In his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

'' of 1758, Carl Linnaeus divided the Order Primates within '' Mammalia'' into four

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

: '' Homo'', ''Simia'', '' Lemur'', and '' Vespertilio''. His ''Vespertilio'' included all bats, and has since been moved from Primates to Chiroptera. ''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 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 ...

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 (''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

See also

References

External links