Strepsirrhini

The clade Strepsirrhini (New Latin, from Greek strepsis, "a turning" and the stem of rhis, "nose") is one of the two suborders of primates. Madagascar's only primates (apart from humans) are strepsirrhines, and others can be found in southeast Asia and Africa. The scientist given credit for the name, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, named it for the retention of the rhinarium, a trait characterized as a wet nose, generally present in mammals. In his catalog of features attributed to the Strepsirrhini, he lists "Les narines terminales et sinueuses" (translated "sinuous, twisted or curly nostrils"). Strepsirrhines are often characterized by their wet nose, but the etymology of their group name refers to the sinuous openings of the rhinarium's nostrils.