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biodiversity explorer

the web of life in southern Africa

Primates (lemurs, bushbabies, monkeys, human beings, apes)

Life > Eukaryotes > Opisthokonta > Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia > Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates)  > Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class: Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota > Synapsida (mammal-like reptiles) > Therapsida > Theriodontia >  Cynodontia > Mammalia (mammals) > Placentalia (placental mammals) > Euarchontaglires > Euarchonta

Families indigenous to southern Africa

Galagidae (bushbabies)

Africa.

Cercopithecidae (old-world monkeys, e.g. baboons, Vervet monkey)

Hominidae (Human being, gorilla, chimpanzees, Orang-utan)

Worldwide. Homo sapiens (Human being) (i.e. you, me and all other people) is the only indigenous species to southern Africa. Fossil evidence, including significant fossils from southern Africa, points to the evolution of the genus Homo withiin Africa as well as the evolution of Homo sapiens itself on this continent.

Families not encountered in southern Africa: Cheirogaleidae (mouse lemurs, dwarf lemurs - Madagascar), Lemuridae (lemurs - Madagascar), Indriidae (leaping lemurs - Madagascar), Daubentoniidae (Aye-aye - Madagascar), Loridae [= Lorisidae] (lorises - SE Asia, Africa), Tarsiidae (tarsiers - Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Philippines, etc.), Callitrichidae (marmosets, tamarins - Tropical South and Central America), Cebidae (new-world monkeys - South and Central America), Hylobatidae (gibbons - South-East Asia).