Tarsiiformes are a group of primates that once ranged across Europe, northern Africa, Asia, and North America, but whose

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extin ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are all found in the islands of Southeast Asia. Tarsiers (family Tarsiidae) are the only living members of the infraorder; other members of Tarsiidae include the extinct ''

Tarsius eocaenus ''Tarsius'' is a genus of tarsiers, small primates native to islands of Southeast Asia. Until 2010, all tarsier species were typically assigned to this genus, but a revision of the family Tarsiidae restored the generic status of '' Cephalopachus ...

'' from the Eocene, and '' Tarsius thailandicus'' from the Miocene. Two extinct genera, '' Xanthorhysis'' and '' Afrotarsius'', are considered to be close relatives of the living tarsiers, and are generally classified within Tarsiiformes, with the former grouped within family Tarsiidae, and the latter listed as ''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertaint ...

'' (undefined). Omomyids are generally considered to be extinct relatives, or even ancestors, of the living tarsiers, and are often classified within Tarsiiformes. Other fossil primates, including Microchoeridae,

Carpolestidae Carpolestidae is a family of primate-like Plesiadapiformes that were prevalent in North America and Asia from the mid Paleocene through the early Eocene. Typically, they are characterized by two large upper posterior premolars and one large lower ...

,McKenna, M.C., and Bell, S.K. 1997. ''Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level.'' Columbia University Press, New York, 337–340 pp. and Eosimiidae, have been included in this classification, although the fossil evidence is debated. Eosimiidae has also been classified under the infraorder

Simiiformes The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes ) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) and Catarrh ...

(with monkeys and

ape Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

s), and most experts now consider Eosimiidae to be stem simians. Likewise, Carpolestidae is often classified within the order

Plesiadapiformes Plesiadapiformes (" Adapid-like" or "near Adapiformes") is a group of Primates, a sister of the Dermoptera. While none of the groups normally directly assigned to this group survived, the group appears actually not to be literally extinct (in ...

, a very close, extinct relative of primates.Fleagle, J. G. 2013
Primate Adaptation and Evolution
San Diego, Academic Press. These conflicting classifications lie at the heart of the debate over early primate evolution. Even the placement of Tarsiiformes within suborder

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

, as a sister group to the simians (monkeys and apes), is still debated.

Classification

Generally accepted members of this infraorder include the living tarsiers, the extinct omomyids, two extinct fossil genera, and two extinct fossil species within the genus ''Tarsius''. As

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

s, they are more closely related to monkeys and apes than to the strepsirrhine primates, which include lemurs,

galago Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...

s, and

loris Loris is the common name for the strepsirrhine mammals of the subfamily Lorinae (sometimes spelled Lorisinae) in the family Lorisidae. ''Loris'' is one genus in this subfamily and includes the slender lorises, ''Nycticebus'' is the genus contain ...

es. * Order Primates ** Suborder Strepsirrhini: lemurs, lorises, and galagos ** Suborder

*** Infraorder

: monkeys and apes *** Infraorder Tarsiiformes/Omomyiformes ****

Archicebidae ''Archicebus'' is a genus of fossil primates that lived in the early Eocene forests (~55.8–54.8 million years ago) of what is now Jingzhou in the Hubei Province in central China, discovered in 2003. The only known species, ''A. achil ...

**** Family

Tarsiidae Tarsiers ( ) are haplorhine primates of the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes. Although the group was once more widespread, all of its species living today are found in Maritime Southeast ...

: tarsiers ***** Genus †'' Afrotarsius'' ***** Genus †'' Xanthorhysis'' ***** Genus ''

Tarsius ''Tarsius'' is a genus of tarsiers, small primates native to islands of Southeast Asia. Until 2010, all tarsier species were typically assigned to this genus, but a revision of the family Tarsiidae restored the generic status of '' Cephalopachus ...

'' ***** Genus ''

Cephalopachus Horsfield's tarsier (''Cephalopachus bancanus''), also known as the western tarsier, is the only species of tarsier in the genus ''Cephalopachus''. Named for American naturalist Thomas Horsfield, it occurs on Borneo, Sumatra and nearby islands a ...

'' ***** Genus '' Carlito

Footnotes

References

{{Authority control Tarsiers Extant Thanetian first appearances Taxa named by William King Gregory Taxa described in 1915