Prosimian
Prosimian primates are the most primitive of living primates and share many morphological characteristics with other mammals such as tree shrews and bats[1][2]. The greatest diversity of prosimian primates is found on the island of Madagascar[3], but all species of living prosimians are found only in the Old World.
Lemurs
Lemurs exist only on the island of Madagascar and the neighbouring islands of the Comores. They are among the most primitive of primates. They have moist noses and reflective eyes. They range in body size from the 30 gram Pygmy lemur to the 10kg Indri[1][2]. Due to their geographicaly restricted range and destruction of habitat by humans, all lemur species are threatened or endangered[4].
Lorises
Lorises are arboreal prosimian primates who live in India and southeast Asia. they live in tropical areas, typically high in the canopy and rarely come to the ground]][1][2]. They are known to be very slow moving. Bushbabies are extremely adept leapers.
Galagos
Galagos, also known as bushbabies, are small, arboreal nocturnal primates with large eyes. They are native to Africa]][1][2].
Tarsiers
Tarsiers are a nocturnal, arboreal primate restricted to several islands in southeast Asia. They are primarily insectivorous and are agile leapers. Unlike most nocturnal primates, they have non-reflective eyes]][1][2].
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 J. Fleagle (1998). Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press: New York.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 F. Szalay and E. Delson (2001). Evolutionary History of the Primates. Academic Press, New York.
- ↑ Wild Madagascar (2005). Madagascar lemurs descended from single primate ancestor. Wildmadagascar.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
- ↑ IUCN (2007). IUCN redlist. IUCN. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.