The other primate suborder, the anthropoids, includes monkeys, apes and humans. Like the sifakas, many of the other prosimians now thriving at Duke also may one day help restock their ancestral wilderness homes. The facility is more than a breeding station, however. We're considered to be the world authority on prosimians. Of course, we don't always have them.
Research here is largely noninvasive, and even blood samples are taken sparingly.
The indirect benefit to humans is a better understanding of our own mysterious origins. As he talks, ring-tailed lemurs festoon a branch on the other side of a fence topped with electrified wire. As they creep, jump and chatter, their bushy striped tails curl and uncurl like animated barber poles. Compared to monkeys and apes, prosimians have smaller brains, less dextrous fingers and a greater reliance on smell. Prosimians divide into several subgroups.