Freddie Johnson, age 9, of Charlotte, N.C., for his question:

WHAT ARE ANTHROPOIDS?

A primate is a member of the group of mammals made up of man and the animals that resemble him most closely. Scientists classify about 200 species of mammals as primates.

Primates are divided into two main types: anthropoids, which include man, apes and monkeys, and prosimians, which include aye ayes, galagos, lemurs, lorises, pottos and tarsiers.

More of the characteristic primate features are found in the anthropoids than in the prosimians. Anthropoids are larger than the prosimians. They also have relatively large and complex brains and are intelligent.

Many nonhuman primates face extinction because of man. Man clears the forests to make room for cities and farms, and also destroys the homes of other primates. Man also hunts some primates for food, kills others as pests and captures many for research or to display in zoos.