MAMMALS. 123 



ORDER XL PRIMATES. 



The term Primates is given to that group which includes 

 the monkeys, apes, and man, from the fact that they are 

 the first or highest group in the animal kingdom. Collar- 

 bones are always present; the feet are very primitive, and 

 the fingers and toes are armed with nails, claws but rarely 

 occurring. Intelligence, not structure, assigns them the 

 leading place. 



Lowest come the group of lemurs or " half apes," which 

 have their metropolis in Madagascar, but have relatives in 

 Africa and in the East Indies. They are largely nocturnal, 

 and eat fruit or insects or other small animals. They are 

 noticeable from the fact that the second finger is provided 

 with a claw. 



The marmosets are small squirrel-like forms found in 

 South America. They are provided with claws on all digits 

 except the great toe, and the tail is incapable of grasping, 

 while the thumb is scarcely capable of being opposed to the 

 fingers. 



The remaining American monkeys the howlers, sapajous, 

 spider-monkeys, and the like have a broad septum of the 

 nose, causing the nostrils to be wide apart; the thumb is 

 scarcely opposable, and in some is lacking; while the teeth 

 differ from those of the Old World monkeys, and of man, in 

 having pm f. Many have a prehensile tail. 



The Old World monkeys have the nostrils closer together, 

 the thumb as well as the great toe is opposable^ and the 

 tail never takes the place of a fifth hand. In their teeth 

 they resemble man : i f , c {, pm |, m f . The baboons, 

 distributed across Asia and Africa, have large cheek pouches 

 for the storage of food, etc., and naked callous patches on 



