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What are prosimians? Where are they on the Linnean classification system in relation to humans? What are the common names of the primates found in this category?

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User Columbia
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Final answer:

Prosimians are a primitive group within the Order Primates, including bush babies, lemurs, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers. They are smaller and have smaller brains than anthropoids, such as humans. They fall under the Strepsirrhini suborder in the Linnean classification.

Step-by-step explanation:

Prosimians are a group within the Order Primates, which is divided into prosimians and anthropoids. Prosimians tend to be nocturnal, smaller in size, and possess relatively smaller brains compared to anthropoids. The common names for primates in the prosimian category include bush babies of Africa, lemurs of Madagascar, and lorises, pottos, and tarsiers of Southeast Asia. In the Linnean classification system, humans are categorized under anthropoids, which also includes monkeys, lesser apes, and great apes. Humans belong to the species Homo sapiens, within the genus Homo.

Prosimians are classified under the suborder Strepsirrhini ("turned-nosed"), which is known for its wet-nosed primates, a distinguishing feature from the Haplorhini ("simple-nosed") suborder that includes dry-nosed primates such as tarsiers, monkeys, apes, and humans. In the context of shared traits, prosimians and humans share key features, such as pentadactyl limbs (five fingers), various types of teeth, eye orbit characteristics, and an opposable thumb, reflecting their adaptation to life in the trees.

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User Marco Luglio
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