Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

A euprimate skull from the early Eocene of China

Nature volume 427, pages 65–68 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The debut of undoubted euprimates (primates of modern aspect1,2) was in the early Eocene, about 55 Myr ago. Since their first appearance, the earliest euprimates can be distinguished as Cantius, Donrussellia and Teilhardina2,3,4. Nonetheless, the earliest euprimates are primarily known from isolated teeth or fragmentary jaws. Here we describe a partially preserved euprimate skull with nearly complete upper and lower dentition, which represents a new species of Teilhardina and constitutes the first discovery of the genus in Asia. The new species is from the upper section of Lingcha Formation, Hunan Province, China, with an estimated age of 54.97 Myr ago5. Morphology and phylogeny analyses reveal that the new species is the most primitive species of Teilhardina, positioned near the root of euprimate radiation. This discovery of the earliest euprimate skull known to date casts new light on the debate6,7,8,9,10,11,12 concerning the adaptive origin of euprimates, and suggests that the last common ancestor of euprimates was probably a small, diurnal, visually oriented predator.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The skull of Teilhardina asiatica sp. nov. (IVPP V12357).
Figure 2: The dentition of Teilhardina asiatica sp. nov. (IVPP V12357).
Figure 3: Strict consensus of 33 equally parsimonious trees with the optimization of activity patterns.
Figure 4: Bivariate plot of ln[orbital diameter] and ln[skull length] for extant and fossil primates.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Simons, E. L. Primate Evolution: an Introduction to Man's Place in Nature (Macmillan, New York, 1972)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Szalay, F. S. & Delson, E. Evolutionary History of the Primates (Academic, London, 1979)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rose, K. D., Godinot, M. & Bown, T. M. in Anthropoid Origins (eds Fleagle, J. G. & Kay, R. F.) 1–28 (Plenum, New York, 1994)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  4. Fleagle, J. G. Primate Adaptation and Evolution 2nd edn (Academic, London, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bowen, G. J. et al. Mammalian dispersal at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. Science 295, 2062–2065 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cartmill, M. in The Functional and Evolutionary Biology of Primates (ed. Tuttle, R.) 97–122 (Aldine Atherton, Chicago, 1972)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Heesy, C. P. & Ross, C. F. Evolution of activity patterns and chromatic vision in primates: morphometrics, genetics and cladistics. J. Hum. Evol. 40, 111–149 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Li, W.-H. Genetic systems of color vision in primates. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 30(suppl.), 318 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Tan, Y. & Li, W.-H. Trichromatic vision in prosimians. Nature 402, 36 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Surridge, A. K., Osorio, D. & Mundy, N. I. Evolution and selection of trichromatic vision in primates. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 198–205 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bloch, J. I. & Boyer, D. M. Grasping primate origins. Science 298, 1606–1610 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kirk, E. C., Cartmill, M., Kay, R. F. & Lemelin, P. Comment on “Grasping primate origins”. Science 300, 741 (2003)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Kay, R. F. & Cartmill, M. Cranial morphology and adaptations of Palaechthon nacimienti and other Paromomyidae (Plesiadapoidea? Primates), with a description of a new genus and species. J. Hum. Evol. 6, 19–53 (1977)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Martin, R. D. Primate Origins and Evolution: a Phylogenetic Reconstruction (Chapman and Hall, London, 1990)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ravosa, M. J., Noble, V. E., Hylander, W. L., Johnson, K. R. & Kowalski, E. M. Masticatory stress, orbital orientation and the evolution of the primate postorbital bar. J. Hum. Evol. 38, 667–693 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ross, C. F. Allometric and functional influences on primate orbit orientation and the origins of the Anthropoidea. J. Hum. Evol. 29, 201–227 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Godinot, M. et al. Nouvelles données sur les mammifères de Palette (Eocène inférieur, Provence). Münchner Geowiss. Abh. 10, 237–288 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bown, T. M. & Rose, K. D. Patterns of dental evolution in Early Eocene Anaptomorphine primates (Omomyidae) from the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. J. Paleontol. 61(s; supplement), 1–162 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gunnell, G. F. & Rose, K. D. in The Primate Fossil Record (ed. Hartwig, W. C.) 45–82 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Rose, K. D. & Bown, T. M. Additional fossil evidence on the differentiation of the earliest euprimates. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 88, 98–101 (1991)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Ross, C., Williams, B. A. & Kay, R. F. Phylogenetic analysis of anthropoid relationships. J. Hum. Evol. 35, 221–306 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Kay, R. F., Ross, C. & Williams, B. A. Anthropoid origins. Science 275, 797–804 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Kay, R. F. & Kirk, E. C. Osteological evidence for the evolution of activity pattern and visual acuity in primates. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 113, 235–262 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Kay, R. F. The functional adaptation of primate molar teeth. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 43, 195–216 (1975)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Gingerich, P. D. Early Cenozoic Omomyidae and the evolutionary history of Tarsiiform primates. J. Hum. Evol. 10, 345–374 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Williams, B. A. & Covert, H. H. New early Eocene anaptomorphine primate (Omomyidae) from the Washakie Basin, Wyoming, with comments on the phylogeny and paleobiology of anaptomorphines. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 93, 323–340 (1994)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Swofford, D. L. PAUP*. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (*and Other Methods). Version 4 (Sinauer, Sunderland, 2000)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Kay, R. F. & Hiiemae, K. M. Jaw movement and tooth use in recent and fossil primates. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 40, 227–256 (1974)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Maddison, W. P. & Maddison, D. R. MacClade: Analysis of Phylogeny and Character Evolution, Version 3.0 (Sinauer, Sunderland, 1992)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Covert, H. H. in Creatures of the Dark: The Nocturnal Prosimians (eds Alterman, L., Doyle, G. A. & Izard, M. K.) 495–509 (Plenum, New York, 1995)

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank S. Xie for fossil preparation. We are grateful to J. Meng for comments on drafts of this manuscript, R. Kay for providing his published data and for suggestions, and K. C. Beard of for discussions. This research is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Major Basic Research Project of Ministry of Sciences and Technology, China, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Xijun Ni, Yuanqing Wang, Yaoming Hu & Chuankui Li

  2. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, 10024, USA

    Yaoming Hu

  3. Biology Program (Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior), Graduate School and City College, City University of New York, New York, 10016, USA

    Yaoming Hu

Authors
  1. Xijun Ni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuanqing Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yaoming Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chuankui Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xijun Ni.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

41586_2004_BFnature02126_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary Information 1: The specimen measurements, statistic analyses for activity pattern reconstruction, and cladistic analyses. (PDF 762 kb)

Supplementary Information 2: The matrix used for cladistic analyses. (TXT 64 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ni, X., Wang, Y., Hu, Y. et al. A euprimate skull from the early Eocene of China. Nature 427, 65–68 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02126

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02126

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing