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member of the mammalian order Primates, which includes humans, apesape,
any primate of the superfamily Hominoidea, which includes humans; this article, however, focuses on the nonhuman apes. The small apes, the gibbon and the siamang, and the orangutan, one of the great apes, are found in SE Asia.
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, monkeysmonkey,
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, and prosimians, or lower primates. The group can be traced to the late Cretaceous period, where members were forest dwellers. As a whole, they are arboreal, although a few species are terrestrial; nearly all inhabit warm climates. All higher primates and some prosimians display some degree of social organization.

Primates are very unspecialized anatomically, and the order is more easily described by the evolutionary trends within it, tending generally toward increased dexterity and intelligence, than by specific traits characteristic of all its members. Significant trends have been the enlargement of the braincase, elaboration of the brain and of the sensory pathways to it, flattening of the face and shifting of the eyes to a forward position, development of stereoscopic vision, and increased flexibility of the hands and feet. Nearly all primates have flat fingernails and opposable thumbs and big toes.

The prosimians ("premonkeys") are small, arboreal, mostly nocturnal animals. The most primitive, the tree-shrews, strongly resemble the insectivoresinsectivore
, term broadly given to any insect-eating animal or plant. The term also refers to mammals of the former order Insectivora, in which was included the shrew, mole, hedgehog, tenrec, and solenodon.
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, a primitive, unspecialized group of mammals from which primates branched at an early stage of mammalian evolution. The prosimians also include the lemurslemur
, name for prosimians, or lower primates, of two related families, found only on Madagascar and adjacent islands. Lemurs have monkeylike bodies and limbs, and most have bushy tails about as long as the body. They have pointed muzzles and large eyes.
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 and the aye-ayeaye-aye
, name for an aberrant primate, Daubentonia madagascariensis, related to the lemurs but distinguished by its specialized teeth and fingers. A large nocturnal and arboreal primate, it is found in dense bamboo forests in two isolated regions of Madagascar.
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 of Madagascar, the lorisesloris,
name for slow-moving, nocturnal, arboreal primates of the family Lorisidae, found Africa and Asia. True lorises, found in India, Sri Lanka, and SE Asia, have round heads, large round eyes, and furry bodies. They have no tails, and their index fingers are vestigial.
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 of Africa and Asia, the bush babiesbush baby
or bushbaby,
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 of Africa, and the tarsierstarsier
, small, nocturnal, forest-dwelling prosimian primate, genus Tarsius. There are at least three species found in the Philippines, in Sumatra and Borneo, and in Sulawesi. Tarsiers are about 6 in. (15 cm) long with a 10 in. (25 cm) hairless tail, and weigh about 4.
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 of SE Asia.

Monkeys are diurnal animals, generally with flatter, more expressive faces and better developed brains than the prosimians. Like prosimians, they retain the skeletal structure of quadripedal animals and usually walk or run on four feet. The New World monkeys are anatomically distinct from Old World monkeys; most have prehensile tails, and all are arboreal. The Old World monkeys, which lack prehensile tails and include some terrestrial species, are more closely related to the hominoids (apes and humans).

The apes (gibbonsgibbon,
small ape, family Hylobatidae, found in the forests of SE Asia. The gibbons are known as the small, or lesser, apes; they are the most highly adapted of the apes to arboreal life. They are highly endangered because of habitat destruction.
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, orangutansorangutan
, an ape of the genus Pongo, found in swampy coastal forests of Borneo and Sumatra. Highly specialized for arboreal life, orangutans usually travel by grasping branches with hands and feet and moving from tree to tree. Adult males are about 4 1-2 ft (1.
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, gorillasgorilla,
an ape, genus Gorilla, native to the lowland and mountain forests of western and central equatorial Africa. The two gorilla species are the western, comprising the western lowland (G. gorilla gorilla) and Cross River (G.
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, and chimpanzeeschimpanzee,
an ape, genus Pan, of the equatorial forests of central and W Africa. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, lives N of the Congo River. Full-grown animals of this species are up to 5 ft (1.
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) are characterized by modification of the upper skeleton for brachiation (arm swinging) and by high intelligence. Tool use and limited toolmaking are found among apes. Humans, of which Homo sapiens is the only living species, have a pelvic structure adapted to upright posture and is characterized by the use of language and by a highly developed ability to manipulate the environment (see human evolutionhuman evolution,
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in the Catholic and Anglican churches, the title of the chief bishops of a given country. For example, in France the archbishop of Rouen is the primate of Normandy and the archbishop of Bordeaux is the primate of Aquitaine. In Great Britain the archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of Great Britain and the archbishop of York is the primate of England.


any placental mammal of the order Primates, typically having flexible hands and feet with opposable first digits, good eyesight, and, in the higher apes, a highly developed brain: includes lemurs, lorises, monkeys, apes, and man


1. another name for archbishop
2. Primate of all England the Archbishop of Canterbury
3. Primate of England the Archbishop of York
References in periodicals archive ?
We are very encouraged by the significance of these findings, including data in non-human primates, which continue to validate PCSK9 as an attractive target for a systemic RNAi therapeutic approach given its ability to achieve acute and durable reductions in LDL cholesterol," said Victor Kotelianski, M.
The non-human primates used in the study referenced above were used to help understand anthrax disease mechanisms and to assess novel approaches for the prophylactic treatment of inhalation anthrax in lieu of human efficacy testing pursuant to FDA's "Animal Efficacy Rule" (21 C.
the Commission to propose an end to all non-human primate experiments in the revision process of Directive 86/609 EC on the use of animals in scientific procedures, specifically: to prohibit chimpanzee experiments and the use of wild-caught primates in the EU and phase out all non-human primate experiments in the EU over the next 6 years.
We know from previous studies in non-human primates that CD8 T cells played a crucial role in protecting animals that had been vaccinated with this NIAID/GSK vaccine and then exposed to otherwise lethal amounts of Ebola virus," said Julie E.
Mice, non-human primates, dogs and frogs have all been subjected to testing and the results are drugs that help fight diabetes, high blood pressure, various other antibiotics and advancement in Aids, hepatitis and cancer research.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has found that Air Canada's proposed tariff revisions to stop transporting non-human primates for research are not unreasonable or discriminatory, the agency said.
The Japanese macaques - the most northerly non-human primates - rolled up balls of snow but stopped short of chucking them at each other.
But the overall conclusion was that research on non-human primates was largely beneficial and should be allowed to continue.
Among them are the BAFF receptor regulation of peripheral B-lymphocyte survival and development, the role of BAFF and APRIL in antibody production and diversification, TACI signaling and its role in immunity, systemic immune-based rheumatic diseases, translating BAFF inhibition from the mouse to non-human primates and humans, and the role of BLyS in B-cell malignancies.
Sadly, Directive 86/609 offers no chance of a total ban on the use of all animals but it does present an opportunity to end the use of non-human primates.

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