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The common name "potto" may be from Wolof pata (a tailless monkey). [3] The generic name Perodicticus is composed of Greek πηρός (pērós, ‘maimed’) and δεικτικός (deiktikós, "able to show/indicate", cf. δείκτης, deíktēs, ‘index finger’). It refers to the stubby index finger that seems mutilated. [4] [5]
The chimpanzee is tailless; its coat is dark; its face, fingers, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet are hairless. The exposed skin of the face, hands, and feet varies from pink to very dark in both species, but is generally lighter in younger individuals and darkens with maturity.
In earlier classification, New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, apes, and humans – collectively known as simians or anthropoids – were grouped under Anthropoidea (/ ˌ æ n θ r ə ˈ p ɔɪ d i. ə /; from Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos) 'human' and -οειδής (-oeidḗs) 'resembling, connected to, etc.'), while the strepsirrhines and tarsiers were grouped under the ...
However, humans and our closest primate relatives — the great apes — said farewell to tails about 25 million years ago, when the group split from Old World monkeys.
The Hominidae (/ h ɒ ˈ m ɪ n ɪ d iː /), whose members are known as the great apes [note 1] or hominids (/ ˈ h ɒ m ɪ n ɪ d z /), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: Pongo (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); Gorilla (the eastern and western gorilla); Pan (the chimpanzee and the bonobo); and Homo, of which only modern humans ...
"Ape", from Old English apa, is a word of uncertain origin. [b] The term has a history of rather imprecise usage—and of comedic or punning usage in the vernacular.Its earliest meaning was generally of any non-human anthropoid primate, as is still the case for its cognates in other Germanic languages.
For example, ape has been used either as an alternative for monkey or for any tailless, relatively human-like primate. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Sir Wilfrid Le Gros Clark was one of the primatologists who developed the idea of trends in primate evolution and the methodology of arranging the living members of an order into an "ascending series" leading to ...
Old World monkeys are primates in the family Cercopithecidae (/ ˌ s ɜːr k oʊ p ɪ ˈ θ ɛ s ɪ d iː /).Twenty-four genera and 138 species are recognized, making it the largest primate family.