Three previously unknown ancient primates identified


Biological anthropologists have described three new species of fossil primates that were previously unknown to science.

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(S. Joshua Swamidass) #2

Very interesting…

Since the 1930s, numerous primate fossils have been uncovered in the sandstones and claystones that make up the Friars Formation in San Diego County. Paleontologist Stephen Walsh and fieldworkers from the San Diego Museum of Natural History (SDNHM) built up a large collection of fossil primates from the San Diego area, but Walsh was unable to describe these specimens before his death in 2007.

A decade later, UT Austin graduate student Amy Atwater and anthropology professor Chris Kirk took up the challenge, describing and naming three previously unknown omomyoid primates that lived 42 million to 46 million years ago. The researchers named these new species Ekwiiyemakius walshi , Gunnelltarsius randalli and Brontomomys cerutti .

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