Apidium
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Apidium phiomense |
The genus Apidium (from Latin for "little bull", as the first fossils were thought to be from a hoofed animal) is that of at least three extinct primates living in the early Oligocene, roughly 36 to 34 millions years ago. Apidium fossils are common in the Fayoum deposits of Egypt. Fossils of the earlier species, Apidium moustafai, are rare; fossils of the later species Apidium phiomense are fairly common.
Apidium is placed within the Parapithecidae family in the parvorder Catarrhini, making it closely related to the modern Old World haplorrhine primates, although roughly equally close to the Old World monkeys to which it resembles and the apes.
The Apidium species were well adapted to life in what once were the tropical forests of North Africa. The limbs of the Apidium show an ability to run along branches and leap between trees. Males were much larger than females, and had large canine teeth. Unlike their nocturnal ancestors (e.g. Godinotia), these primates appear to have been diurnal.
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