''Homunculus'' is an extinct genus of

New World monkey New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboid ...

that lived in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

. Two species are known: ''Homunculus patagonicus'' and ''Homunculus vizcainoi'', which are known from material found in the

Santa Cruz Formation The Santa Cruz Formation is a geological formation in the Magallanes/Austral Basin in southern Patagonia in Argentina and in adjacent areas of Chile. It dates to the late Early Miocene epoch, and is contemporaneous with eponymous Santacrucian ...

in Argentina. ''H. patagonicus'' was a robustly built, quadrupedal primate, weighing between . Some authors consider '' Killikaike blakei'' to be a junior synonym for ''H. patagonicus'', but others consider the species distinct. While some studies have regarded ''Homunculus'' as a

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor. ...

platyrhine and a member of the family

Pitheciidae The Pitheciidae () are one of the five families of New World monkeys now recognised. Formerly, they were included in the family Atelidae. The family includes the titis, saki monkeys and uakaris. Most species are native to the Amazon region of B ...

, other studies have regarded it as a stem-group platyrhine outside any modern group, which is supported by the morphology of its

nasal turbinates In anatomy, a nasal concha (), plural conchae (), also called a nasal turbinate or turbinal, is a long, narrow, curled shelf of bone that protrudes into the breathing passage of the nose in humans and various animals. The conchae are shaped like ...

, which are dissimilar to those of crown-group platyrhines.

References

Miocene mammals of South America Miocene primates of South America Prehistoric mammals of South America Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1891 Prehistoric monkeys Mayoan Laventan Colloncuran Friasian Santacrucian Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino Golfo San Jorge Basin Sarmiento Formation Austral or Magallanes Basin Santa Cruz Formation {{newworld-monkey-stub