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The parvorder Catarrhini / k æ t ə ˈ r aɪ n aɪ / (known commonly as catarrhine monkeys, Old World anthropoids, or Old World monkeys) consists of the Cercopithecoidea and apes (Hominoidea). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old World monkeys", (" singes de l'Ancien Monde " in French ).
Possible early ancestors of catarrhines include Aegyptopithecus and Saadanius. 35-20 Ma Proconsul. Catarrhini splits into 2 superfamilies, Old World monkeys (Cercopithecoidea) and apes . Human trichromatic color vision had its genetic origins in this period. Catarrhines lost the vomeronasal organ (or possibly reduced it to vestigial status).
It was discovered in 2009 in western Saudi Arabia near Mecca and was first described in 2010 after a comparison with both living and fossil catarrhines. Saadanius had a longer face than living catarrhines and lacked the advanced frontal sinus (airspaces in the facial bones) found in living catarrhines.
Other stem catarrhines include propliopithecoids, such as Aegyptopithecus, and pliopithecoids, such as Pliopithecus. The closer similarities between Saadanius and crown catarrhines, particularly its ectotympanic, suggest Saadanius of all known fossil primates most closely resembled the last common ancestor of living catarrhines. [ 1 ]
Aegyptopithecus is thought to have been an arboreal quadruped due to the distal articular region of the femur, which is deeper than that of "later" catarrhines. [2] Also, based on overall femoral morphology, A. zeuxis is thought to have been robust. [2] The phalanges of the hands and feet suggest powerful grasping consistent with arboreal ...
Propliopithecoidea is a superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Africa and the Arabian Peninsula during the Early Oligocene about 32 to 29 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Egypt, Oman and Angola.
In 2010, Saadanius was described as a close relative of the last common ancestor of the crown catarrhines, and tentatively dated to 29–28 million years ago, helping to fill an 11-million-year gap in the fossil record. [9] Notable species also include Nsungwepithecus gunnelli and Rukwapithecus fleaglei of the Oligocene. [10]
Dionysopithecidae is an extinct family of fossil catarrhines and the earliest-known and most primitive members of the Pliopithecoidea superfamily, with fossils in Sihong, China dating to 18–17 million years ago for species Dionysopithecus shuangouensis and Platodontopithecus jianghuaiensis.