Necrolemur
Encyclopedia
Necrolemur is an extinct genus of primate
.
The 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long creature closely resembled a tarsier
; it was a nocturnal hunter with very large eye
s and ear
s. Necrolemur had sharp teeth, which it probably used to bite through insect
armor. Like modern tarsiers, it also possessed long fingers and toes, and a lengthy, balancing, tail. It was also characterised by a short face, a narrow gap between the eyes, a tubular ectotympanic
and a relatively large brain.
Fossils of this animal have been found in western Europe.
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
.
The 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long creature closely resembled a tarsier
Tarsier
Tarsiers are haplorrhine primates of the genus Tarsius, a genus in the family Tarsiidae, which is itself the lone extant family within the infraorder Tarsiiformes...
; it was a nocturnal hunter with very large eye
Eye
Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement...
s and ear
Ear
The ear is the organ that detects sound. It not only receives sound, but also aids in balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system....
s. Necrolemur had sharp teeth, which it probably used to bite through insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
armor. Like modern tarsiers, it also possessed long fingers and toes, and a lengthy, balancing, tail. It was also characterised by a short face, a narrow gap between the eyes, a tubular ectotympanic
Ectotympanic
The ectomtympanic is a bone that suspends the eardrum in mammals. It is homologus with the angular....
and a relatively large brain.
Fossils of this animal have been found in western Europe.
External links
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/1304818 and http://jpaleontol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/57/6/1321 Marc Godinot and Marian Dagosto: Astragalus of Necrolemur, Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 57, No. 6 (Nov. 1983), pp. 1321-1324
- Marian Dagosto: The distal tibia of primates with special reference to the omomyidae, International Journal of Primatology Vol. 6, No. 1 (Feb. 1985), pp. 45-75, ISSN 0164-0291, DOI 10.1007/BF02693696
- Alfred L. Rosenberger: In Favor of the Necrolemur-Tarsier Hypothesis, Folia Primatologica 1985;45:179-194, DOI: 10.1159/000156227