Lemuriformes | |
---|---|
A sample of lemuriform diversity. from top, left to right: Lemur, Propithecus, Daubentonia, Varecia, Microcebus, Nycticebus, Loris, Otolemur. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Suborder: | |
Infraorder: | Lemuriformes
|
Superfamilies | |
Lemuriformes are an infraorder of Primates. It combines the lemurs of Madagascar, with the galagos and lorises of Africa and Asia.
The lorises and lemurs are a monophyletic clade.[1][2][3] However, a popular alternative taxonomy puts the lorises in their own infraorder, the Lorisiformes.[4]
Lemuriform origins are unclear and debated. The main problem is a lack of clear transitional fossils.[5]
Molecular clock estimates suggest that lemurs and the lorisoids diverged in Africa during the Paleocene, about 62 mya. Between 47 and 54 mya, lemurs got to Madagascar by rafting.[6] In isolation, the lemurs diversified and filled the niches often filled by monkeys and apes today.[7]
In Africa, the lorises and galagos diverged during the Eocene, about 40 mya.[6] Unlike the lemurs in Madagascar, they have had to compete with monkeys and apes, as well as other mammals.[4]
Because the skeletons of adapiforms share strong similarities with those of lemurs and lorises, researchers have often referred to them as "primitive" strepsirrhines,[5] lemur ancestors, or a sister group to the living strepsirrhines. They are included in Strepsirrhini,[6] and are considered basal members of the clade.[8]
Although their status as true primates is not questioned, their relationship with other primates in Strepsirrhini is unclear. Sometimes they are put in their own infraorder; sometimes they are sometimes reduced to families in the Lemuriformes.[5]