Source 1: “Discovery of Oldest Primate Skeleton Helps Chart Early Evolution of Humans, Apes”
This article was published by the American Museum of Natural History on June 5th, 2013.
In this article, researchers have identified a fossil primate skeleton that could possibly be the oldest and smallest primate ever discovered. Experts found the fossil in the Hubei Province of China in the bottom of a former lake. It is estimated that the animal lived around 55 million years ago. Given the scientific name of Archiebus achilles, researchers hope that this discovery will reveal more information about early primate and human evolution. More specifically, the goal is to identify the point when modern-day large apes and humans split from their smaller, tree-dwelling relatives. Archiebus existed 55 million years ago, on an Earth that was extremely different from today’s world. The majority of the planet’s climate was tropical and blooming with vegetation, allowing for certain evolutionary adaptations. In the case of Archiebus, paleontologist Christopher Beard states that “It looks like an odd hybrid with the feet of a small monkey, the arms, legs and teeth of a very primitive primate, and a primitive skull bearing surprisingly small eyes.” While the fossil is small like the tree-dwelling primates, the presence …show more content…
Although thought to be non-violent, in 2002 anthropologist Filippo Aureli had seen and documented the first known case of spider monkey aggression. Aureli and his team had observed a group of male spider monkeys stealing from another nearby group. The discovery of aggression in other primate species points to a possible connection; however, the large genetic drift between spider monkeys, chimpanzees, and humans rules out any ancestral ties. Instead, researchers chose to look at social organization across all groups of
This article was published by the American Museum of Natural History on June 5th, 2013.
In this article, researchers have identified a fossil primate skeleton that could possibly be the oldest and smallest primate ever discovered. Experts found the fossil in the Hubei Province of China in the bottom of a former lake. It is estimated that the animal lived around 55 million years ago. Given the scientific name of Archiebus achilles, researchers hope that this discovery will reveal more information about early primate and human evolution. More specifically, the goal is to identify the point when modern-day large apes and humans split from their smaller, tree-dwelling relatives. Archiebus existed 55 million years ago, on an Earth that was extremely different from today’s world. The majority of the planet’s climate was tropical and blooming with vegetation, allowing for certain evolutionary adaptations. In the case of Archiebus, paleontologist Christopher Beard states that “It looks like an odd hybrid with the feet of a small monkey, the arms, legs and teeth of a very primitive primate, and a primitive skull bearing surprisingly small eyes.” While the fossil is small like the tree-dwelling primates, the presence …show more content…
Although thought to be non-violent, in 2002 anthropologist Filippo Aureli had seen and documented the first known case of spider monkey aggression. Aureli and his team had observed a group of male spider monkeys stealing from another nearby group. The discovery of aggression in other primate species points to a possible connection; however, the large genetic drift between spider monkeys, chimpanzees, and humans rules out any ancestral ties. Instead, researchers chose to look at social organization across all groups of