<P> The phylogenetic position of extant tarsiers within the order Primates has been debated for much of the 20th century , and tarsiers have alternately been classified with strepsirrhine primates in the suborder Prosimii , or as the sister group to the simians ( Anthropoidea ) in the infraorder Haplorrhini . Analysis of SINE insertions , a type of macromutation to the DNA , is argued to offer very persuasive evidence for the monophyly of Haplorrhini , where other lines of evidence , such as DNA sequence data , remain ambiguous . Thus , some systematists argue the debate is conclusively settled in favor of a monophyletic Haplorrhini . In common with simians , tarsiers have a mutation in the L - gulonolactone oxidase ( GULO ) gene , which confers the need for vitamin C in the diet . Since the strepsirrhines do not have this mutation and have retained the ability to make vitamin C , the genetic trait that confers the need for it in the diet would tend to place tarsiers with haplorrhines . </P>
<P> The phylogenetic position of extant tarsiers within the order Primates has been debated for much of the 20th century , and tarsiers have alternately been classified with strepsirrhine primates in the suborder Prosimii , or as the sister group to the simians ( Anthropoidea ) in the infraorder Haplorrhini . Analysis of SINE insertions , a type of macromutation to the DNA , is argued to offer very persuasive evidence for the monophyly of Haplorrhini , where other lines of evidence , such as DNA sequence data , remain ambiguous . Thus , some systematists argue the debate is conclusively settled in favor of a monophyletic Haplorrhini . In common with simians , tarsiers have a mutation in the L - gulonolactone oxidase ( GULO ) gene , which confers the need for vitamin C in the diet . Since the strepsirrhines do not have this mutation and have retained the ability to make vitamin C , the genetic trait that confers the need for it in the diet would tend to place tarsiers with haplorrhines . </P>
tarsiers are classified as haplorrhines because they have
tarsiers are classified as haplorrhines because they have
tarsiers have a mutation in the L - gulonolactone oxidase ( GULO ) gene , which confers the need for vitamin C in the diet
tarsiers have a mutation in the L - gulonolactone oxidase ( GULO ) gene , which confers the need for vitamin C in the diet