In Depth At first glance the lack of fossils might make Branisella not seem an important primate, but here you need to appreciate two things; where the fossils have been found and how old they are. Dating to the Chattian stage of the Oligocene period about twenty-six million years ago, Branisella was and at the … Read more
In Depth Mesopropithecus is currently the smallest of the known sloth lemurs although originally it was thought to have been similar to today’s modern indriid lemurs, an idea based upon comparison between the known skulls. In 1986 however, post cranial remains were found and attributed to the genus and immediately the key feature of a … Read more
In Depth Although only named from isolated teeth, Afrasia was still a significant discovery because the teeth were those of an eosimiid primate. The discovery of Afrasia in Asia lends weight to the theory that the eosimiids evoled in Asia and then radiated out into Africa, though this is still a controversial theory with many … Read more
In Depth Adapis is considered to be one of the first primates and is the type genus of the Adapidae. These primates have grasping hands that have nails rather than claws and the post cranial skeletons of them are similar to those of lemurs. Adapis did not have a nose like some primates (including humans) … Read more
In Depth Although Nakalipithecus is so far only known from a jaw bone, Nakalipithecus has been a major contribution to our understanding of hominid evolution specifically regarding hominines, including the ancestors of humans. For some time there have been two competing theories regarding the ancient origins of our own direct ancestors, concerning either an African … Read more
In Depth Samburupithecus is known to have low and broad cheek bones that housed a large maxillary sinus. The alveolar process (the bone that holds the teeth) is straight and houses teeth that are elongated back to front, similar to some great apes. The teeth have a thick coating of enamel and have cusps that … Read more
In Depth Although best known from the Sivalik Hills, Sivapithecus seems to have had a much broader geographical distribution. This is in part down to fossils of other genera such as Ankarapithecus and Palaeopithecus being reassigned to Sivapithecus. One genus in particular called Ramapithecus was previously heralded as an ancestor of humans, but as more … Read more
In Depth Palaeopropithecus is one of the large sloth lemurs of ancient Madagascar, so noted because while it was without doubt a lemur, it had considerably longer limbs and physical adaptations more suited to climbing and living like a sloth. With this in mind, Palaeopropithecus probably spent its time climbing branches to reach leaves, fruit … Read more
In Depth Notharctus is easily the best known of the arboreal primates of the Eocene, a popularity thanks largely to the number of fossil specimens for this genus as well as its frequent inclusion in books about prehistoric animals. Notharctus was a small lightly built and flexible primate that is often described as lemur-like. The … Read more
In Depth Afropithecus is one of the better known primates of Miocene era Africa and the current fossils for this primate suggest that it was similar to the even more numerous Proconsul. However despite a body similarity to Proconsul, Afropithecus is thought to have had a head more like Aegyptopithecus (which may actually be Propliopithecus) … Read more