Tarsiiformes

Tarsiiformes Template:IPAc-en are a group of primates that once ranged across Europe, northern Africa, Asia, and North America, but whose extant species are all found in the islands of Southeast Asia. Tarsiers (family Tarsiidae) are the only living members of the infraorder; other members of Tarsiidae include the extinct Tarsius eocaenus from the Eocene,<ref name=Hartwig1>Template:Cite book</ref> and Tarsius thailandicus from the Miocene.<ref name=Nowak>Template:Cite book</ref> Two extinct genera, Xanthorhysis and Afrotarsius, are considered to be close relatives of the living tarsiers, and are generally classified within Tarsiiformes, with the former grouped within family Tarsiidae, and the latter listed as incertae sedis (undefined).<ref name=Hartwig1/> Omomyids are generally considered to be extinct relatives, or even ancestors, of the living tarsiers, and are often classified within Tarsiiformes.

Other fossil primates, including Microchoeridae, Carpolestidae,<ref name=McKenna_Bell>McKenna, M.C., and Bell, S.K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 337–340 pp. Template:ISBN</ref> and Eosimiidae,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> have been included in this classification, although the fossil evidence is debated. Eosimiidae has also been classified under the infraorder Simiiformes (with monkeys and apes), and most experts now consider Eosimiidae to be stemTemplate:Clarify simians.<ref name=Hartwig2>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Williams">Template:Cite journal</ref> Likewise, Carpolestidae is often classified within the order Plesiadapiformes, a very close, extinct relative of primates.<ref>Fleagle, J. G. 2013. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. San Diego, Academic Press.</ref>

These conflicting classifications lie at the heart of the debate over early primate evolution. Even the placement of Tarsiiformes within suborder Haplorhini, as a sister group to the simians (monkeys and apes), is still debated.<ref name=Hartwig1/><ref name=2007Ankel-Simons>Template:Cite book</ref>

Classification

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Generally accepted members of this infraorder include the living tarsiers,<ref name=MSW3/> the extinct omomyids, two extinct fossil genera, and two extinct fossil species within the genus Tarsius.<ref name=Hartwig1/> As haplorhines, they are more closely related to monkeys and apes than to the strepsirrhine primates, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorises.

• Order Primates
  • Suborder Strepsirrhini: lemurs, lorises, and galagos
  • Suborder Haplorhini
    • Infraorder Simiiformes: monkeys and apes
    • Infraorder Tarsiiformes/Omomyiformes<ref name="ProblematicTaxa" group="N">Other extinct taxa that are thought to belong to Tarsiiformes but are yet unranked include Ekgmowechashala, Kohatius, Altanius, and Altiatlasius.<ref name=Hartwig1/></ref>
      • Template:ExtinctArchicebidae
      • Family Tarsiidae: tarsiers
        • Genus †Afrotarsius<ref name="Afrotarsius" group="N">Alternatively, this genus is sometimes listed in the family Afrotarsiidae within Tarsiiformes,<ref name=McKenna_Bell/> or as a family within the infraorder Simiiformes.<ref name=Hartwig2/></ref>
        • Genus †Xanthorhysis
        • Genus Tarsius
        • Genus Cephalopachus
        • Genus Carlito<ref name="Tarsius" group="N">In 2010, Colin Groves and Myron Shekelle suggested splitting the living tarsiers into three genera: Tarsius, Cephalopachus, and Carlito.<ref name=2010_Groves_Shekelle>Template:Cite journal</ref></ref>