''Teilhardina'' (, ) is an extinct

marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are twenty-two New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term ...

-like omomyid

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 ...

that lived in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

during the Early

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 ...

epoch, about 56-47 million years ago. The paleontologist

George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo ...

named it after the French paleontologist, Jesuit and philosopher

Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (; 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit, Catholic priest, scientist, palaeontologist, theologian, and teacher. He was Darwinian and progressive in outlook and the author of several influential theologica ...

Paleobiology

Carbon isotope excursion suggests that the Asian ''Teilhardina asiatica'' is the oldest member of the genus; the youngest is the North American ''Teilhardina brandti''. However finds in Wyoming suggest ''Teilhardina'' may have originated in North America. There are four hypotheses that have been proposed to try and explain the geographic distribution: # Africa was the origination of the primates and then they dispersed to Europe- Greenland and finally North America. # Primates originated in North America then dispersed to Asia through the Bering route and later passed through Greenland to finally reach Europe. # Primates originated in Asia or Africa and dispersed through North America and finally reaching western Europe. # Asia was the primate’s origination, they then dispersed eastward towards North America and westward to Europe. At one point a hypothesis arose that the primates may have originated in India prior to the plate collision with Asia near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary and they spread into Asia afterwards. These hypotheses were re-evaluated using new morphological evidence and earliest records of ''Teilhardina'' species from the continents concerned. The researchers concluded that none of the hypotheses fit the pattern that had emerged from their studies. It is now believed that at the beginning of the

Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), alternatively ”Eocene thermal maximum 1 (ETM1)“ and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or “Late Paleocene thermal maximum", was a geologically brief time interval characterized by a ...

''Teilhardina'' dispersed from east to west. The earliest primates migrated across the Turgai Straits from South Asia to Europe, finally dispersing to North America through Greenland.

Taxonomy

Although ''Teilhardina'' has been usually assigned to

Omomyidae Omomyidae is a group of early primates that radiated during the Eocene epoch between about (mya). Fossil omomyids are found in North America, Europe & Asia, making it one of two groups of Eocene primates with a geographic distribution spanning ...

, it has also been recovered as

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, with ''T. belgica'' and ''T. asiatica'' nested as the basalmost

haplorrhine Haplorhini (), the haplorhines (Greek for "simple-nosed") or the "dry-nosed" primates is a suborder of primates containing the tarsiers and the simians (Simiiformes or anthropoids), as sister of the Strepsirrhini ("moist-nosed"). The name is som ...

s, and others being recovered as anaptomorphine omomyids (and thus more closely related to the tarsiers than to simians). ''T. crassidens'' has been referred to the genus '' Baataromomys'', but has also been assigned to the new genus '' Bownomomys'' along with ''T. americana''.

Species

''Teilhardina magnoliana'' is the earliest known

North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...

; its fossil was first discovered in the US state of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. It was a tree-dwelling fur-covered tiny creature with a long, slender tail; the tail was significantly longer than the body. The discoverer, K. Christopher Beard of the

Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland (Pittsburgh), Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by List of people from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, Pit ...

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), posited that ''Teilhardina magnoliana'' ancestors crossed the

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regression, in which sea le ...

from

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

to the Americas, possibly more than 55.8 million years ago, although the age of the discovered fossil is a matter of disagreement. The animal weighed approximately one ounce.Nickerson, C. 2008
A long trek for ancient mini monkeys
''The Boston Globe''

References

External links

3 March 2008; retrieved 22 August 2008 {{Taxonbar, from1=Q3278562, from2=Q3282859 Prehistoric primate genera Eocene primates Cenozoic mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1940 Prehistoric mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 2008 Taxa named by George Gaylord Simpson Fossil taxa described in 1993 Fossil taxa described in 2004 Omomyidae