‘Dinosaur’s’ Time Warp

As an anthropology instructor, I spend time in “Human Biological Evolution” re-educating students raised on “The Flintstones” to understand that “cavemen” did not have dinosaurs for pets. The dinosaurs became extinct at least 60 million years before the earliest member of the hominid line.

Now, with the production of Disney’s “Dinosaur,” I will be spending additional time to re-educate them to understand that the dinosaurs and primates did not coexist. The dinosaurs became extinct about 5 million years before the earliest primate appeared.

But for now, let me take a minute to advise Kenneth Turan about the taxonomy of the primates (“What Would He Say?,” May 19). Lemurs are not monkeys.

The (nonhuman) primates are divided into three large groups: the prosimians, the monkeys and the apes. The lemurs are prosimians. They are native to Madagascar, where there are no monkeys and apes. They have scent glands. They have teeth that form a dental comb. They have a snout that gives them a raccoon-like appearance. They do not brachiate (swing through the trees). They are not monkeys.

DIANE LEVINE

Anthropology instructor,

Los Angeles Pierce College