadrumanual clambering of limbs by orangutans.