Miocene lorisid primates from the Pakistan Siwaliks

In 1975-79, joint expeditions from Yale University and the Geological Survey of Pakistan (YGSP) recovered fossil lorisids in the Siwalik Group of Pakistan from four localities, spanning a period before 10 Myr ago to about 7 Myr ago. In three of the localities, only isolated teeth or fragments were found, whereas the fourth and youngest locality yielded dental, cranial and some postcranial remains of a single individual described here as a new genus and species. These specimens are the first fossil lorisids known from outside East Africa, and include the only recovered postcranial remains from slow-moving arboreal lorisines. The findings indicate that significant tracts of forests in the Siwalik environmental mosaic may have been utilized by ominoid primates, notably Ramapithecus.