Palaeopropithecinae
Encyclopedia
The sloth lemurs is an extinct clade
of lemur
s that includes four genera. Despite their common names, members of Palaeopropithecidae were not closely related to sloth
s but were closely related to the other lemur species.
Phylogeny based on Horvath et al. (2008) and Orlando et al. (2008).
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
of lemur
Lemur
Lemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
s that includes four genera. Despite their common names, members of Palaeopropithecidae were not closely related to sloth
Sloth
Sloths are the six species of medium-sized mammals belonging to the families Megalonychidae and Bradypodidae , part of the order Pilosa and therefore related to armadillos and anteaters, which sport a similar set of specialized claws.They are arboreal residents of the jungles of Central and South...
s but were closely related to the other lemur species.
Phylogeny based on Horvath et al. (2008) and Orlando et al. (2008).