Teilhardina magnoliana
| Teilhardina magnoliana Temporal range: Early Eocene
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| Species: | †T. magnoliana
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| †Teilhardina magnoliana Beard, 2008
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Teilhardina magnoliana is the earliest known North American primate; its fossil was first discovered in the US state of Mississippi. It was a tree-dwelling fur-covered tiny creature with a long slender tail; the tail was significantly longer than the body.[1][2]
The discoverer, K. Christopher Beard of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), posited that Teilhardina magnoliana's ancestors crossed the land bridge from Siberia to the Americas, possibly more than 55.8 million years ago, although the age of the discovered fossil is a matter of disagreement. The animal weighed approximately one ounce.[3]
References
- ^ Beard, K.C. (2008). "The oldest North American primate and mammalian biogeography during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (10): 3815–8. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.3815B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0710180105. PMC 2268774. PMID 18316721.
- ^ A Monkey's Uncle, Smithsonian Magazine, May 2008, p. 16
- ^ Nickerson, C. 2008. A long trek for ancient mini monkeys. Boston Globe
External links
- Nat. Geo., Oldest Primate Fossil in North America Discovered. 3 March 2008; retrieved 22 August 2008
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