anthropoids

Anthropoids, also called Anthropoidea, are a primate clade that includes monkeys, apes, and humans. They form a major lineage within the suborder Haplorhini and are distinct from the prosimians and from tarsiers. In modern classifications, anthropoids comprise two parvorders: Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and Catarrhini (Old World monkeys, apes, and humans). Some sources use the term Simiiformes for this group.

Anthropoids are characterized by a larger brain relative to body size, a greater reliance on vision with forward-facing eyes protected by a bony postorbital plate, and a reduced reliance on the sense of smell. They typically have a more generalized dentition; platyrrhines commonly show a 2.1.3.3 dental formula, while catarrhines typically have 2.1.2.3. They exhibit more complex social structures, longer juvenile development, and longer lifespans than many earlier primates.

Geographically, extant anthropoids are found in tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, occupying forests and other habitats. The fossil record places the origin of anthropoids in the early to middle Eocene (about 40–45 million years ago) in Africa or Asia, with the split between platyrrhines and catarrhines occurring later in the Oligocene. Today, scientists recognize more than 200 living species, ranging from small New World monkeys to great apes and humans.

In usage, anthropoids are often distinguished from other primates by their reliance on vision and larger brain size, and the term appears frequently in historical and comparative primatology.