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The oldest known primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution
Xijun Ni1, Daniel L Gebo, Marian Dagosto
1Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Beijing 100044, China. nixijun@ivpp.ac.cn
Nature
|June 7, 2013
Summary
A nearly complete fossil primate skeleton from early Eocene China, dating back 55 million years, reveals the most basal known tarsier. This discovery clarifies early primate evolution and divergence times.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Primate Evolution
- Vertebrate Paleontology
Background:
- Reconstructing early primate evolution is challenging due to incomplete fossil records.
- Disagreements persist regarding the palaeobiology and phylogenetic relationships of early primates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the discovery of a significant early primate fossil.
- To analyze the fossil's morphology and phylogenetic position.
Main Methods:
- Discovery and excavation of a nearly complete, articulated fossil primate skeleton.
- Detailed morphological examination using propagation phase contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography.
- Phylogenetic analysis based on total available evidence.
Main Results:
- Discovery of the oldest, most complete fossil primate skeleton from the early Eocene of China (55 million years ago).
- Phylogenetic analysis identifies the fossil as the most basal known haplorhine primate, specifically a stem tarsier.
- The fossil provides evidence for an early strepsirrhine-haplorhine split and refines divergence estimates for tarsiers and anthropoids.
Conclusions:
- The fossil supports an early dichotomy between strepsirrhine and haplorhine primates.
- It constrains the divergence time between tarsiers and anthropoids.
- It strengthens the hypothesis that early primates were likely diurnal, arboreal, and insectivorous, similar in size to modern pygmy mouse lemurs.
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