science

List of fossil primates of South America

List of fossil primates of South America is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of fossil primates of South America rather than just read about it. In short: Various fossil primates have been found in South America and adjacent regions such as Panama and the Caribbean. Presently, 78 species of New World monkeys have been registered in South America.

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Reference excerpt

Various fossil primates have been found in South America and adjacent regions such as Panama and the Caribbean. Presently, 78 species of New World monkeys have been registered in South America. Around the middle of the Cenozoic, approximately 34 million years ago, two types of mammals appeared for the first time in South America: rodents and primates. Both of these groups had already been inhabiting other continents for millions of years and they simply arrived in South America rather than originated there. Analyses of evolutionary relationships have shown that their closest relatives were living in Africa at the time. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that they somehow crossed the Atlantic Ocean, which was less wide than today, landed in South America, and founded new populations of rodents and primates. The first South American primates gave rise to an impressive evolutionary radiation: more than 120 species in five families. These primates are known as platyrrhine (flat-nosed) primates and are closely related to Old World apes and monkeys (catarrhine primates). Platyrrhines include some of the most popular and acrobatic monkeys such as spider monkeys (Ateles) and capuchins (Cebus), both of which have grasping (prehensile) tails that can be used as a fifth limb. Platyrrhines also include a wide variety of colorful tamarins and marmosets (family Callitrichidae). The platyrrhine primate fossil record is relatively sparse, quite unlike that of caviomorph rodents. The presently oldest New World monkey is Perupithecus ucayaliensis from Amazonian Peru, described in 2015. A 2017 study of the fossils estimated the body mass for the various fossil primate species. However, the Ucayalipithecus who might have rafted across the Atlantic between ~35–32 million years ago, are nested within the Parapithecoidea from the Eocene of Afro-Arabia.

List of fossil primates of South America Note: some authors, among others Fossilworks, consider Killikaike synonymous with Homunculus and Szalatavus with Branisella, while other researchers consider the genera as different.The Panamanian and Caribbean fossil primates have been included for completeness.

See also

References

Bibliography

General Bond, Mariano; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Campbell Jr., Kenneth E.; Chornogubsky, Laura; Novo, Nelson; Goin, Francisco (2015). "Eocene primates of South America and the African origins of New World monkeys". Nature. 520 (7548): 538–546. Bibcode:2015Natur.520..538B. doi:10.1038/nature14120. hdl:11336/79088. PMID 25652825. S2CID 4456556. Retrieved 2017-09-24. Lynch Alfaro, Jessica W.; Cortés Ortiz, Liliana; Di Fiore, Anthony; Boubli, Jean P. (2015). "Special issue: Comparative biogeography of Neotropical primates" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 82: 518–529. Bibcode:2015MolPE..82..518L. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2014.09.027. PMID 25451803. Retrieved 2017-09-24. Püschel, Thomas A.; Gladman, Justin T.; Bobe, René; Sellers, William I. (2017). "The evolution of the platyrrhine talus: A comparative analysis of the phenetic affinities of the Miocene platyrrhines with their modern relatives". Journal of Human Evolution. 111: 179–201. Bibcode:2017JHumE.111..179P. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.015. PMC 5603972. PMID 28874270. Rosenberger, Alfred L.; Hartwig, Walter Carl (2001). "New World Monkeys". Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (PDF). pp. 1–4. Retrieved 2017-09-24. Silvestro, Daniele; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Serrano-Serrano, Martha L.; Loiseau, Oriane; Rossier, Victor; Rolland, Jonathan; Zizka, Alexander; Höhna, Sebastian; Antonelli, Alexandre; Salamin, Nicolas (2019), "Early Arrival and Climatically-Linked Geographic Expansion of New World Monkeys from Tiny African Ancestors", Systematic Biology, 68: 78–92, bioRxiv 10.1101/178111, doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy046, PMC 6292484 Tejedor, Marcelo F (2013). "Sistemática, evolución y paleobiogeografía de los primates Platyrrhini" (PDF). Revista del Museo de La Plata. 20: 20–39. Retrieved 2017-09-24.

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of fossil primates of South America

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of fossil primates of South America claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of fossil primates of South America before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of fossil primates of South America ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of fossil primates of South America

In research: List of fossil primates of South America appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of fossil primates of South America in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of fossil primates of South America is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of fossils, Lists of mammals of South America, Lists of primates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of fossil primates of South America outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of fossil primates of South America in simple terms?

Various fossil primates have been found in South America and adjacent regions such as Panama and the Caribbean. Presently, 78 species of New World monkeys have been registered in South America.

Why does List of fossil primates of South America matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

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Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

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