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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).
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]
About 40 million years ago, the Simiiformes infraorder split into the parvorders Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and Catarrhini (apes and Old World monkeys) somewhere on the African continent. [5] Platyrrhini are currently conjectured to have dispersed to South America on a raft of vegetation across the Atlantic Ocean during the Eocene epoch ...
As in the case of lemurs, the origin of New World monkeys is unclear. Molecular studies of concatenated nuclear sequences have yielded a widely varying estimated date of divergence between platyrrhines and catarrhines, ranging from 33 to 70 mya, while studies based on mitochondrial sequences produce a narrower range of 35 to 43 mya.
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.
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 ]