Early in its evolutionary history, the primate lineage split into two clades, the _______ and the _______.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The two clades that emerged early in the primate lineage were the strepsirrhines (lemurs and lorises) and the haplorhines (tarsiers, monkeys, apes and humans). Option A is incorrect because australopithecines are not a clade, but rather a genus of extinct hominids. Option B is incorrect because strepsirrhines and australopithecines are not contemporaries, as australopithecines evolved much later. Option D is incorrect because anthropoids are a suborder within the haplorhine clade. Option E is incorrect because humans are a subset of apes, and therefore, these would not be the only two clades.

Early in Its Evolutionary History, the Primate Lineage Split into Two