ABSTRACT
Species of prosimians, monkeys, and apes alive today characterize different ways of being a primate. Prosimians, monkeys, and apes are not incomplete or imperfect primates that somehow fall short of being human. They are all modern species with their own evolutionary histories and their own ecological adaptations. Anthropologists study nonhuman primates to understand the biological and behavioral roots of our modern human species. We can learn about the evolutionary, biological, and behavioral foundations of modern humans by studying the other primates and learning the innovations and modifications that characterize each new group of primates that emerged over the last 55 million years. The story of the primates shows a long-term trend for reliance on complex social behavior to adapt to a wide variety of environments. Both our human biology and our culture are rooted in the foundations that our nonhuman primate ancestors laid down for us.
