''Afrotarsius'' is a

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

found in the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

of Africa. The first species to be named, ''Afrotarsius chatrathi'', was named in 1985 on the basis of a single lower jaw from the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

Fayum Faiyum ( ; , ) is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. It is one of Egypt's oldest cities due to its strategic location. Name and etymology Originally ...

, Egypt, and tentatively referred to the

tarsier Tarsiers ( ) are haplorhine primates of the family Tarsiidae, which is the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes. Although the group was prehistorically more globally widespread, all of the existing species are restricted to M ...

family (Tarsiidae). However, this relationship immediately proved controversial, and in 1987 the animal was placed in a separate family Afrotarsiidae related to

simian The simians, anthropoids, or higher primates are an infraorder (Simiiformes ) of primates containing all animals traditionally called monkeys and apes. More precisely, they consist of the parvorders New World monkey, Platyrrhini (New World mon ...

s. A tarsier-like tibiofibula was allocated to ''Afrotarsius'' in 1998, but the identity of this bone is controversial. In 2010, a second species of the genus, ''Afrotarsius libycus'', was named from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

of Dur At-Talah, Libya, on the basis of isolated upper and lower teeth. Features of these teeth were interpreted as additional evidence for a relationship between ''Afrotarsius'' and anthropoids. A second afrotarsiid genus, '' Afrasia'', was named in 2012 from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar. In the same paper, Afrotarsiidae was placed together with the Asian

Eosimiidae Eosimiidae is the possible family of extinct primates believed to be the earliest simians. Taxonomy When they were discovered, the possibility that eosimiids were outside and ancestral to simians was considered (Culotta 1992), but subsequent ...

in an infraorder Eosimiiformes, in the simians. However, some studies indicate that it should be placed in

Tarsiiformes Tarsiiformes are a group of primates that once ranged across Europe, northern Africa, Asia, and North America, but whose extant species are all found in the islands of Southeast Asia. Tarsiers (family Tarsiidae) are the only living members of ...

Evolutionary history

References

Literature cited

* * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4690324 Eocene primates Eocene mammals of Africa Eocene genus first appearances Oligocene extinctions Oligocene primates Oligocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric primate genera Fossil taxa described in 1985