Tremacebus

Tremacebus is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian in the SALMA classification). The type species is T. harringtoni.

Tremacebus
Temporal range: Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian)
~21.0–17.5 Ma
Skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Atelidae
Genus: Tremacebus
Hershkovitz, 1974
Species:
T. harringtoni
Binomial name
Tremacebus harringtoni
(Rusconi, 1933)

Description

Tremacebus was about 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length, and would have resembled a modern night monkey, to which it may have been related.[1] However, its eyes appear to have been smaller than the modern species, CT scans of the cranium suggest a relatively small olfactory bulb and poor sense of smell, compared with night monkeys. These features suggest that it may not have been nocturnal.[2]

Only a few fossils have been found, including a skull from the Sarmiento Formation, Patagonia.[3]

References

  1. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 289. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  2. Kay, Richard (2002). "Tremacebus harringtoni, Fossil Primate". Digimorph. UT Austin. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  3. Tremacebus at Fossilworks.org


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