Expert: Umar Noor - 11/13/2008

Question
what are the characteristics of the Anthropoid and promisian primates?

Answer
Asma,

The Anthropoids and Prosimians are two sub-orders of the order Primates.  To get a general idea, Prosimians are the more primitive primate, consisting of lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers.  On the other hand Anthropoids are the "more evolved" primate, consisting of human beings, the great apes, and smaller 'new world' monkeys.

Here are a few points to illustrate the differences:

BRAIN:  Anthropoids have a larger brain to body mass ratio, exhibit more complexity, and are relatively more intelligent than Prosimians.

BEHAVIOR:  Anthropoids tend to be more social and inquisitive than the Promisians.  Also, all Anthropoids are diurnal (active at daytime) whereas some Promisians are nocturnal (active at night).

DOMINANT SENSE: Anthropoids rely more heavily on their sense of vision, whereas the Promisians still have a more developed sense of smell.

FACIAL FEATURES:  Anthropoids have flat faces and small ears whereas Prosimians can have extended snouts and whiskers.

DIGITS:  Anthropoids tend to have nails whereas Promisians still have claws.  Also Anthropoids tend to have a developed opposable thumb whereas the Promisians do not.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION:  Anthropoids tend to have a larger geographical distribution, whereas the Promisians are usually limited to certain areas of the world.

I hope that helped out!