Darwinius, Archicebus and Tarsius

Tarsius tarsier (Gray 1825; extant) the tarsier is a nocturnal pre-monkey currently nesting between Notharctus and Proconsul. Note the enormous orbit, the elongate tarsus, odd combination of claws and nails on the pes, the fused tibiofibula and the enlarged medial incisors.

Darwinius masillae (Franzen et al. 2009; PMO 214.214; Eocene, 47 mya; 58 cm overall length) nests with Tarsius in the large reptile tree, between Notharctus and Proconsul. Darwinius lacks many of the special traits found in Tarsius, and could have been a transitional taxon between prosimians and higher primates, the simians.

Archicebus achilles (Ni et a 2013; IVPP V18618; Eocene, 55 mya; skull length: 2.5 cm) adds evidence to the hypothesis that primates had their genesis in China, but it nests between Aegyptopithecus and more recent tarsiers, like Darwinius. No plate of postorbital bone backed up the orbit. The postorbital process of the frontal appears here as a se

Begun DR 2010. Miocene Hominids and the Origins of the African Apes and Humans. Annual Review of Anthropology 39:67-84

Hopwood AT 1933a. Miocene primates from British East Africa. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 10), 11, 96-98.

Hopwood AT 1933b. Miocene primates from Kenya. Journal of the Linnean Society of London. Zoology 38:437–464.

Franzen JL, Gingerich PD, Habersetzer J, Hurum JH, Von Koenigswald W and Smith BH 2009. Complete primate skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: morphology and paleobiology PLoS ONE. 4 (5): e5723.

Ni X, Gebo DL, Dagosto M, Meng J, Tafforeau P, Flynn JJ and Beard KC 2013. The oldest known primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution. Nature 498: doi:10.1038/nature12200

Rosenberger AL, Hogg R and Wng SM 2008. Chapter 14. Rooneyia, postorbital closure, and the beginnings of the age of Anthropoidea. Pp. 325-346 in: Sargis EJ and Dagosto M eds. Mammalian evolutionary morphology, A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay, part of the Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology book series.

wiki/Tarsier
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Mammalia

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Marsupials - Metatheria

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Placentalia 2

Scandentia

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Glires

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Placentalia 1