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Primate
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===Body=== [[File:Chlorocebus pygerythrus01.jpg|thumb|Vervet hindfoot showing fingerprint ridges on the sole]] Primates generally have five digits on each limb ([[Dactyly#Pentadactyly|pentadactyly]]), with a characteristic type of keratin [[Nail (anatomy)|fingernail]] on the end of each finger and toe. The bottom sides of the hands and feet have [[tactile pad|sensitive pads]] on the [[distal phalanges|fingertips]]. Most have [[thumb|opposable thumbs]], a characteristic primate feature most developed in [[human]]s, though not limited to this order ([[opossum]]s and [[koala]]s, for example, also have them).<ref name="pough" /> Thumbs allow some species to use [[Tool use by animals|tools]]. In primates, the combination of opposing thumbs, short fingernails (rather than claws) and long, inward-closing fingers is a [[relict]] of the ancestral practice of gripping branches, and has, in part, allowed some species to develop [[brachiation]] (swinging by the arms from tree limb to tree limb) as a significant means of locomotion. [[Prosimians]] have clawlike nails on the second toe of each foot, called [[toilet-claw]]s, which they use for grooming.<ref name="pough">{{cite book |author1=Pough, F. W. |author2=Janis, C. M. |author3=Heiser, J. B. |title=Vertebrate Life |url=https://archive.org/details/vertebratelife0000poug |chapter=Characteristics of Primates |year=2005 |orig-year=1979 |edition=7th |publisher= Pearson |pages=[https://archive.org/details/vertebratelife0000poug/page/630 630] |isbn=0-13-127836-3}}</ref> The primate [[clavicle|collar bone]] is a prominent element of the [[pectoral girdle]]; this allows the [[Glenohumeral joint|shoulder joint]] broad mobility.<ref name="palaeos" /> Compared to Old World monkeys, apes have more mobile shoulder joints and arms due to the dorsal position of the [[scapula]], broad ribcages that are flatter front-to-back, a shorter, less mobile spine, and with lower [[vertebra]]e greatly reduced - resulting in tail loss in some species.<ref name="CNN-20240323" /> [[Prehensile tail]]s are found in the New World [[Atelidae|atelids]], including the [[howler monkey|howler]], [[spider monkey|spider]], [[woolly spider monkey|woolly spider]], [[woolly monkey]]s; and in [[Capuchin monkey|capuchin]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Garber PA, Rehg JA |title=The ecological role of the prehensile tail in white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-physical-anthropology_1999-11_110_3/page/325 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=110 |issue=3 |pages=325β39 | date=November 1999 |pmid=10516564 |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199911)110:3<325::AID-AJPA5>3.0.CO;2-D}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Russo GA, Young JW |title=Tail growth tracks the ontogeny of prehensile tail use in capuchin monkeys (Cebus albifrons and C. apella) |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-physical-anthropology_2011-11_146_3/page/465 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=146 |issue=3 |pages=465β73 | date=November 2011 |pmid=21953012 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.21617}}</ref> Male primates have a [[Penis#Primates|low-hanging penis]] and testes descended into a scrotum.<ref name="Ankel-Simons2010">{{cite book|author=Friderun Ankel-Simons|title=Primate Anatomy: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mwl3M6c5KzoC|date=27 July 2010|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-046911-9|pages=442, 521 }}</ref><ref name="EncycMammals">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Macdonald | first = David | author-link = David W. Macdonald | title = Primates | encyclopedia = The Encyclopedia of Mammals | pages = 282β307 | publisher = The Brown Reference Group plc | year = 2006 | isbn = 0-681-45659-0}}</ref>
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