The biological order that includes humans, monkeys, apes, and prosimians. | Primates |
A term referring to North, Central, and South America. By comparison, the Old World refers to Europe, Africa, and Asia. This distinction is an ethnocentric reflection of the European origin of our modern sciences. | New World |
The characteristic of having five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot. | pentadactylism |
The term for the ability to physically grasp something. All primate hands have this capability. With the exception of humans, they all also have feet that can do it. The larger New World monkeys have tails that can do it as well. | prehensile |
A strong grip formed by the partial flexion of the fingers and the palm with counter force applied by the thumb. You would use this kind of grip to hold a shovel or bicycle handlebars while riding. | power grip |
A grip formed by pinching with the tips of the flexed forefingers and the thumb. This allows a hand to be used effectively for manipulating even tiny objects. You would use this kind of grip to hold a pencil while writing. | precision grip |
The technical name for collarbones. All primates have one of these bones on each side of the body going from the center of the upper chest to the shoulders. | clavicles |
The ability to see things in three dimensions (3-D). This kind of vision is what allows for true depth perception. | stereoscopic vision |
A term referring to seeing with two eyes. Having an overlapping field of view with two eyes is essential for primate stereoscopic vision. | binocular vision |
A term referring to the ability to walk and run on two feet. By comparison, four footed animals are quadrupedal. | bipedal (bipedalism) |
The sense of smell. | olfactory sense |
The sense of touch. | tactile sense |
The time between conception and birth in animals. Another word for this is pregnancy. | gestation period |
A term referring to animals that are adapted to life in the trees. | arboreal |
A term referring to animals that are adapted to life on the ground. | terrestrial |
A term referring to animals that are normally awake and active during the daylight hours but sleep during the nighttime. | diurnal |
A term referring to animals that are normally awake and active during the night but sleep during the day. | nocturnal |
The characteristic of having a diet consisting of both meat and vegetable foods. | omnivorous |
The characteristic of having a diet consisting only of vegetable foods. | herbivorous |
Carefully picking through hair or fur looking for insects, twigs, and other debris. This is common behavior for primates. It helps them keep clean and satisfies psychological needs. It usually is a very pleasurable activity for primates, including humans. | grooming |