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Molecular data have become an important source of evidence on primate evolutionary history, particularly when the fossil evidence is limited or lacking. The most recent molecular phylogenetic studies of primate evolutionary relationships and divergence times are reviewed here, primarily at the family level and above. Paleontological data are not entirely omitted, but the focus here is on the molecular results. The current molecular evidence for the branching pattern among the primates, colugos, and treeshrews is presented, and current studies provide weak support for a sister group relationship between primates and colugos. The haplorhine affinities of the tarsier are documented out of a sense of duty; hopefully, it will be possible to stop pretending this is an open question sometime soon. The relationships among the platyrrhine families are quite convincingly resolved in favor of an atelid and cebid clade, but the relationships among Aotus, the cebines, and the callitrichines in the Cebidae are poorly resolved. It seems that the molecular evidence will eventually support reciprocal monophyly of the living galagos and lorises, but the molecular data are not presently very helpful. Excluding the early diverging Daubentonia lineage, the relationship of the remaining four lemur families almost certainly includes a cheirogaleid-lepilemurid clade but is otherwise poorly resolved by molecular data. Advances in divergence date estimation methodology have begun to rectify some of the absurdly early estimates for the time of origin of the crown primate radiation, but there is still a lot of work to do. Fossil calibration remains problematically applied, and some highly cited studies have poorly justified or unjustifiable calibrations. New methods are being developed for mostly or completely fossil calibration-free divergence date estimation and are very promising.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-39979-4_85

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