List of fossil primates of South America

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Locations of primate fossil finds in South America and the Caribbean
Divisaderan
Deseadan
Hemingfordian & Colhuehuapian
Santacrucian-Friasian
Laventan
Huayquerian
Pleistocene
Holocene

Various fossil primates have been found in South America and adjacent regions such as Panama and the Caribbean.[1] Presently, 78 species of New World monkeys have been registered in South America.[2] Around the middle of the Cenozoic, approximately 34 million years ago,[3] 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.[4]

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.[4]

The presently oldest New World monkey is Perupithecus ucayaliensis from Amazonian Peru, described in 2015.[5] A 2017 study of the fossils estimated the body mass for the various fossil primate species.[6] 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.[7]

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.

Age (SALMA/NALMA)	Formation	Country	Family	Subfamily	Genus	Species bold is type	Estimated body mass	Notes
Divisaderan	Yahuarango Fm.	Peru	incertae sedis	incertae sedis	Perupithecus	P. ucayaliensis	400 g (0.88 lb)	[6][8]
Deseadan	Chambira Fm.				Canaanimico	C. amazonensis	2,000 g (4.4 lb)	[6][9] [10]
	Salla Fm.	Bolivia			Branisella	B. boliviana	1,000 g (2.2 lb)	[6][11]
					Szalatavus	S. attricuspis	550 g (1.21 lb)	[6][11]
Hemingfordian	Lagunitas Fm.	Cuba	Atelidae	Alouattinae	Paralouatta	P. marianae	4,708 g (10.38 lb)	[12] [13][14]
	Las Cascadas Fm.	Panama	Cebidae	stem cebid	Panamacebus	P. transitus	2,700 g (6.0 lb)	[6][15] [16]
Colhuehuapian	Sarmiento Fm.	Argentina		Saimirinae	Dolichocebus	D. gaimanensis	2,700 g (6.0 lb)	[6][17]
			Aotidae	stem aotid	Tremacebus	T. harringtoni	1,800 g (4.0 lb)	[6][18]
			Pitheciidae	Pitheciinae	Mazzonicebus	M. almendrae	1,602 g (3.532 lb)	[6][19]
	Abanico Fm.	Chile	Atelidae	stem atelid	Chilecebus	C. carrascoensis	1,000 g (2.2 lb)	[6][20]
Santacrucian	Santa Cruz Fm.	Argentina	Cebidae	Cebinae	Killikaike	K. blakei	2,000 g (4.4 lb)	[6][21]
			Pitheciidae	Callicebinae	Homunculus	H. patagonicus	2,700 g (6.0 lb)	[6][21]
	Pinturas Fm.				Carlocebus	C. carmenensis	3,500 g (7.7 lb)	[6][22]
						C. intermedius		[23]
				Pitheciinae	Soriacebus	S. adrianae		[24]
						S. ameghinorum	1,483 g (3.269 lb)	[6][25]
Friasian	Collón Cura Fm.				Proteropithecia	P. neuquenensis	1,600 g (3.5 lb)	[6]
Laventan	Honda Gp.	Colombia	Atelidae	Alouattinae	Stirtonia	S. tatacoensis	5,513 g (12.154 lb)	[6][26]
						S. victoriae	10,000 g (22 lb)	[6][27]
			Cebidae	Saimirinae	Saimiri	S. annectens	605 g (1.334 lb)	[6][28]
						S. fieldsi	768 g (1.693 lb)	[6][29]
					Patasola	P. magdalenae	480 g (1.06 lb)	[6][30]
			incertae sedis	incerstae sedis	Lagonimico	L. conclucatus	595 g (1.312 lb)	[6][31]
			Callitrichidae	-	Micodon	M. kiotensis	400 g (0.88 lb)	[6][32]
			Aotidae	-	Aotus	A. dindensis	1,054 g (2.324 lb)	[6][33]
			Pitheciidae	Callicebinae	Miocallicebus	M. villaviejai	1,500 g (3.3 lb)	[6][34]
				Pitheciinae	Cebupithecia	C. sarmientoi	1,602 g (3.532 lb)	[6][35]
					Nuciruptor	N. rubricae	2,000 g (4.4 lb)	[6][36]
			Atelidae	stem atelid	Mohanamico	M. hershkovitzi	1,000 g (2.2 lb)	[6][37]
Huayquerian	Solimões Fm.	Brazil	Atelidae	Atelinae	Solimoea	S. acrensis	8,000 g (18 lb)	[6][38]
		Brazil  Bolivia	Cebidae	Cebinae	Acrecebus	A. fraileyi	12,000 g (26 lb)	[6][39]
Pleistocene	Cueva del Mono	Cuba	Atelidae	Alouattinae	Paralouatta	P. varonai	8,444 g (18.616 lb)	[6][40]
		Brazil			Cartelles	C. coimbrafilhoi	23,500 g (51.8 lb)	[6]
					Caipora	C. bambuiorum	24,000 g (53 lb)	[6][41] [42]
					Protopithecus	P. bonaeriensis	22,600 g (49.8 lb)	[43]
						P. brasiliensis		[41][44] [45]
					Alouatta	A. mauroi		[46][47]
Holocene	La Jeringa Cave	Dominican Republic	Pitheciidae	Pitheciinae	Antillothrix	A. bernensis	1,500 g (3.3 lb)	[6]
	Long Mile Cave	Jamaica			Xenothrix	X. mcgregori	5,720 g (12.61 lb)	[6][48]
	Trouing Jérémie	Haiti			Insulacebus	I. toussentiana	4,805 g (10.593 lb)	[6][49]

