''Cantius frugivorus'' is a species of adapiform

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...

that lived in North America during the early

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

Morphology

This

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

had a

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolog ...

of . The

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

s are small and vertical in ''Cantius frugivorus'', and the canines are prominent. The mandibular symphysis is unfused and this was most likely a diurnal species. ''Cantius frugivorus'' had an average body mass of around .

Diet

Based on the dental morphology of ''Cantius frugivorus'', it most likely had a

frugivorous A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance an ...

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

Locomotion

The limb bones of ''Cantius frugivorus'' suggest it moved by

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

quadrupedalism Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor ...

and leaping.

References

External links

* Fleagle, J.G. 1999. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press: San Diego. * http://www.talkorigins.org/pdf/faq-transitional.pdf
Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4095921 Prehistoric strepsirrhines Prehistoric primate genera Eocene primates Ypresian life Wasatchian Eocene mammals of North America Paleontology in Colorado Paleontology in New Mexico Paleontology in North Dakota Paleontology in Wyoming Fossil taxa described in 1875