Earliest primate fossils documented, shed light on rise of mammals
They are estimated to be 65.9 million years old, about 1,05,000 to 1,39,000 years after the mass extinction event.
Scientists have documented the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates, an advance which sheds light on how life on land recovered after the extinction event 66 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and led to the rise of mammals.
The researchers, including those from the University of Washington in the US, analysed several fossils of Purgatorius the oldest genus in a group of the earliest-known primates called plesiadapiforms.
According to the study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, these ancient mammals were small-bodied and ate specialised diets of insects and fruits that varied by species.
Our earliest primate ancestors rapidly spread after dinosaur extinction
The small, furry ancestors of all primates a group that includes humans and other apes were already taking to the trees a mere 100,000 years after the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs and most other terrestrial animals, according to a new analysis of fossil teeth in the collections of the University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP).
The analysis showed that the teeth are the earliest-known fossil evidence of any primate, dating from about 65.9 million years ago 105,000 to 139,000 years after Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary 66 million years ago that signaled the end of the dinosaur era, except for the dinosaurs’ descendants, the birds.
The researchers analyzed several fossils of
Purgatorius, the oldest genus in a group of the earliest-known primates called plesiadapiforms. These ancient mammals were small-bodied and ate specialized diets of insects and fruits that varied by species.
These newly described specimens are central to understanding primate ancestry and paint a picture of how life on land recovered after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago that wiped out all dinosaurs except for birds and led to the rise of mammals.
The team analyzed fossilized teeth found in the Hell Creek area of northeastern Montana. The fossils, now part of the collections at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, are estimated to be 65.9 million years old, about 105,000 to 139,000 years after the mass extinction event.
An artist’s rendering shows the early primate species known as Purgatorius mckeeveri. (Andrey Atuchin Illustration via Burke Museum)
The shapes of fossilized teeth from 65.9 million-year-old, squirrel-like creatures suggest that the branch of the tree of life that gave rise to us humans and other primates flowered while dinosaurs still walked the earth.
That’s the claim coming from a team of 10 researchers across the U.S., including biologists at Seattle’s Burke Museum and the University of Washington.
In a study published by Royal Society Open Science, the team lays out evidence that an ancient group of primates known as plesiadapiforms must have emerged before the mass-extinction event that killed off the dinosaurs. (Technically, modern-day birds are considered the descendants of dinosaurs, but that’s another story.)