''Patasola'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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 ( ...

s from the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

(

Laventan The Laventan ( es, Laventense) age is a period of geologic time (13.8 to 11.8 Ma) within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colloncuran and precedes ...

in the

South American land mammal age The South American land mammal ages (SALMA) establish a geologic timescale for prehistoric South American fauna beginning 64.5 Mya (unit), Ma during the Paleocene and continuing through to the Late Pleistocene (0.011 Ma). These periods are referre ...

s; 13.8 to 11.8 Ma). Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of

La Venta La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villahermosa, ...

in the Honda Group of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''Patasola magdalenae''.''Patasola magdalenae''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

Etymology

''Patasola magdalenae'' is named after the mythological

Patasola The Patasola or "one leg" is one of many legends in South American folklore about female monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women. The Patasola appears in the form ...

("one foot"), a forest spirit of the Gran Tolima region of Colombia. The species

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

refers to the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

in which valley the fossils were found.Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.438

Description

Fossils of ''Patasola'', a small insectivorous/frugivorous primate,Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.458 were discovered in both the La Victoria and Villavieja Formations above and below the "Monkey Beds" of the Honda Group, that has been dated to the

, about 13.4 to 11.8 Ma.Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.437Wheeler, 2010, p.133 The type mandible of ''Patasola magdalenae'' is a juvenile specimen.Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.440 The estimated weight of ''Patasola'' was ,Silvestro, 2017, p.14 similar in size to the extant genus ''

Leontopithecus The four species of lion tamarins or maned marmosets make up the genus ''Leontopithecus''. They are small New World monkeys named for the mane surrounding their face, similar to the mane of a lion. Description Living in the eastern rainforests ...

''.Defler, 2004, p.32 The genus is included in the

Callitrichidae 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 fa ...

,Takai et al., 2001, p.290 after an initial description as an intermediate between the Callitrichidae and ''

Saimiri Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím'' ...

''.Tejedor, 2013, p.29

Habitat

The Honda Group, and more precisely the "Monkey Beds", are the richest site for fossil primates in South America.Rosenberger & Hartwig, 2001, p.3 It has been argued that the monkeys of the Honda Group were living in habitat that was in contact with the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

and

Orinoco Basin The Orinoco Basin is the part of South America drained by the Orinoco river and its tributaries. The Orinoco watershed covers an area of about 990000 km2, making it the third largest in South America, covering most of Venezuela and eastern p ...

s, and that La Venta itself was probably seasonally dry forest.Lynch Alfaro et al., 2015, p.520 The authors of the publication about ''Patasola'' however suggests the presence of

rain forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

Etymology

Description

Habitat

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading