Nosmips
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| Genus: | †Nosmips
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| Species: | †N. aenigmaticus
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| †Nosmips aenigmaticus Seiffert, 2010
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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 outside Cairo, Egypt.[1]
Nosmips aenigmaticus probably lived 37 million years ago in Africa and has not been successfully classified within any group of primates. [2] In particular, it is distinct from the three main branches of primate found in Africa at the time - anthropoids, adapiforms and strepsirrhines. 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. [3]
Name
Nosmips is an anagram of Simpson. The name was chosen to honour paleontologust and anagram enthusiast George Gaylord Simpson.
References
- ^ Odd mosaic of dental features reveals undocumented primate
- ^ Yahia, M. 2010. A new evolutionary mystery. Nature.
- ^ Seiffert, Erik R.; Boyer, Doug M.; Fleagle, John G.; Gunnell, Gregg F.; Heesy, Christopher P.; Perry, Jonathan M. G.; Sallam, Hesham M. (2017-04-10). "New adapiform primate fossils from the late Eocene of Egypt". Historical Biology. 0 (0): 1–23. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1306522. ISSN 0891-2963.