Anaptomorphinae is a pre-historic group of primates known from

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 ...

fossils in North America and Europe and later periods of

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

Asia, and are a sub-family of omomyids. The anaptomorphines is a

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

group consisting of the two tribes Trogolemurini and Anaptomorphini. Anaptomorphine radiation in Wyoming, one of the most detailed records of changes within populations and between species in the fossil record, has provided remarkable evidence of

transitional fossil A transitional fossil is any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group. This is especially important where the descendant group is sharply differentiated by gross ...

Description

'' Teilhardina'' is the most primitive of the anaptomorphines with respect to a number of dental features (e.g. four premolars and relatively unreduced canine). Most scientists recognize at least fourteen ''genera'' of anaptomorphine. The probable lineages of ''Tetonius'', ''Absarokius'' and ''Anemorhysis'' evolved from ''Teilhardinia'' or a closely related form from North America. ''Tetonius'' and ''Shoshonius'' have been classified as belonging to the

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 ...

, and are therefore not closely related to human ancestors. The Anaptomorphine population was apparently high during the Early Tertiary. ''Tetonius'' from the Early Eocene was first found in the late nineteenth century and is considered important due to the significance of the find in forming the phylogeny of the primates. The last known animal belonging to the group was ''Trogolemur''. Analyses of over a hundred specimens of omomyid primates recovered in the Wasatch formation in Wyoming, suggest that anaptomorphines never developed the highly specialised molars seen in modern prosimians. Similarly, incisor enlargement was most likely an adaptation for grooming and food manipulation rather than a purely

frugivorous A frugivore ( ) is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance ...

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

diet.

Classification

* Subfamily †Anaptomorphinae Cope, 1883 ** †Trogolemurini *** †'' Sphacorhysis'' Gunnell, 1995 *** †'' Trogolemur'' Matthew, 1909 *** †'' Walshina'' López-Torres, Silcox, and Holroyd, 2018 ** †Anaptomorphini Cope, 1883 *** †'' Absarokius'' Matthew, 1915 *** †'' Anemorhysis'' Gazin, 1958 *** †'' Anaptomorphus'' Cope, 1872 *** †'' Arapahovius'' Savage & Waters, 1978 *** †'' Aycrossia'' Bown, 1979 *** †'' Bownomomys'' Morse et al, 2018 *** †'' Chlororhysis'' Gazin, 1958 *** †'' Gazinius'' Bown, 1979 *** †'' Mckennamorphus'' Szalay, 1976 *** †'' Pseudotetonius'' Bown, 1974 *** †'' Strigorhysis'' Bown, 1979 *** †'' Tatmanius'' Bown & Rose, 1991 *** †'' Teilhardina'' Simpson, 1940 *** †'' Tetonius'' Matthew, 1915

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4751590 Prehistoric primates Mammal subfamilies Paleocene first appearances Eocene extinctions Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Taxa described in 1883 Omomyidae