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Palaeontology

Combing the primate record

Nature volume 422, pages 389–391 (2003)Cite this article

Fossils of bushbabies and lorises reported from deposits of the Fayum Depression in Egypt extend the known record for this group of primates from 20 million years to approximately 40 million years ago.

The lemurs are found only in Madagascar, and consist of 15 modern genera and 54 species2. Their palaeontological record is virtually zero. The record of lorisiforms, a smaller assemblage of 8 modern genera and 32 species2, was scarcely better: until now, the earliest known fossil representatives were three early Miocene genera from Kenya (Komba, Mioeuoticus and Progalago), up to 20 million years old3. Seiffert and colleagues' discovery of isolated teeth and jaw fragments of two new genera, Karanisia and Saharagalago, from late middle Eocene deposits of Egypt, improves matters considerably. Both forms share unique dental features with modern lorisiforms, notably a prominent fourth cusp (hypocone) on each upper molar, contributing to a distinctive concave posterior tooth margin. In one fell swoop, Karanisia and Saharagalago, dated at between 37 and 41 million years old, have doubled the age of the known fossil record for lorisiform primates and illuminate the African diversification of lorisiforms.

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Figure 1: A simplified primate evolutionary tree.
Figure 2

LEFT: CLEM HAAGNER; GALLO IMAGES/CORBIS; RIGHT: K. A. I. NEKARIS

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  1. Academic Affairs at The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, 60605-2496, Illinois, USA

    Robert D. Martin

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Correspondence to Robert D. Martin.

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Martin, R. Combing the primate record. Nature 422, 389–391 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/422388a

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