''Branisella'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 Ceboidea ( ...

from the

Salla Formation Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The nearby settlement of Sa ...

of what is now

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

during the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ...

, approximately 26 million years ago (

Deseadan The Deseadan ( es, Deseadense) age is a period of geologic time (29.0–21.0 Ma) within the Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene to the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It fo ...

), comprising only the species ''Branisella boliviana''.''Branisella''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org Together with the Peruvian genus ''

Canaanimico ''Canaanimico'' is an extinct genus of medium-sized New World monkeys from the Late Oligocene (approximately 26.5 Ma, Deseadan in the SALMA classification) fossiliferous fluvio-lacustrine Chambira Formation of the Ucayali Basin in Amazonian P ...

'', it is the oldest fossil New World monkey discovered.

Classification

Within

platyrrhine 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 Ceboidea () ...

s, this taxon has been interpreted as either a stem platyrrhine not related to any of the living forms, or as a primitive

callitrichine The Callitrichidae (also called Arctopitheci or Hapalidae) are a family of New World monkeys, including marmosets, tamarins, and lion tamarins. At times, this group of animals has been regarded as a subfamily, called the Callitrichinae, of the f ...

. One analysis shows it is sister to the clade of all non-pitheciids and should remain ''

incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''. As ''Branisella'' is currently the only South American primate taxon known until 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 recen ...

, more fossils are needed before its phylogenetic position can be clearly established.

Description

It was found in Bolivia by the paleontologist

Leonardo Branisa Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

, and it was named after him by Hoffstetter, the scientist who first described and classified it in 1969. Morphologically, it is similar to '' Proteropithecus'', an Oligocene primate from Africa, in its reduced upper second premolar and unreduced lower second premolar. This suggests the primitive platyrrhine ancestors of ''Branisella'' came to South America from Africa. Other features, however, suggest that it may have been related to the

omomyid 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 h ...

s, an extinct group of

tarsier Tarsiers ( ) are haplorhine primates of the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes. Although the group was once more widespread, all of its species living today are found in Maritime Southeast ...

-like primates found in North America, among other places. ''Branisella'' has an estimated body mass of . The cheek teeth of ''Branisella'' are very high-crowned, suggesting that it might have been somewhat terrestrial, although this hypothesis cannot be confirmed from bones of the postcranial skeleton (there are none). The known dental specimens show extremely heavy and rapid wear and the first molar tooth is far more worn than the last, suggesting that it included abrasive foods in its diet with very poorly developed cutting edges indicating a diet of fruit. One specimen retains a small part of the orbit and indicates that ''Branisella'' had small eyes and was diurnal.

References

External links

Mikko's Phylogeny Archive

FOSILBOL / PRIMATES
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18156100, from2=Q898567 †Branisella Prehistoric primate genera Prehistoric monkeys Oligocene primates of South America Deseadan Chattian life Paleogene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Fossil taxa described in 1969 Taxa named by Robert Hoffstetter