By Dr. Kenneth Glander Ask the person next to you what a lemur is and he or she may not even know it's an animal. Someone more acquainted with the tree-hopping, furry creatures might guess they're related to squirrels or cats. But the truth is, lemurs are more closely related to you and me.
Lemurs are primates, an order that includes monkeys, apes and humans.
In order to understand the differences between lemurs and other primates, it helps to go down a level. Monkeys, apes and humans are anthropoids. Lemurs are prosimians. Unlike all other primates, prosimians have moist noses and rely on their sense of smell to determine what is safe to eat and to distinguish between individuals in their social groups. Like other primates, prosimians groom themselves and their acquaintances, but because prosimians can't use their fingers in the same way, they use their teeth as a comb.