Tarsioid
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech noun
Quick meaning: Tarsioid is a noun meaning A tarsier or extinct relative; any member of the infraorder Tarsiiformes.
Meaning
A tarsier or extinct relative; any member of the infraorder Tarsiiformes.
Example Sentences
The living Tarsius, of Southeast Asia, is a lone leftover of a once diverse group of small primates, the tarsioids, which flourished during the Eocene in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Among the short-lived northerners were Metacheiromys, whose South American cousins survive today in the order of armadillos, anteaters and sloths, and the early primates — lemurs like Notharctus and tarsioids like Tetonius.
1991, Hominidae, entry in Joan C. Stevenson, Dictionary of Concepts in Physical Anthropology, page 201, Cope derived anthropoids from an extinct fossil tarsioid; he suggested that apes and humans evolved from a prosimian and skipped the monkey stage. Hubrecht noted that tarsioids were different from lemurs and more like higher primates (monkeys, apes, and humans).
Word Forms
- tarsioids
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include tarsiiform, tarsiid, tarsier, afrotarsiid, tarsipedid, tarsus.
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Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
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