Rooneyia viejaensis


TAXONOMY:

MORPHOLOGY:
Rooneyia viejaensis had a dental formula of 2:1:3:3 on both the upper and lower jaw (Fleagle, 1988). This species possessed a true hypocone (Martin, 1990). This species has a broad, short snout (Fleagle, 1988). The size of the orbits, which are surrounded by a complete postorbital bar, suggest that this species was diurnal (Fleagle, 1988). The infraorbital foramen of this species was small (Conroy, 1990). Two different encephalization quotients have been calculated for this species, 0.97 by Radinsky (1982; cited in Conroy, 1990) and 1.23 by Jerison (1979; cited in Conroy, 1990). The cranial capacity for this species is estimated at around 7.4 cc (Martin, 1990). This species has a braincase which was within the size of extant prosimians (Fleagle, 1988). This species had a bony auditory meatus next to the bulla (Martin, 1990). This species had an average body mass of around 1.4 kilograms (Fleagle, 1988).

RANGE:
Rooneyia viejaensis was found in North America, more specifically in the state of Texas and occurred during early Oligocene (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.

Jerison, H. 1979. Brain, Body, and Encephalization in Early Primates. Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 8, 615-635.

Radinsky, L. 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.

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

Last updated: November 16, 2001

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