NDLI: Primates in the Eocene

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Gingerich, Philip D.
Copyright Year	2012
Abstract	The mammalian order Primates made its first appearance in the fossil record during the Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), the global greenhouse warming event that marks the beginning of the Eocene. Two primate superfamilies, Tarsioidea and Adapoidea, dominate early and middle Eocene primate faunas. Warm climates enabled primates to thrive, and warming events within the Eocene facilitated cosmopolitan dispersal. Declining diversity at the end of the Eocene reflects environmental cooling. Fossils of earliest Tarsioidea and Adapoidea are similar dentally, often confused, and appear closely related as stem or crown Haplorhini. The superfamily Tarsioidea is represented by a single genus, Tarsius, living today, while Adapoidea appear to be ancestral to living Anthropoidea. Little is known of the Eocene history of strepsirrhine Lemuroidea and Lorisoidea. Temporal scaling of molecular clock ages suggests that Strepsirrhini appeared before Haplorhini in the Paleocene or possibly with Haplorhini at the beginning of the Eocene. Substantial skeletons of Eocene primates like those of adapoid Darwinius and Europolemur from Messel in Germany and Notharctus and Smilodectes from western North America constrain phylogenetic interpretation of primate relationships much more than dental remains ever can. A specialised grasping foot distinguishes early primates from other mammals. Traits associated in a functional complex include replacement of claws by nails on all digits; movement of the pedal fulcrum from the metatarsals to the tarsals; elongation of digit IV relative to digit III, with reduction of digit II and sometimes III; and then secondary development of a grooming claw or claws on digits II and sometimes III. The specialised grasping foot of early primates was later moderated in the emergence of anthropoid primates.
Starting Page	649
Ending Page	663
Page Count	15
File Format	PDF
ISSN	18671594
Journal	Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments
Volume Number	92
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	18671608
Language	English
Publisher	Springer-Verlag
Publisher Date	2012-09-08
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	PETM Grande Coupure Primate phylogeny Haplorhini Adapoidea Tarsioidea Messel Darwinius Europolemur Notharctus Smilodectes Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography Biodiversity Paleontology Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Ecology Geology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Global and Planetary Change Paleontology

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