Necrolemur
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| Genus: | †Necrolemur Filhol, 1873
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Necrolemur ("dead lemur") is an extinct genus of primate.
The 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long creature probably resembled a tarsier; it was a nocturnal hunter with very large eyes and ears. Necrolemur had sharp teeth, which it probably used to bite through tough insect exoskeletons. Like modern tarsiers, it also possessed long fingers and toes, and a lengthy, balancing, tail.[1] It was also characterised by a short face, a narrow gap between the eyes, a tubular ectotympanic and a relatively large brain.[2]
Fossils of this animal have been found in western Europe.
References
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 288. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ Fossil Primates from the University of Leeds
External links
- [1] and [2] Marc Godinot and Marian Dagosto: Astragalus of Necrolemur, Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 57, No. 6 (Nov. 1983), pp. 1321-1324
- Marian Dagosto: The distal tibia of primates with special reference to the omomyidae, International Journal of Primatology Vol. 6, No. 1 (Feb. 1985), pp. 45-75, ISSN 0164-0291, DOI 10.1007/BF02693696
- Alfred L. Rosenberger: In Favor of the Necrolemur-Tarsier Hypothesis, Folia Primatologica 1985;45:179-194, doi:10.1159/000156227
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