''Teilhardina'' (, ) was an early

marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera ''Callithrix'', ''Cebuella'', ''Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmoset" is ...

-like

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 huma ...

that lived in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

during the Early

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

epoch, about 56-47 million years ago. The paleontologist

George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the Modern synthesis (20th century), modern ...

is credited with naming it after the French paleontologist, Jesuit and philosopher

Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and ...

Paleobiology

Carbon isotope excursion suggests that the Asian ''Teilhardina asiatica'' is the oldest member of the genus; the youngest is the North American ''Teilhardina brandti''. However finds in Wyoming suggest ''Teilhardina'' may have originated in North America. There are four hypotheses that have been proposed to try and explain the geographic distribution: # Africa was the origination of the primates and then they dispersed to Europe- Greenland and finally North America. # Primates originated in North America then dispersed to Asia through the Bering route and later passed through Greenland to finally reach Europe. # Primates originated in Asia or Africa and dispersed through North America and finally reaching western Europe. # Asia was the primate’s origination, they then dispersed eastward towards North America and westward to Europe. At one point a hypothesis arose that the primates may have originated in India prior to the plate collision with Asia near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary and they spread into Asia afterwards. These hypotheses were re-evaluated using new morphological evidence and earliest records of ''Teilhardina'' species from the continents concerned. The researchers concluded that none of the hypotheses fit the pattern that had emerged from their studies. It is now believed that at the beginning of the

Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum The Paleocene–Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), alternatively (ETM1), and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or "", was a time period with a more than 5–8 °C global average temperature rise across the event. This climate event o ...

''Teilhardina'' dispersed from east to west. The earliest primates migrated across the Turgai Straits from South Asia to Europe, finally dispersing to North America through Greenland.

Taxonomy

Although ''Teilhardina'' has been usually assigned to

Omomyidae 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 ...

, it has also been recovered as

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

, with ''T. belgica'' and ''T. asiatica'' nested as the basalmost

haplorrhine Haplorhini (), the haplorhines (Greek for "simple-nosed") or the "dry-nosed" primates, is a suborder of primates containing the tarsiers and the simians (Simiiformes or anthropoids), as sister of the Strepsirrhini ("moist-nosed"). The name is so ...

s, and others being recovered as anaptomorphine

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 (and thus more closely related to the tarsiers than to simians). ''T. crassidens'' has been referred to the genus '' Baataromomys'', but has also been assigned to the new genus '' Bownomomys'' along with ''T. americana''.

Species

''Teilhardina magnoliana'' is the earliest known

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

; its fossil was first discovered in the US state of

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. It was a tree-dwelling fur-covered tiny creature with a long, slender tail; the tail was significantly longer than the body. The discoverer,

K. Christopher Beard K. Christopher Beard is an American paleontologist, an expert on the primate fossil record and a 2000 MacArthur Fellowship "Genius" Award Winner. Beard's research is reshaping critical debates about the evolutionary origins of mammals, including ...

of the

Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. Housing some 22 millio ...

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), posited that ''Teilhardina magnoliana'' ancestors crossed the

land bridge In biogeography, a land bridge is an isthmus or wider land connection between otherwise separate areas, over which animals and plants are able to cross and Colonisation (biology), colonize new lands. A land bridge can be created by marine regre ...

from

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

to the Americas, possibly more than 55.8 million years ago, although the age of the discovered fossil is a matter of disagreement. The animal weighed approximately one ounce.Nickerson, C. 2008
A long trek for ancient mini monkeys
''The Boston Globe''

References

External links

3 March 2008; retrieved 22 August 2008 {{Taxonbar, from1=Q3278562, from2=Q3282859 Prehistoric primate genera Eocene primates Cenozoic mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1940 Prehistoric mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 2008 Taxa named by George Gaylord Simpson Fossil taxa described in 1993 Fossil taxa described in 2004