Parapithecidae
Encyclopedia
Parapithecidae is an extinct family of primates which lived in the Eocene
and Oligocene
periods in Egypt
. Eocene fossils from Burma are sometimes included in the family in addition. They showed certain similarities in dentition to Condylarthra, but had short faces and jaws shaped like those of tarsiers
. They are part of the superfamily Parapithecoidea, equally related to Ceboidea and Cercopithecoidea plus Hominoidea.
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
and Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
periods in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Eocene fossils from Burma are sometimes included in the family in addition. They showed certain similarities in dentition to Condylarthra, but had short faces and jaws shaped like those of tarsiers
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...
. They are part of the superfamily Parapithecoidea, equally related to Ceboidea and Cercopithecoidea plus Hominoidea.
Genera
- ApidiumApidiumThe genus Apidium is that of at least three extinct primates living in the early Oligocene, roughly 36 to 32 millions years ago. Apidium fossils are common in the Fayoum deposits of Egypt...
Osborn, 1908 - ArsinoeaArsinoeaArsinoea is an extinct genus of primates of which there is one known species....
Simons, 1992 - BiretiaBiretiaBiretia is an extinct genus of Old World monkey, of the extinct family Parapithecidae. Fossils are found from Late Eocene strata of Egypt....
Bonis et al., 1988 - ParapithecusParapithecusParapithecus is an extinct genus of primates. There are two known species.-Species:*†Parapithecus fraasi Schlosser 1910*†Parapithecus grangeri Simons 1974...
Schlosser, 1910 - QatratiaQatratiaQatratia is an extinct genus of primates. There are two known species.-Species:*†Qatratia fleaglei Simons & Kay, 1983*†Qatratia wingi Simons & Kay, 1983...
Simons & Kay, 1983