See also

• Evolution of primates
• List of fossil primates
• List of gomphothere fossils in South America
• List of prehistoric mammals
• List of New World monkey species
  • List of primates of Central America
  • List of primates of Colombia
  • List of primates of Peru

References

1. Tejedor et al., 2013, p. 22
2. Rosenberger & Hartwig, 2001, p. 2
3. Lynch Alfaro et al., 2015, p. 519
4. South American Fossil Mammals
5. Bond et al., 2015, p. 538
6. Silvestro et al., 2017, p. 14
7. Seiffert et al., 2020, pp. 194–197
8. Perupithecus at Fossilworks.org
9. Marivaux et al., 2016
10. Canaanimico at Fossilworks.org
11. Branisella boliviana at Fossilworks.org
12. Püschel et al., 2017
13. MacPhee et al., 2003, p. 6
14. Paralouatta marianae at Fossilworks.org
15. Bloch et al., 2016a, p. 243
16. Panamacebus at Fossilworks.org
17. Dolichocebus at Fossilworks.org
18. Tremacebus at Fossilworks.org
19. Mazzonicebus at Fossilworks.org
20. Chilecebus at Fossilworks.org
21. Homunculus at Fossilworks.org
22. Carlocebus carmenensis at Fossilworks.org
23. Carlocebus intermedius at Fossilworks.org
24. Soriacebus adrianae at Fossilworks.org
25. Soriacebus ameghinorum at Fossilworks.org
26. Stirtonia tatacoensis at Fossilworks.org
27. Stirtonia victoriae at Fossilworks.org
28. Saimiri annectens at Fossilworks.org
29. Saimiri fieldsi at Fossilworks.org
30. Patasola magdalenae in the Paleobiology Database
31. Lagonimico conclucatus at Fossilworks.org
32. Micodon kiotensis at Fossilworks.org
33. Aotus dindensis at Fossilworks.org
34. Miocallicebus villaviejai at Fossilworks.org
35. Cebupithecia sarmientoi at Fossilworks.org
36. Nuciruptor rubricae in the Paleobiology Database
37. Luchterhand et al., 1986, p. 1753
38. Solimoea at Fossilworks.org
39. Acrecebus at Fossilworks.org
40. Horovitz & MacPhee, 1999, p. 37
41. Cartelle & Hartwig, 1996
42. Caipora bambuiorum at Fossilworks.org
43. Protopithecus bonaeriensis at Fossilworks.org
44. Halenar & Rosenberger, 2013
45. Protopithecus brasiliensis at Fossilworks.org
46. Tejedor et al., 2008
47. Alouatta mauroi at Fossilworks.org
48. Xenothrix at Fossilworks.org
49. Insulacebus at Fossilworks.org

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. 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. 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. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.015. PMC 5603972. PMID 28874270.
• Rosenberger, Alfred L.; Hartwig, Walter Carl (2001). "New World Monkeys" (PDF). Encyclopedia of Life Sciences: 1–4. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
• Silvestro, Daniele; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Serrano Serrano, Martha L.; Loiseau, Oriane; Rossier, Victor; Rolland, Jonathan; Zizka, Alexander; Antonelli, Alexandre; Salamin, Nicolas (2017). "Evolutionary history of New World monkeys revealed by molecular and fossil data" (PDF). BioRxiv: 1–32. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
• 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.

