Hominoidea

Hominoidea

      in zoology, a superfamily of primates containing all the apes as well as human beings. All hominoids can stand or sit erect with great facility, and all share the following physical characteristics: broad chests, with the scapulae (shoulder blades) on the back, and all-round rotatory ability at the shoulder; a meniscus (fibrocartilage pad) between the ulna and the carpal bones in the wrist, giving the wrist great flexibility; a shortened lumbar spine (in the small of the back), with only four to six vertebrae instead of the seven or more found in Old World monkeys; and no external tail, the remnant three to six vertebrae being fused into an in-turned bony shelf called the coccyx.

      The two families in Hominoidea are Hylobatidae (the gibbons, sometimes referred to as the lesser apes) and Hominidae (human beings and the great apes—i.e., the gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orangutans). These two families diverged about 18 million years ago. Many fossil hominoids are known; some (such as Proconsul from the Early Miocene Epoch of East Africa, Dryopithecus from the Middle Miocene of Spain, and Oreopithecus from the Late Miocene of Italy) are known by nearly complete skeletons.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Hominoidea — prop. n. A superfamily of mammals including anthropoid apes and human beings. Syn: superfamily {Hominoidea}. [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • Hominoidea — Hominoïdés L espèce fossile …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Hominoidea —   Hominoideos Rango temporal: Oligoceno temprano Reciente …   Wikipedia Español

  • Hominoidea — Menschenartige Gemeiner Schimpanse (Pan troglodytes) Systematik Unterklasse: Höhere Säugetiere (Eutheria) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hominoidea — noun anthropoid apes and human beings • Syn: ↑superfamily Hominoidea • Hypernyms: ↑class • Member Holonyms: ↑Anthropoidea, ↑suborder Anthropoidea • Member Meronyms …   Useful english dictionary

  • Hominoidea — …   Википедия

  • Hominoidea — см. Гоминоиды …   Физическая Антропология. Иллюстрированный толковый словарь.

  • Hominoidea — A superfamily of the Primates including the anthropoid apes and humans. Divided into the families Pongidae (anthropoid apes) and Hominidae (humans). [L. homo (homin ), man, + G. eidos, form] * * * Hom·i·noi·dea .häm ə nȯid ē ə n pl 1) in some… …   Medical dictionary

  • Hominoidea — Familia de catarrinos del orden de los Primates. Árbol filogenético: pre /pre …   Enciclopedia Universal

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