Editing Simian (section)

== Evolution ==
The origin of anthropoid primates was initially thought to be Africa, however, fossil evidence now suggests they originated in Asia. During the middle to late [[Eocene]], multiple groups of Asian anthropoids crossed the [[Tethys Ocean|Tethys Sea]] on natural rafts or floating islands, colonizing Africa alongside other Asian mammals. The earliest African anthropoid fossils appear in sites across northern Africa, including Algeria, Libya, and Egypt. This dispersal before Africa and Asia were connected by land was aided by size, Asian monsoons, and river systems. After reaching Africa, anthropoids underwent major evolutionary changes, with some groups later crossing the South Atlantic to establish the New World monkey lineage in South America.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Beard |first=K. Christopher |date=2016-10-21 |title=Out of Asia: Anthropoid Origins and the Colonization of Africa |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-anthro-102215-100019 |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |language=en |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=199–213 |doi=10.1146/annurev-anthro-102215-100019 |issn=0084-6570}}</ref>

The New World monkeys in parvorder Platyrrhini split from the rest of the simian line about 40 million years ago (mya), leaving the parvorder Catarrhini occupying the Old World. This latter group split about 25 mya between the [[Cercopithecidae]] and the apes, making Cercopithecidae more closely related to the apes than to the Platyrrhini.