In his Systema Naturae of 1758, Carl Linnaeus divided the Order within Mammalia into four genus: Homo, Simia, Lemur, and Vespertilio. His Vespertilio included all , and has since been moved from Primates to Chiroptera. Homo contained humans, Lemur contained four lemurs and a colugo, and Simia contained the other Primates. Linnaeus did not think that Homo should form a distinct group from Simia, classifying them separately mainly to avoid conflict with religious authorities. If this is taken into account, Simia (including Homo) would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Haplorhini of the Primates (while Lemur would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Strepsirrhini).
Homo, Lemur, and Vespertilio have survived as generic names, but Simia has not. All the species have since been moved to other genera, and in 1929, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled in its Opinion 114 that Simia be suppressed. The genus Simias is distinct and remains valid, containing a single species, the pig-tailed langur ( Simias concolor).
The original genus Simia came to include these species:
Carlito Colin Groves and Shekelle, 2010 | Philippine tarsier | Simia syrichta Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Callithrix Erxleben, 1777 | Silvery marmoset | Simia argentata Carolus Linnaeus, 1771 |
Common marmoset | Simia jacchus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Leontopithecus Lesson, 1840 | Golden lion tamarin | Simia rosalia Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 |
Saguinus Hoffmannsegg, 1807 | Brown-mantled tamarin | Simia leonina Humboldt, 1806P. Hershkovitz: Living New World monkeys (Platyrrhini): with an introduction to Primates Univ. of Chicago Press 1977. . S. 642ff |
Red-handed tamarin | Simia midas Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Cotton-top tamarin | Simia oedipus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Cebus Erxleben, 1777 | White-fronted capuchin | Simia albifrons Humboldt, 1812 |
White-headed capuchin | Simia capucina Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Tufted capuchin | Simia apella Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Simia fatuellus Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
Saimiri Voigt, 1831 | Common squirrel monkey | Simia sciurea Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Alouatta Lacépède, 1799 | Red-handed howler | Simia belzebul Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 |
Venezuelan red howler | Simia seniculus Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Ateles É. Geoffroy, 1806 | Red-faced spider monkey | Simia paniscus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Lagothrix É. Geoffroy, 1812 | Brown woolly monkey | Simia lagotricha Humboldt, 1812 |
Pithecia Desmarest, 1804 | White-faced saki | Simia pithecia Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 |
Chiropotes Lesson, 1840 | Black bearded saki | Simia chiropotes Humboldt, 1812 |
Callicebus Oldfield Thomas, 1903 | Black titi | Simia lugens Humboldt, 1812? |
Atlantic titi | Simia personatus É. Geoffroy, 1812 | |
Chlorocebus Gray, 1870 | Grivet | Simia aethiops Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Green monkey | Simia sabacea Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Cercopithecus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 (named as a subsection of Simia) | Moustached guenon | Simia cephus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Diana monkey | Simia diana Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Simia faunus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
Greater spot-nosed monkey | Simia nictitans Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Macaque Lacépède, 1799 | Crab-eating macaque | Simia aygula Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Barbary macaque | ? Simia cynamolgos Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
? Simia cynomolgus Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
Simia inuus Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
Simia sylvanus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
Southern pig-tailed macaque | Simia nemestrina Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Lion-tailed macaque | Simia silenus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Toque macaque | Simia sinica Carolus Linnaeus, 1771 | |
Papio Erxleben, 1777 | Hamadryas baboon | Simia hamadryas Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Yellow baboon | Simia cynocephalus Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | |
Mandrillus Ritgen, 1824 | Mandrill | Simia sphinx Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Simia maimon Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
Pygathrix É. Geoffroy, 1812 | Red-shanked douc | Simia nemaeus Carolus Linnaeus, 1771 |
Orangutan Lacépède, 1799 | Bornean orangutan | Simia pygmaeus Carolus Linnaeus, 1760 |
Simia satyrus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
Pan Lorenz Oken, 1816 | Common chimpanzee | Simia satyrus Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 | ||
(unknown) | Simia apedia Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Simia morta Carolus Linnaeus, 1758 | ||
Simia trepida Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 | ||
Simia veter Carolus Linnaeus, 1766 |
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