Themes > Science > Zoological Sciences > Animal classification > Primate Taxonomy > Anthropoids

Members of the suborder Anthropoidea, or anthropoids, include New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, apes, and
humans and are distinguished from the prosimians. The sub-order is quite diverse but generally has evolved more rapidly from
primitive ancestral primates than have the prosimians and show more fully developed primate specializations.

General anthropoid characteristics:

  1. fully binoccular vision;
  2. larger brains;
  3. substantial reduction in olfactory organs and nasal area;
  4. improved manual dexterity.
This suborder is in turn divided into two infraorders:
  1. Platyrrhini (New World monkeys); and
  2. Catarrhini (Old World monkeys, apes, and humans)


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