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The [[clade]] '''Strepsirrhini''' ([[New Latin]], from Greek ''strepsis'', "a turning" and the stem of ''rhis'', "nose")<ref name=MW>{{cite encyclopedia|title=strepsi-|encyclopedia=Webster's Third New International Dictionary|edition=Unadbridged|year=1986|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.}}</ref> is one of the two [[suborder]]s of [[primate]]s. [[Madagascar]]'s only primates (apart from [[human]]s) are '''strepsirrhines''', although 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 curley nostrils").<ref>{{cite journal|first=E. Geoffroy|last=Saint-Hilaire|year=1812|volume=19|pages=156-170156–170|location=Paris|journal=Annales du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle|title=Suite au tableau de quadrumanes. Seconde famille. Lemuriens. Strepsirrini}}</ref><ref group="Note">Some confuse the comb-shaped lower incisors with the nostrils to arrive at "comb-shaped" and some confuse the nostrils with the nose and ''strepsis'' with ''strephein'', "to bend ot turn" to arrive at "bent nose." The nose is not bent nor the nostrils comb-shaped, but the nostrils of a rhinarium do generally feature sinuous openings.</ref> 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.
Strepsirrhines are considered{{byBy whom|date=March 2010}} to have more primitive features and adaptations than their [[haplorrhini|haplorrhine]] ("dry-nose", in Greek "simple nose") cousins. Their moist nose is connected to the upper lip, which is connected to the gum, giving them a limit to the facial expressions they can manage. Their brain to body ratio tends to be smaller, indicating a lower [[animal intelligence|intelligence]]. Their brain's [[olfactory]] lobes are larger, lending to the notion that they have a stronger reliance on smell. Their snouts are generally elongated giving them a [[dog]]-like appearance, although this is true of some [[monkey]]s, too. Strepsirrhines have a [[postorbital bar]], unlike haplorrhines. The strepsirrhines have also retained the ability to enzymatically manufacture vitamin C, which has been lost by all the haplorrhines, including the [[Tarsiidae]].<ref>{{cite journal | journal = Am J Phys Anthropol | year = 1987 | month = May | volume = 73 | issue = 1 | pages = 65–70 | title = Vitamin C biosynthesis in prosimians: evidence for the anthropoid affinity of Tarsius | author = Pollock JI, Mullin RJ | pmid = 3113259 | doi = 10.1002/ajpa.1330730106}}</ref>
With the exception of the [[Aye-aye]], all strepsirrhines have a [[toothcomb]]—tightly clustered [[incisor]]s and [[canine teeth]]—that is used for grooming. Another grooming adaptation is a [[toilet-claw]] on the second toe of all strepsirrhines, while the big toe is widely separated from the others allowing a vise-like grip for locomotion.
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