Primates are an order (Primates) of eutherian mammals characterized by a suite of derived traits associated with arboreal locomotion and enhanced sensory and cognitive capacities. Defining features include grasping extremities with opposable thumbs and, in many taxa, opposable great toes; nails instead of claws on most digits; a postorbital bar or plate; forward-facing orbits enabling stereoscopic vision; and a relatively enlarged brain, especially in regions mediating vision and complex behavior. The order encompasses strepsirrhines (lemurs, lorises), tarsiers, and haplorhine simians (monkeys and apes, including humans), and is a core model group in evolutionary biology, comparative anatomy, neurobiology, and behavioral ecology.
For most of the 20th century, the model of human origins was a tree: with the trunk dividing into branches, and then twigs. Each species of human relative (hominin) was a neat, single branch.
Evolution
May 23, 2026
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For all the diversity of the human condition, one experience is almost universally painful: adolescence. It's also unusual. Most other species pass from puberty to adulthood quickly, but humans linger for years in a transitional ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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A colony of macaques that gorge on snacks offered by tourists in the British territory of Gibraltar swallow soil to recover from their junk food binges, a study has found.
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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Scientists have reported it for decades: overpopulation can impair reproduction. Crowded chickens lay fewer eggs. Crowded mice have smaller broods. In humans, several studies have associated increased population density with ...
Evolution
May 21, 2026
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Scientists have identified dozens of previously overlooked cultural behaviors in wild chimpanzees, suggesting that the great ape's culture extends far beyond complex skills like tool use. In a single community, they found ...
Plants & Animals
May 21, 2026
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A new paper calls for ecologists and evolutionary biologists to consider how organisms experience climate rather than how weather stations record it when doing climate–biology research. The paper, "Matching climate to biological ...
Ecology
May 20, 2026
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The human hand is an evolutionary marvel. While other primates rely on their hands for locomotion and basic grasping, ours can shape tools, manipulate objects, and perform detailed tasks requiring great dexterity and precision. ...
Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring. "Epigenetic" marks—chemical modifications to DNA that don't change the DNA code itself—can also be ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 20, 2026
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A graceful black monkey edges across a swaying red rope bridge strung over a busy residential road in Malaysia's Penang, watched by local conservationists who carefully record her movements.
Ecology
May 20, 2026
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Today's Arctic may feel remote and desolate, but more than 70 million years ago, it was a surprisingly lively place for some of Earth's ancient mammals.
Ecology
May 18, 2026
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