Eosimias sinensis
| Eosimias sinensis Fossil range: Eocene |
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Eosimias sinensis |
Eosimias sinensis (Chinese: 中华曙猿, "dawn monkey of China"[1]) was a now extinct primate species of Eosimias first discovered in China.[2]
The species is believed to have lived 45 million years before present, in the Eocene epoch.[3] The E. sinensis was tiny, as small as the smallest monkey presently, the pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea) of South America[1], and could fit in the palm of a human's hand.[2] Its teeth are considered more primitive than those of early higher primates known from Africa, including Algeripithecus minutus.[1] Due to its highly primitive nature, some paleontologists consider the E. sinensis to be evidence that higher primates may have originated in Asia rather than Africa.[1][3]
References
- ^ a b c d Beard, Chris. [1]
- ^ a b Hendricks, Melissa. Tales from the Crust. Johns Hopkins Magazine. April 2001.
- ^ a b Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Discovery of the Eosimias sinensis,the Ancestor of the Human and Their Anthropoid Relative. February 20, 2002. (Chinese)
External links
- “中华曙猿”常州发现始末 (Chinese)
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