List of fossil primates of South America

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Locations of primate fossil finds in South America and the Caribbean
Brown pog.svg Divisaderan
Red pog.svg Deseadan
Orange pog.svg Hemingfordian & Colhuehuapian
Gold pog.svg Santacrucian-Friasian
Yellow pog.svg Laventan
Yellow ffff80 pog.svg Huayquerian
White pog.svg Pleistocene
Steel pog.svg Holocene

Various fossil primates have been found in South America and adjacent regions such as Panama and the Caribbean. [1] Presently, 78 species of New World monkeys have been registered in South America. [2] Around the middle of the Cenozoic, approximately 34 million years ago, [3] two types of mammals appeared for the first time in South America: rodents and primates. Both of these groups had already been inhabiting other continents for millions of years and they simply arrived in South America rather than originated there. Analyses of evolutionary relationships have shown that their closest relatives were living in Africa at the time. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that they somehow crossed the Atlantic Ocean, which was less wide than today, landed in South America, and founded new populations of rodents and primates. [4]

Contents

The first South American primates gave rise to an impressive evolutionary radiation: more than 120 species in five families. These primates are known as platyrrhine (flat-nosed) primates and are closely related to Old World apes and monkeys (catarrhine primates). Platyrrhines include some of the most popular and acrobatic monkeys such as spider monkeys ( Ateles ) and capuchins ( Cebus ), both of which have grasping (prehensile) tails that can be used as a fifth limb. Platyrrhines also include a wide variety of colorful tamarins and marmosets (family Callitrichidae). The platyrrhine primate fossil record is relatively sparse, quite unlike that of caviomorph rodents. [4]

The presently oldest New World monkey is Perupithecus ucayaliensis from Amazonian Peru, described in 2015. [5] A 2017 study of the fossils estimated the body mass for the various fossil primate species. [6] However, the Ucayalipithecus who might have rafted across the Atlantic between ~35–32 million years ago, are nested within the Parapithecoidea from the Eocene of Afro-Arabia. [7]

List of fossil primates of South America

Note: some authors, among others Fossilworks, consider Killikaike synonymous with Homunculus and Szalatavus with Branisella , while other researchers consider the genera as different.
The Panamanian and Caribbean fossil primates have been included for completeness.

Age
(SALMA/NALMA)
FormationCountryFamilySubfamilyGenusSpecies
bold is type
Estimated
body mass
Notes
Divisaderan Yahuarango Fm. Flag of Peru.svg  Peru incertae sedis incertae sedis Perupithecus P. ucayaliensis400 g (0.88 lb)
Deseadan Chambira Fm. Canaanimico C. amazonensis2,000 g (4.4 lb)
Salla Fm. Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  Bolivia Branisella B. boliviana1,000 g (2.2 lb)
Szalatavus S. attricuspis550 g (1.21 lb)
Hemingfordian Lagunitas Fm. Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba Atelidae Alouattinae Paralouatta P. marianae4,708 g (10.38 lb)
Las Cascadas Fm. Flag of Panama.svg  Panama Cebidae stem cebid Panamacebus P. transitus2,700 g (6.0 lb)
Colhuehuapian Sarmiento Fm. Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Saimirinae Dolichocebus D. gaimanensis2,700 g (6.0 lb)
Aotidae stem aotid Tremacebus T. harringtoni1,800 g (4.0 lb)
Pitheciidae Pitheciinae Mazzonicebus M. almendrae1,602 g (3.532 lb)
Abanico Fm. Flag of Chile.svg  Chile Atelidae stem atelid Chilecebus C. carrascoensis1,000 g (2.2 lb)
Santacrucian Santa Cruz Fm. Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Cebidae Cebinae Killikaike K. blakei2,000 g (4.4 lb)
Pitheciidae Callicebinae Homunculus H. patagonicus2,700 g (6.0 lb)
Pinturas Fm. Carlocebus C. carmenensis3,500 g (7.7 lb)
C. intermedius
Pitheciinae Soriacebus S. adrianae
S. ameghinorum1,483 g (3.269 lb)
Friasian Collón Cura Fm. Proteropithecia P. neuquenensis1,600 g (3.5 lb)
[6]
Laventan Honda Gp. Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Atelidae Alouattinae Stirtonia S. tatacoensis5,513 g (12.154 lb)
S. victoriae10,000 g (22 lb)
Cebidae Saimirinae Saimiri S. annectens 605 g (1.334 lb)
S. fieldsi 768 g (1.693 lb)
Patasola P. magdalenae480 g (1.06 lb)
incertae sedis incerstae sedis Lagonimico L. conclucatus595 g (1.312 lb)
Callitrichidae - Micodon M. kiotensis400 g (0.88 lb)
Aotidae - Aotus A. dindensis 1,054 g (2.324 lb)
Pitheciidae Callicebinae Miocallicebus M. villaviejai1,500 g (3.3 lb)
Pitheciinae Cebupithecia C. sarmientoi1,602 g (3.532 lb)
Nuciruptor N. rubricae2,000 g (4.4 lb)
Atelidae stem atelid Mohanamico M. hershkovitzi1,000 g (2.2 lb)
Huayquerian Solimões Fm. Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Atelidae Atelinae Solimoea S. acrensis8,000 g (18 lb)
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  Bolivia
Cebidae Cebinae Acrecebus A. fraileyi12,000 g (26 lb)
Pleistocene Cueva del Mono Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba Atelidae Alouattinae Paralouatta P. varonai8,444 g (18.616 lb)
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Cartelles C. coimbrafilhoi23,500 g (51.8 lb)
[6]
Caipora C. bambuiorum24,000 g (53 lb)
Protopithecus P. bonaeriensis22,600 g (49.8 lb)
P. brasiliensis
Alouatta A. mauroi
Holocene La Jeringa Cave Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic Pitheciidae Pitheciinae Antillothrix A. bernensis1,500 g (3.3 lb)
[6]
Long Mile Cave Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica Xenothrix X. mcgregori5,720 g (12.61 lb)
Trouing JérémieFlag of Haiti.svg  Haiti Insulacebus I. toussentiana4,805 g (10.593 lb)

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Killikaike</i>

Killikaike is an extinct genus of New World monkey. The genus includes one species, Killikaike blakei, that lived in Argentina during the Early Miocene.

