Notharctus tenebrosus
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| Notarctus tenebrosus Leidy, 1870 |
Notharctus tenebrosus was an early primate from the early Eocene, some 54-38 million years ago. Its fossil was found by Ferdinand V. Hayden in 1870 in southwestern Wyoming. When first found, Notharctus tenebrosus was thought to be a small pachyderm due to the concentration of pachyderm fossils in the area.
However, after Walter W. Granger's discovery of a nearly complete skeleton, also in Wyoming, it was firmly established as a primate. Notharctus tenebrosus most resembles modern-day Madagascar lemurs.
Notharctus tenebrosus belongs to an extinct primate group known as adapiformes and fossils have been found in Europe and North America. Adapids were among the first primates to exbhit a set of adaptations, such as grasping hands, binocular vision, and flexible backs, for life in the trees.
"Notharctus" means false bear, while "tenebrosus" means dark or gloomy. N. tenebrosus is one of 5-12 species in the Notharctus genus.
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[edit] Morphology
Notharctus tenebrosus has a fused mandibular symphysis and molar teeth with well-developed shearing crests, while the incisors are peg-like in form. Notharctus tenebrosus has canine teeth that are sexually dimorphic. The upper molars of this species have a psuedohypocone and the snout is moderately long, with a long premaxillary bone. Notharctus tenebrosus has a lacrimal bone that is positioned at the end of the orbit but not anterior to it as found in extinct lemurs. The vertebral formula of Notharctus tenebrosus is 7 cervicals, 12 thoracics, 8 lumbars, 3 sacrals, and 19+ caudals. Observing the fossils, Notharctus tenebrosus has long hindlimbs, trunk, and tail. On the hands and feet, the pollex and hallux are large and opposable, and the digits are long and possess nails (Fleagle, 1999), while on the foot the calcaneus is relatively short. Notharctus tenebrosus has an average body mass of 4.2 kilograms and was about 40 cm long without its tail.
[edit] Diet and locomotion
Based on dental morphology, Notharctus tenebrosus most likely had a folivorous diet.
Based upon limb bone morphology Notharctus tenebrosus most likely moved by leaping and was an arboreal quadruped.
[edit] Resources
- Fleagle, J.G. 1999. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press: San Diego.
- MacLarnon, A.M. 1987. Size relationships of the spinal cord and associated skeleton in primates. PhD thesis, University of London.
- Martin, R.D. 1990. Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.
