Afrasia

Name: Afrasia ‭(‬Africa Asia‭)‬.
Phonetic: Af-ray-se-ah.
Named By: Y.‭ ‬Chaimanee,‭ ‬O.‭ ‬Chavasseau,‭ ‬K.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Beard,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Kyaw,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Soe,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Sein,‭ ‬V.Lazzari,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Marivaux,‭ ‬et al.‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Primates,‭ ‬Haplorhini,‭ ‬Eosimiiformes,‭ ‬Afrotarsiidae.
Species: A.‭ ‬djijidae‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: Estimated about‭ ‬100‭ ‬grams.
Known locations: Republic of the Union of Myanmar‭ ‬-‭ ‬Pondaung Formation.
Time period: Early Priabonian of the Eocene.
Fossil representation: Only known from teeth.

       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 unexplained factors,‭ ‬the largest of which is how could eosimiids have migrated from Asia to Africa when the two continents were still separated by ocean.‭ ‬Convergent evolution where two sets of isolated animals develop the same features could explain this,‭ ‬but it‭ ‬may be best to take time to study the complexities while new discoveries are made.‭ ‬The fact that eosimiid primates are known from both Africa and Asia ended up being the inspiration of the name Afrasia.

Further reading
-‭ ‬New sivaladapid primates from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the anthropoid status of Amphipithecidae‭ ‬-‭ ‬K.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Beard,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Marivaux,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬Tun,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Soe,‭ ‬Y.‭ ‬Chaimanee,‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Htoon,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Marandat H.‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Aung,‭ ‬et al.‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.
-‭ ‬Late Middle Eocene primate from Myanmar and the initial anthropoid colonization of Africa.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Y.‭ ‬Chaimanee,‭ ‬O.‭ ‬Chavasseau,‭ ‬K.‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Beard,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Kyaw,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Soe,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬Sein,‭ ‬V.Lazzari,‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Marivaux,‭ ‬et al.‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.



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