Necrolemur antiquus


TAXONOMY:

MORPHOLOGY:
Necrolemur antiquus had a dental formula of 2:1:3:3 on the upper jaw (Fleagle, 1988) and 0:1:4:3 on the lower jaw (Martin, 1990). The anterior lower teeth had grooves which are an indication that these teeth were used for grooming as in extant strepsirrhines (Schmid, 1983; cited Martin, 1990). This species had molars with cusps that were low and rounded and the enamel had elaborate crenulations (Fleagle, 1988). The snout of this species was short and narrow (Fleagle, 1988). The orbits of this species were relatively large (Conroy, 1990). This species possessed an auditory meatus (Martin, 1990). The brain of this species had a true lateral sulcus (Radinsky, 1970; cited in Martin, 1990). The cranial capacity for this species was 3.8 cc (Martin, 1990) and the encephalization quotient was 0.79 (Radinsky, 1982; cited in Conroy, 1990). This species had an average body mass of around 320 grams (Fleagle, 1988).

RANGE:
Necrolemur antiquus lived on the continent of Europe and occurred from the late Eocene to early Oligocene (Fleagle, 1988).

DIET:
Based upon dental morphology this was most likely a frugivorous species that may have supplemented its diet with gum (Fleagle, 1988).

LOCOMOTION:
Based upon post cranial remains this species was probably a leaper (Fleagle, 1988).

REFERENCES:
Conroy, G.C. 1990. Primate Evolution. W.W. Norton and Co.: New York.

Fleagle, J.G. 1988. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press: New York.

Martin, R.D. 1990. Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.

Radinsky, L.B. 1970. The Fossil Evidence of Prosimian Brain Evolution. In The Primate Brain. eds. C.R. Noback and W. Montagna. Appleton-Century-Crofts: New York.

Radinsky, L.B. 1982. Some Cautionary Notes on Making Inferences About Relative Brain Size. In Primate Brain Evolution: Methods and Concepts. Eds. E. Armstrong and D. Falk. Plenum: New York.

Schmid, P. 1983. Front Dentition of the Omomyiformes (Primates). Folia Primatol., Vol. 40, 1-10.

Last updated: November 14, 2001

[Primate Evolution] [Origins] [Tree-shrews] [Platyrrhine] [Taxonomy] [Distribution] [Links] [Definitions] [The Primata] [Email Me]