Nosmips Temporal range: Late Eocene[1]
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Family: | incertae sedis |
Genus: | †Nosmips Seiffert, 2010 |
Species: | †N. aenigmaticus
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Binomial name | |
†Nosmips aenigmaticus Seiffert, 2010[2]
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Nosmips aenigmaticus is a rare fossil primate known only from 12 teeth. Most teeth were found at a site in the Fayum Depression about 40 miles (64 km) outside Cairo, Egypt.[3]
Nosmips aenigmaticus probably lived 37 million years ago in Africa and has not been successfully classified within any group of primates.[4] In particular, it is distinct from the three main branches of primate found in Africa at the time - anthropoids, adapiforms and lemuriforms. It is weakly associated with the Eosimiidae. Its premolars are specialised and the tooth enamel displays extensive signs of pitting, which would appear to be consistent with a diet of either seeds or fruits with hard pits.[5]