Scientists have recorded the earliest fossil evidence of primates, a progress that sheds light on how life came to life over the extinction event 66 million years ago that destroyed dinosaurs and destroyed them. lead to increased mammals.
The researchers, including those from Washington University in the USA, analyzed several fossils of Purgatorius – the oldest genus in a group of the earliest primates called plesiadapiforms.
Ancient mammals
According to the study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, these old mammals were small-bodied and ate a special diet of insects and fruits that varied by sex.
“This discovery is encouraging because it represents the oldest occurrence of ancient primates in the fossil record,” said Stephen Chester, co-director of the study from Brooklyn College in the USA.
“It adds to our understanding of how the earliest prime ministers separated themselves from their competitors after the demise of the dinosaurs,” said Chester.
The scientists analyzed fossil teeth found in the Hell Creek area of northeastern Montana in the U.S. that are now part of the collections at the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
Extinction event
They are thought to be between 65.9 million years old, about 1,05,000 to 1,39,000 years after the event became extinct.
Depending on the age of the fossils, the scientists said that the ancestors of all the prime ministers, including the plesiadapiform and modern primates such as lemurs, monkeys and apes, seemed to live together. to giant dinosaurs.
“It’s mind blowing to think of our earliest ancient primate ancestors,” said study co-author Wilson Mantilla, a professor of biology at the University of Washington (UW).
First to multiply
“They were some of the first mammals to multiply in this new world after extinction, taking advantage of the fruit and insects up in the forest canopy,” said Mantilla.
The fossils, according to the researchers, consist of two species of Purgatorius – Purgatorius janisae, and a new genre defined by the named team Purgatorius mckeeveri.
They said three of the teeth found have unique features compared to none previously known Purgatorius and this described the new species.
“It was a really cool study as part of that, especially as it gives us more evidence that the earliest primates came before non-bird dinosaurs became extinct. They became very plentiful within a million years of their extinction, ”said study co-author Brody Hovatter, a UW graduate student.