Primates

This group of 479, largely forest-living mammals is the order to which our species belongs. We owe our quick wits and intelligence to our primate cousins. Life in trees requires a large fore brain capable of making decisions fast when moving through the branches, a good memory, and mental map to locate food supplies, plus forward facing color vision to judge distances and find the ripe leaves and fruit, which form the diet of most primates. Mostly confined to the tropical regions of the world, the primates split into two suborders: Haplorhini and Strepsirhini.