Primates are a group of animals has flexible hands and feet, large brains in relation to body size, forward-looking eyes, and arms that can rotate in a circle around the shoulder joint
Primates include the lemurs,lorises,monkeys,apes and humans
The order Primates, with its 300 or more species, is the third most diverse order of mammals, after rodents and bats
The Primates order is divided informally into three main groups: prosimians, monkeys of the New World, and monkeys and apes of the Old World
All primates have five fingers (pentadactyly), a generalized dental pattern, and a primitive body plan
Another distinguishing feature of primates is fingernails
Opposing thumbs are also a characteristic primate feature
When compared with body weight, the primate brain is larger than that of other terrestrial mammals, and it has a fissure unique to primates that separates the first and second visual areas on each side of the brain
The eyes face forward in all primates so that the eyes visual fields overlap
Fossils of the earliest primates date to the Early Eocene Epoch (56 million to 40 million years ago) or perhaps to the Late Paleocene Epoch (59 million to 56 million years ago)
