Their skulls reflect a enormous cranial vault, confessing their complex nature, and large eye sockets, a tell tale sign of an organism whose survival is intimately tied to vision. Humans have the ability to recognize themselves as independent entities and, as well as one can tell, are the only animal that can contemplate their own demise. Primates, a mammalian order containing over 230 species, is made up of monkeys, apes, humans and other similar forms. All primates are omnivorous, although many who live in rain forests eat vegetation almost exclusively.
Primate eyes face forward which allows for binocular vision.
Primates vary greatly in size from the mouse lemur that weighs as little as 2 ounces, to the gorilla which weighs more than 400 pounds. Primate skulls generally have large brain cases that approach globular form. The jaws are relatively short and the face is flattened. The eye orbits of a primate skull are encircled by bone and the orbits are directed forward. Only minor imperfections may be present.