In his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the Orthographic ligature, ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Sweden, Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the syste ...

'' of 1758,

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

divided the Order

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s within ''

Mammalia A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bon ...

'' into four

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

: ''

Homo ''Homo'' () is a genus of great ape (family Hominidae) that emerged from the genus ''Australopithecus'' and encompasses only a single extant species, ''Homo sapiens'' (modern humans), along with a number of extinct species (collectively called ...

'', ''Simia'', ''

Lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

'', and ''

Vespertilio ''Vespertilio'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. The common name for this family is vesper bats, which is a better-known classification than ''Vespertilio''. They are also known as frosted bats. Species within the genus ''Vesp ...

''. His ''Vespertilio'' included all

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s, and has since been moved from Primates to

Chiroptera Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

. ''Homo'' contained humans, ''Lemur'' contained four lemurs and a colugo, and ''Simia'' contained the other Primates. Linnaeus did not think that ''Homo'' should form a distinct group from ''Simia'', classifying them separately mainly to avoid conflict with religious authorities. If this is taken into account, ''Simia'' (including ''Homo'') would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder

Haplorhini Haplorhini (), the haplorhines (Greek language, Greek for "simple-nosed") or the "dry-nosed" primates is a suborder of primates containing the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and the simians (Simiiformes or anthropoids), as sister of the Strepsirrhini ("m ...

of the Primates (while ''Lemur'' would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder

Strepsirrhini Strepsirrhini or Strepsirhini (; ) is a Order (biology), suborder of primates that includes the Lemuriformes, lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Fauna of Madagascar, Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Fauna of A ...

). ''Homo'', ''Lemur'', and ''Vespertilio'' have survived as generic names, but ''Simia'' has not. All the species have since been moved to other genera, and in 1929, the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

ruled in its ''Opinion 114'' that ''Simia'' be suppressed. The genus ''Simias'' is distinct and remains valid, containing a single species, the

pig-tailed langur The pig-tailed langur (''Simias concolor''), monotypic in genus ''Simias'', is a large Old World monkey, endemic to several small islands off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Its face is black, its fur is black-brown and it has a relatively sho ...

(''Simias concolor''). The original genus ''Simia'' came to include these species:

References

{{Reflist

External links

Disposition of Primate Names Used by Linnaeus
Obsolete primate taxa Primate genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Haplorhini

See also

References

External links