Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 29, 2026

Oligopithecidae

Oligopithecidae is an extinct basal Catarrhine family from the late Eocene of Egypt as sister of the rest of the Catarrhines. Its members were probably insectivorous, due to their simple molars and cusp arrangement.

Last revised
May 29, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
229 w
Citations
4
Source
Oligopithecidae
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Primates
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Family: Oligopithecidae
Kay & Williams, 1994
Genera

Oligopithecidae is an extinct basal Catarrhine family from the late Eocene of Egypt (about 37 million years ago) as sister of the rest of the Catarrhines.123 Its members were probably insectivorous, due to their simple molars and cusp arrangement.4

References

References

  1. Nengo, Isaiah; Tafforeau, Paul; Gilbert, Christopher C.; Fleagle, John G.; Miller, Ellen R.; Feibel, Craig; Fox, David L.; Feinberg, Josh; Pugh, Kelsey D. (2017). "New infant cranium from the African Miocene sheds light on ape evolution". Nature. 548 (7666): 169–174. Bibcode:2017Natur.548..169N. doi:10.1038/nature23456. PMID 28796200. S2CID 4397839.
  2. 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. 30 (1–2): 204–226. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1306522. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 89631627.
  3. Stevens, Nancy J.; Seiffert, Erik R.; O'Connor, Patrick M.; Roberts, Eric M.; Schmitz, Mark D.; Krause, Cornelia; Gorscak, Eric; Ngasala, Sifa; Hieronymus, Tobin L. (2013). "Palaeontological evidence for an Oligocene divergence between Old World monkeys and apes" (PDF). Nature. 497 (7451): 611–614. Bibcode:2013Natur.497..611S. doi:10.1038/nature12161. PMID 23676680. S2CID 4395931.
  4. Kay, R. F.; Ross, C.; Williams, B. (1997-02-07). "Anthropoid Origins". Science. 275 (5301): 797–804. doi:10.1126/science.275.5301.797. PMID 9012340. S2CID 220087294.
External links