In his Systema Naturae of 1758, Carolus Linnaeus divided the primates into three genera: Homo, Simia, and Lemur. Homo contained humans (Homo sapiens and Homo troglodytes), Lemur contained four lemurs and a colugo, and Simia contained all the rest — it was, in modern terms, a wastebin taxon for the primates. It is interesting to note that Linnaeus did not think that Homo should form a distinct group from Simia, but he classified them that way primarily to avoid conflict with religious authorities. If we take this into account, Simia (including Homo) would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Haplorrhini of the Primates (while Lemur would be roughly equivalent to the Suborder Strepsirrhini).

Homo and Lemur 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 opinion 114) that Simia be suppressed. However, the genus Simias is valid and contains a single species, the Pig-tailed Langur (Simias concolor).

The original genus Simia came to include these species:

External links

• Disposition of Primate Names Used by Linnaeus

Primates | zoological nomenclature