Anthropology 1026F/G Chapter : Chapter Six Summary and Definitions Understanding Humans

• School: Western University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: Anthropology 1026F/G
• Professor: Andrew Nelson

Document Summary

Primates are the mammalian order that includes prosimians, monkeys, apes, and humans. Primates including humans have retained a number of ancestral characteristics that have permitted them as a group to be generalized in terms of diet and locomotor patterns. Most primates are diurnal and live in social groups. The only nocturnal primates are lorises, galagos, some lemurs, tarsiers, and owl monkeys. Nocturnal species tend to forage for food alone or with offspring and one or two other animals. Diurnal primates live in a variety of social groupings including male and female pairs and groups consisting of one male with several females and offspring or those composed of several males and females and offspring. Most primates today are living a precarious existence as they face hunting, capture, and habitat loss. Prosimians: members of a suborder of primates, the suborder of prosimii, traditionally the suborder includes lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers.