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Haplorhini (), the haplorhines (Greek language for "simple-nosed") or the "dry-nosed" primates is a suborder of primates containing the Tarsiiformes and the (Simiiformes or anthropoids), as sister of the Strepsirrhini ("moist-nosed"). The name is sometimes spelled Haplorrhini. The simians include Catarrhini (Old World monkeys and , including ), and the platyrrhines (New World monkeys).
Haplorhini was proposed by Pocock in 1918 when he realized the tarsiers were actually sister to the monkeys rather than the lemurs, also following findings of Hugh Cuming 80 years earlier and Simia 160 years earlier. For Linnaeus, this ensemble of primates constituted a genus " Simia". For religious reasons, Homo constituted its own genus (which has remained).
The extinct Omomyidae, which are considered to be the most basal haplorhines, are believed to be more closely related to the than to other haplorhines. The exact relationship is not yet fully established – Williams, Kay and Kirk (2010) prefer the view that tarsiers and simians share a Common descent, and that common ancestor shares a common ancestor with the omomyids, citing evidence from analysis by Bajpal et al. in 2008; but they also note two other possibilities – that tarsiers are directly descended from omomyids, with simians being a separate line, or that both simians and tarsiers are descended from omomyids.
Haplorhines share a number of derived features that distinguish them from the strepsirrhine "wet-nosed" primates (whose Greek name means "curved nose"), the other suborder of primates from which they diverged some 63 million years ago. The haplorhines, including tarsiers, have all lost the function of the terminal enzyme that manufactures Vitamin C, while the strepsirrhines, like most other orders of mammals, have retained this enzyme. Genetically, five short interspersed nuclear elements (SINEs) are common to all haplorhines whilst absent in strepsirrhines. The haplorhine upper lip, which has replaced the ancestral rhinarium found in strepsirrhines, is not directly connected to their nose or gum, allowing a large range of facial expressions. Their brain-to-body mass ratio is significantly greater than the strepsirrhines, and their primary sense is vision. Haplorhines have a postorbital plate, unlike the postorbital bar found in strepsirrhines. Most species are diurnal animal (the exceptions being the tarsiers and the ).
All anthropoids have a single-chambered uterus; tarsiers have a bicornate uterus like the strepsirrhines. Most species typically have single births, although twins and triplets are common for and . Despite similar , haplorhine newborns are relatively much larger than strepsirrhine newborns, but have a longer dependence period on their mother. This difference in size and dependence is credited to the increased complexity of their behavior and natural history.
The other major clade within Haplorhini, the (or anthropoids), is divided into two parvorders: Platyrrhini (the New World monkeys) and Catarrhini (the Old World monkeys and ). The New World monkeys split from catarrhines about 35–40 mya and have African origin, while the apes (Hominoidea) diverged from Old World monkeys (Cercopithecoidea) about 25 mya. The available fossil evidence indicates that both the hominoid and cercopithecoid clades originated in Africa.
The following is the listing of the living haplorhine families, and their placement in the Order Primates: (2025). 9780387787046, Springer. ISBN 9780387787046
Sigé et al. (1990) describe Altiatlasius as an Omomyiform, but also state that it could be an early anthropoid, with the latter view being supported by Godinot (1994) and Bajpai et al. (2008).
Kay et al. (2004) point out that a case can be made for Amphipithecidae being placed either as adapiformes (i.e. early strepsirrhines) or as early anthropoids, noting in particular that they had a long evolution separate from other groups, and that key parts of their anatomy are missing from the fossil record. They conclude that either possibility is equally plausible.Callum F Ross, Richard F. Kay Anthropoid Origins: New Visions , Springer, 2004, p. 114
Kay and Williams (2013, edited by Feagle and Kay), look at possible hypotheses about how oligopiths, parapiths and propliopiths relate to each other and catarrhines and platyrrhines:
Ni et al., in announcing Archicebus in 2013 as what they describe as the earliest known primate with such detailed remains, place it somewhat differently to the above as they place Omomyids within Tarsiiformes, with Omomyids and Tarsiidae sharing a common ancestor, and that common ancestor sharing a common Tarsiiform ancestor with the Archicebidae.
Possible stem Haplorrhini are some species which are usually considered to be Strepsirrhini, such as the Notharctidae, and Darwinius.
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