MAN AND HIS RELATIVES 



491 



510. Man a primate. In trying to place man in the world 

 of animal life we must follow the same methods as would be 

 used if we should find some animal that no one had ever seen 

 before. We have no difficulty in recognizing a newly discovered 



Fig. 254. Comparison of primate skeletons 



A comparison of the skeletons of the lemur, the gorilla, and man show many similarities 

 in details as well as in general plan of structure 



animal, as, let us say, an insect, even when we see it for the 

 first time. We may be able to tell even in what order of in- 

 sects it naturally belongs. According to our familiarity with the 

 group, we may be able to tell the family or even the genus. 



In the same way we may at once place man among the 

 backboned animals, and, without any hesitation, in the class of 



