catarrhine

American  

[kat-uh-rahyn, ‐rin] / ˈkæt əˌraɪn, ‐rɪn /

adjective

1. belonging or pertaining to the subdivision of simians that comprises Old World monkeys and apes, including humans.

---

noun

1. a catarrhine animal.

catarrhine British  

/ ˈkætəˌraɪn /

adjective

1. (of apes and Old World monkeys) having the nostrils set close together and opening to the front of the face

2. Also: leptorrhine.  (of humans) having a thin or narrow nose

---

noun

1. an animal or person with this characteristic

Etymology

Origin of catarrhine

First recorded in 1860–65; from New Latin Catarrhīnī, plural of catarrhīnus, from Greek katárrhīn “hook-nosed,” equivalent to kata- “down” + -rhīn “-nosed,” adjective derivative of rhī́s “nose, snout”; see origin at cata-, rhino- ( def. ); cf. haplorhine ( def. ), platyrrhine ( def. ), strepsirrhine ( def. )

Example Sentences

In his whole organisation and in his origin man is a true Catarrhine; he originated in the Old World from an unknown, extinct group of the eastern apes.

From The Evolution of Man — Volume 2 by Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Philipp August

We have seen that man appears to have diverged from the Catarrhine or Old World division of the Simiadae, after these had diverged from the New World division.

From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles

For the simplest tyro in Darwinian philosophy will see that the loss of the Catarrhine monkey's tail, if it ever occurred, could not have resulted from the "selection of the fittest."

From Life: Its True Genesis by Wright, R. W.

The Catarrhine and Platyrrhine monkeys agree in a multitude of characters, as is shewn by their unquestionably belonging to one and the same Order.

From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles

We are naturally led to enquire, where was the birthplace of man at that stage of descent when our progenitors diverged from the Catarrhine stock?

From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles