Proteopithecidae is an extinct family of primates which lived in the Priabonian (late

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'', " ...

) and probably early Oligocene periods. Fossils that have been found are in the

Jebel Qatrani Formation The Jebel Qatrani Formation (also Gebel Qatrani) is a palaeontological and geologic formation located in the Faiyum Governorate of central Egypt. Conformably overlying the Qasr el Sagha Formation. It is exposed namely between the Jebel Qatrani ...

in Egypt. Currently two genera are recognised, each with a single species, those being '' Proteopithecus sylviae'' and ''

Serapia eocaena Proteopithecidae is an extinct family of primates which lived in the Priabonian (late Eocene) and probably early Oligocene periods. Fossils that have been found are in the Jebel Qatrani Formation in Egypt. Currently two genera are recognised, eac ...

''.Seiffert, Erik & Simons, Elwyn & Fleagle, John & Godinot, Marc. (2010). Paleogene Anthropoids. pages 369-392. In 'Cenozoic Mammals of Africa' (editors Lars Wardelin and William Sanders) University of California Press 6 August 2010 ''Proteopithecus sylviae'' is unusual in having a large degree of sexual dimorphism of the canine teeth, which is unknown in extant primates of a similar (relatively small) size. It was

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 ...

, probably diurnal, probably with a diet of fruit and insects. It weighed around 250 grams. It was the first Eocene anthropoid for which

postcrania Postcrania (postcranium, adjective: postcranial) in zoology and vertebrate paleontology is all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g. of dinosaurs or other extinct tetrapods, consist of partial or isolated sk ...

l remains were found. The hindlimbs are similar to those of

platyrrhines 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 ...

and indicates an animal that would do a considerable amount of running and

pronograde 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 ...

(four limbed) leaping.

Classification

Seiffert et al. (2010) note that Simons, the discoverer of ''Serapia'' originally placed it within the

Parapithecidae Parapithecidae is an extinct family of primates which lived in the Eocene and Oligocene periods in Egypt. Eocene fossils from Myanmar are sometimes included in the family in addition. They showed certain similarities in dentition to Condylarthra, ...

, but in 2001 transferred ''Serapia'' to the Proteopithecidae, a view supported by Gunnell and Miller (2001), Beard (2002), and Seiffert et al. (2004 & 2005a). Kay and Williams (2013, edited by Feagle and Kay) continue to place ''Serapia'' in the parapithecidae as part of a proposed sub-family, Qatraniinae, alongside '' Arsinoea'' and ''

Qatrania Qatrania is an extinct genus of 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 simia ...

'' (they note these all share similar dental features to each other, but they are more primitive than other parapithecidae they also note that the similarity may be because of shared lineage rather than being closely related).Richard F. Kay, Blythe A Williams ''Anthropoid Origins: New Visions (Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects)'', Springer, 2013, page=409

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q33135758 Prehistoric primates Primate families Eocene first appearances Oligocene extinctions Prehistoric mammal families