Primate tarsal bones from Egerkingen, Switzerland, attributable to the middle Eocene adapiform Caenopithecus lemuroides.

ABSTRACT: The middle Eocene species Caenopithecus lemuroides, known solely from the Egerkingen fissure fillings in Switzerland, was the first Paleogene fossil primate to be correctly identified as such (by Ludwig Rütimeyer in 1862), but has long been represented only by fragmentary mandibular and maxillary remains. More recent discoveries of adapiform fossils in other parts of the world have revealed Caenopithecus to be a biogeographic enigma, as it is potentially more closely related to Eocene adapiforms from Africa, Asia, and North America than it is to any known European forms. More anatomical evidence is needed, however, to provide robust tests of such phylogenetic hypotheses. Here we describe and analyze the first postcranial remains that can be attributed to C. lemuroides-an astragalus and thr

SUBMITTER: Seiffert ER 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4485257 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature