Prosimian

Prosimian Temporal range: Early Eocene–Present PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Tarsiers are prosimian primates, but more closely related to monkeys and apes (simians) than to other prosimians.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
(unranked):	Prosimii Illiger, 1811[a]
Groups included
Strepsirrhini[b] Tarsiiformes
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
Simiiformes

Prosimians are a group of primates that includes all living and extinct strepsirrhines (lemurs, lorisoids, and adapiforms),^[5] as well as the haplorhine tarsiers and their extinct relatives, the omomyiforms, i.e. all primates excluding the simians. They are considered to have characteristics that are more "primitive" (ancestral or plesiomorphic) than those of simians (monkeys, apes, and humans).^[5]

Simians emerged within the Prosimians as sister group of the haplorhine tarsiers, and therefore cladistically belong to this group. Simians are thus distinctly closer related to tarsiers than lemurs are. Strepsirrhines bifurcated some 20 million years earlier than the tarsier - simian bifurcation. However, simians are traditionally excluded, rendering prosimians paraphyletic. Consequently, the term "prosimian" is no longer widely used in a taxonomic sense, but is still used to illustrate the behavioral ecology of tarsiers relative to the other primates.

Prosimians are the only primates native to Madagascar, but are also found throughout Africa and in Asia.

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).