灵长形上目一词最早出现于1991年(K.C. Beard)及1992年(Kalandadze, Rautian)的科学文献之中。核DNA序列的研究分析(Murphy et al., 2001)支持真灵长大目假说,但针对线粒体DNA的研究分析(Arnason et al., 2002)则支持不一样的假说。透过反转录转座子标记(英语:Retrotransposon marker)的研究(Kriegs et al., 2007)也同样支持真灵长大目假说。
^Zhou X, Sun F, Xu S, Yang G, Li M. The position of tree shrews in the mammalian tree: Comparing multi-gene analyses with phylogenomic results leaves monophyly of Euarchonta doubtful. Integrative Zoology. March 2015, 10 (2): 186–98. PMID 25311886. doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12116.
延伸阅读
Beard KC. Vertical postures and climbing in the morphotype of Primatomorpha: Implications for locomotor evolution in primate history. Origine(s) de la Bipedie chez les Hominides. Cahiers de Paleoanthropologie. Paris: Editions du CNRS: 79–87. 1991. ISBN 9782222046028. OCLC 636661230.
Goodman M, Czelusniak J, Page S, Meireles CM. Where DNA Sequences Place Homo sapiens in a Phylogenetic Classification of Primates. Tobias PV, Raath MA, Moggi-Cecchi J, Doyle GA (编). Humanity from African naissance to coming millennia : colloquia in human biology and paleoanthropology. Firenze: Firenze University Press. 2001. ISBN 978-88-8453-003-5.