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Title: A parapithecid stem anthropoid of African origin in the Paleogene of South America

Phylogenetic evidence suggests that platyrrhine (or New World) monkeys and caviomorph rodents of the Western Hemisphere derive from source groups from the Eocene of Afro-Arabia, a landmass that was ~1500 to 2000 kilometers east of South America during the late Paleogene. Here, we report evidence for a third mammalian lineage of African origin in the Paleogene of South America—a newly discovered genus and species of parapithecid anthropoid primate from Santa Rosa in Amazonian Perú. Bayesian clock–based phylogenetic analysis nests this genus (Ucayalipithecus) deep within the otherwise Afro-Arabian clade Parapithecoidea and indicates that transatlantic rafting of the lineage leading toUcayalipithecuslikely took place between ~35 and ~32 million years ago, a dispersal window that includes the major worldwide drop in sea level that occurred near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

 
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NSF-PAR ID:
10143806
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Science
Volume:
368
Issue:
6487
ISSN:
0036-8075
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 194-197
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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