By Scott Rogers February 24, 2021
An illustration of a Purgatorius, the oldest known primate. (Courtesy of the Burke Museum)
Though it doesn’t quite corroborate
The Flintstones, a new study featuring UF geology assistant professor Courtney J. Sprain confirms that the earliest known primates did walk with the dinosaurs.
Published in
Royal Society Open Science, the study analyzed 65.9 million-year-old fossils of the early primate Purgatorius, the oldest genus in a group of primates called plesiadapiforms. The study found that these small mammals, who mainly lived off a diet of insects and fruits, likely emerged in the Late Cretaceous, just before the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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New York, February 24, 2021 - Graduate Center, CUNY/Brooklyn College professor was part of a discovery of the first fossil evidence of any primate, illustrating the earliest steps of primates 66 million years ago following the mass extinction that wiped out all dinosaurs and led to the rise of mammals.
Stephen Chester, an assistant professor of anthropology and paleontologist at the Graduate Center, CUNY and Brooklyn College, was part of a team of 10 researchers from across the United States who 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 across species.
Scientists Describe Earliest Primate Fossils Details
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A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates.
A new study published Feb. 24 in the journal Royal Society Open Science documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of primates.
A team of 10 researchers from across the U.S. 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.
Researchers at The University of New Mexico are tied to a new study published in the journal “Royal Society Open Science” that documents the earliest-known fossil evidence of any primate. Associate Professor Jason Moore, of UNM Honors College, and Wade.
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