Aegyptopithecus.
An early Oligocene fossil dating over 30 million years ago.
It may have been a common ancestor of the catarrhines,
a taxon including Old World monkeys, apes, and humans.
The infraorder Catarrhini includes Old World monkeys, apes, and,
humans, all of which evolved in the Old
World tropics. They are distinguished from the New World monkeys,
infraorder Platyrrhini. Catarrhines
have generally evolved similar derived features, including larger brains,
greater manual dexterity, and improved hand-eye coordination.
General catarrhine characteristics:
- 1.2:1:2:3 dental pattern
(this involves a loss of a premolar
teeth, continuing a general trend of reduced dentition in primates)
- large, complexly organized brains
- excellent hand-eye coordination
Catarrhines are divided into two superfamilies:
- Cercopithecoidea
(Old World Monkeys)
- Hominoidea
(Apes and Humans)
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