A whole new world of ancestors: Eocene anthropoideans from Africa

Abstract

AbstractThe last decade has witnessed enormous gains in our knowledge of early anthro‐poidean primates,“Anthropoidean” refers to members of the suborder Anthropoidea, whch contaings New and Old world monkeys, apes, and humans. These primates are also often called “simians,” “simiiforms” or “anthropoids;” the latter term is potentially confusing because it has often been used to refer only to the great apes. the oldest known relatives of monkeys, apes and humans. Recent fossil finds in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Oman, along with the associated geological research at these sites, have radically changed our models of anthro‐poidean origins and differentiation. Instead of first appearing as robust‐jawed herbivorous primates in the earliest Oligocene, it is now apparent that there was radiation of small‐bodied, fruit‐and‐insect‐eating anthropoideans during the Eocene. These early forms included at least two oligopithecines (squirrel‐monkey‐sized primates with a catarrhine dental formula) and two early “parapithecid monkeys” (three‐premolared primates with lumpy, bunodont dentitions). In addition, several smaller species from Algeria and Egypt, ranging in size from pygmy marmosets to tamarins, are not definitely assignable to previously known families. Alongside the early anthropoideans, there are also at least four recently identified prosimian families. The continental Eocene of Africa—for years, little more than a blank on the paieontologi‐cal map—now comprises an increasingly productive field source of new data that is important in deciphering phyletic and adaptive aspects of the prosimian‐anthropoid transition.