The discovery of ancient primate remains in what is now Libya may force scientists to rethink the origins of early primates.
A recent study, published in Nature, suggests that primate evolution may have began in Asia, not in Africa as previously thought. The four ancient, palm-sized primates are approximately 38 million years-old and represent three distinct taxonomic families of primates.
The anthropoids were about the size of small rats. No similar primates were known to have lived in Africa at the time. However, the four primate species are related to anthropoids previously discovered in Myanmar, which date to approximately 55 million years-old.
The conventional narrative of primate evolution has placed the origins of apes and monkeys in Africa. Some of the earliest forms of primates, such as the 37 million year old Biretia, have been found in Egypt and Algeria. As a result, North Africa has long been assumed to be the cradle of primate evolution. However, fossil evidence has led some scientists to argue that that early primates first originated in Asia.
The timing and diversity of the new anthropoids suggests two possible scenarios. According to Jean-Jacques Jaeger, a paleontologist at the University of Poitiers in France and co-author of the paper, anthropoids may have evolved in Asia and crossed over into Africa. Once in Africa, early primates flourished and diversified rapidly.
Or anthropoids may have simply emerged much earlier than thought in Africa but remain undiscovered by modern paleontologists.
The idea of an Asian origin for early anthopoid primates is not new. Earlier finds have long suggested that primates may have originated in Asia.
In 1994, K. Christopher Beard, a paleontologist at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and co-author in the paper describing the news primates, described a 45 million year old primate found in southeastern China.
The early primate, dubbed Eosimias, was among the earliest anthropoids discovered at the time. In 1999, Jaeger discovered another ancient primate in Myanmar.
More recently, the discovering of 54 million year old primate remains in India extended the record of anthropoid primates back much further than the fossils from Africa.
Most scientists still argue that primate evolution began in Africa; but, the new fossil evidence has reignited debate over the topic.