<i>Paralouatta</i> Extinct genus of new world monkeys

Paralouatta is a platyrrhine genus that currently contains two extinct species of small primates that lived on the island of Cuba.

The Jamaican monkey is an extinct species of New World monkey that was endemic to Jamaica. It was first uncovered at Long Mile Cave by Harold Anthony in 1920.

Stirtonia is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. Two species have been described, S. victoriae and the type species S. tatacoensis. Synonyms are Homunculus tatacoensis, described by Ruben Arthur Stirton in 1951 and Kondous laventicus by Setoguchi in 1985. The genus is classified in Alouattini as an ancestor to the modern howler monkeys.

The Laventan age is a period of geologic time within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colloncuran and precedes the Mayoan age.

Solimoea acrensis is a prehistoric ateline monkey from the Late Miocene Solimões Formation of Brazil. It is the only known species of the genus Solimoea.

Protopithecus is an extinct genus of large New World monkey that lived during the Pleistocene. Fossils have been found in the Toca da Boa Vista cave of Brazil, as well as other locales in the country. Fossils of another large, but less robust ateline monkey, Caipora, were also discovered in Toca da Boa Vista.

Aotus dindensis is an extinct species of New World monkeys in the genus Aotus from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia.

Nuciruptor is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is N. rubricae.

Panamacebus is an extinct genus of monkey known from the Early Miocene of central Panama. Panamacebus transitus is the only and type species of this genus.

<i>Cebupithecia</i> Single-species extinct genus of monkeys

Cebupithecia is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is C. sarmientoi.

Lagonimico is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is L. conclucatus.

Micodon is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is M. kiotensis, a very small monkey among the New World species.

Miocallicebus is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is Miocallicebus villaviejai.

Mohanamico is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is M. hershkovitzi. Due to the relatively few material found of Mohanamico, the placement of the genus is not certain and four possible families have been proposed by different authors, Atelidae, Callitrichidae, Pitheciidae or Aotidae.

Patasola is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia. The type species is Patasola magdalenae.

Saimiri annectens, originally described as Laventiana annectens and later as Neosaimiri annectens, is an extinct species of New World monkey in the genus Saimiri from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia.

Saimiri fieldsi is an extinct species of New World monkey in the genus Saimiri from the Middle Miocene. Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Colombia.

Canaanimico is an extinct genus of medium-sized New World monkeys from the Late Oligocene fossiliferous fluvio-lacustrine Chambira Formation of the Ucayali Basin in Amazonian Peru. The genus was described by Marivaux et al. in 2016 and the type species is C. amazonensis.

References

  1. Tejedor et al., 2013, p. 22
  2. Rosenberger & Hartwig, 2001, p. 2
  3. Lynch Alfaro et al., 2015, p. 519
  4. 1 2 South American Fossil Mammals
  5. Bond et al., 2015, p. 538
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Silvestro et al., 2017, p. 14
  7. Seiffert et al., 2020, pp. 194–197
  8. Perupithecus at Fossilworks.org
  9. Marivaux et al., 2016
  10. Canaanimico at Fossilworks.org
  11. 1 2 Branisella boliviana at Fossilworks.org
  12. Püschel et al., 2017
  13. MacPhee et al., 2003, p. 6
  14. Paralouatta marianae at Fossilworks.org
  15. Bloch et al., 2016a, p. 243
  16. Panamacebus at Fossilworks.org
  17. Dolichocebus at Fossilworks.org
  18. Tremacebus at Fossilworks.org
  19. Mazzonicebus at Fossilworks.org
  20. Chilecebus at Fossilworks.org
  21. 1 2 Homunculus at Fossilworks.org
  22. Carlocebus carmenensis at Fossilworks.org
  23. Carlocebus intermedius at Fossilworks.org
  24. Soriacebus adrianae at Fossilworks.org
  25. Soriacebus ameghinorum at Fossilworks.org
  26. Stirtonia tatacoensis at Fossilworks.org
  27. Stirtonia victoriae at Fossilworks.org
  28. Saimiri annectens at Fossilworks.org
  29. Saimiri fieldsi at Fossilworks.org
  30. Patasola magdalenae in the Paleobiology Database
  31. Lagonimico conclucatus at Fossilworks.org
  32. Micodon kiotensis at Fossilworks.org
  33. Aotus dindensis at Fossilworks.org
  34. Miocallicebus villaviejai at Fossilworks.org
  35. Cebupithecia sarmientoi at Fossilworks.org
  36. Nuciruptor rubricae in the Paleobiology Database
  37. Luchterhand et al., 1986, p. 1753
  38. Solimoea at Fossilworks.org
  39. Acrecebus at Fossilworks.org
  40. Horovitz & MacPhee, 1999, p. 37
  41. 1 2 Cartelle & Hartwig, 1996
  42. Caipora bambuiorum at Fossilworks.org
  43. Protopithecus bonaeriensis at Fossilworks.org
  44. Halenar & Rosenberger, 2013
  45. Protopithecus brasiliensis at Fossilworks.org
  46. Tejedor et al., 2008
  47. Alouatta mauroi at Fossilworks.org
  48. Xenothrix at Fossilworks.org
  49. Insulacebus at Fossilworks.org

Bibliography

General

Specific

Further reading