Specific

• Bloch, Jonathan I.; Woodruff, Emily D.; Wood, Aaron R.; Rincón, Aldo F.; Harrington, Arianna R.; Morgan, Gary S.; Foster, David A.; Montes, Camilo; Jaramillo, Carlos A.; Nathan A. Jud; Douglas S. Jones; Bruce J. MacFadden (2016). "First North American fossil monkey and early Miocene tropical biotic interchange". Nature. 533 (7602): 243–246. doi:10.1038/nature17415. PMID 27096364. S2CID 4445687. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
• Bloch, Jonathan I.; Woodruff, Emily D.; Wood, Aaron R.; Rincón, Aldo F.; Harrington, Arianna R.; Morgan, Gary S.; Foster, David A.; Montes, Camilo; Jaramillo, Carlos A.; Nathan A. Jud; Douglas S. Jones; Bruce J. MacFadden (2016b). "Panamacebus - Supplementary Methods and Results". Nature. 533 (7602): 1–28. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
• Bloch, Jonathan I.; Woodruff, Emily D.; Wood, Aaron R.; Rincón, Aldo F.; Harrington, Arianna R.; Morgan, Gary S.; Foster, David A.; Montes, Camilo; Jaramillo, Carlos A.; Nathan A. Jud; Douglas S. Jones; Bruce J. MacFadden (2016c). "Panamacebus - Supplementary Figures". Nature. 533 (7602): 1–10. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
• Cartelle, Cástor; Hartwig, Walter C. (1996). "A new extinct primate among the Pleistocene megafauna of Bahia, Brazil". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 93 (13): 6405–6409. doi:10.1073/pnas.93.13.6405. PMC 39035. PMID 8692827. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
• Halenar, Lauren B.; Rosenberger, Alfred L. (2013). "A closer look at the "Protopithecus" fossil assemblages: new genus and species from Bahia, Brazil" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution. 65 (4): 374–390. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.07.008. PMID 23972780. Retrieved 2017-09-28.
• Horovitz, I.; MacPhee, R.D.E. (1999). "The quaternary Cuban platyrrhine Paralouatta varonai and the origin of the Antillean monkeys" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution. 36 (1): 33–68. doi:10.1006/jhev.1998.0259. PMID 9924133. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
• Luchterhand, Kubet; Kay, Richard F.; Madden, Richard H. (1986). "Mohanamico hershkovitzi, gen. et sp. nov., un primate du Miocene moyen d' Amerique du Sud". Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences. 303: 1753–1758. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
• MacPhee, R.D.E.; M.A., Iturralde Vinent; Gaffney, E.S. (2003). "Domo de Zaza, an Early Miocene vertebrate locality in south-central Cuba, with notes on the tectonic evolution of Puerto Rico and the Mona Passage" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (3394): 1–42. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
• Marivaux, Laurent; Adnet, Sylvain; Altamirano Sierra, Ali J.; Boivin, Myriam; Pujos, François; Ramdarshan, Anusha; Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo; Tejada, Julia; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier (2016). "Neotropics provide insights into the emergence of New World monkeys: New dental evidence from the late Oligocene of Peruvian Amazonia". Journal of Human Evolution. 97: 159–175. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.05.011. hdl:11336/182832. PMID 27457552. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
• Seiffert, Erik R.; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Fleagle, John G.; Novo, Nelson M.; Cornejo, Fanny M.; Bond, Mariano; de Vries, Dorien; Campbell Jr., Kenneth E. (2020). "A parapithecid stem anthropoid of African origin in the Paleogene of South America". Science. 368 (6487): 194–197. doi:10.1126/science.aba1135. PMID 32273470. S2CID 215550773. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
• Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Rosenberger, Alfred L.; Cartelle, Cástor (2008). "Nueva especie de Alouatta (Primates, Atelinae) del Pleistoceno Tardío de Bahía, Brasil" (PDF). Ameghiniana. 45: 247–251. Retrieved 2017-09-28.

Further reading

• Croft, Darin A (2016). Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys: The Fascinating Fossil Mammals of South America. Indiana University Press. pp. 1–320. ISBN 9780253020949. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
• Fleagle, John G.; Rosenberger, Alfred L. (2013). The Platyrrhine Fossil Record. Elsevier. pp. 1–256. ISBN 9781483267074. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
• Hartwig, W.C.; Meldrum, D.J. (2002). The Primate Fossil Record - Miocene platyrrhines of the northern Neotropics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 175–188. ISBN 978-0-521-08141-2. Retrieved 2017-09-24.