A morphological intermediate between eosimiiform and simiiform primates from the late middle Eocene of Tunisia: Macroevolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of early anthropoids.

Although advanced anthropoid primates (i.e., Simiiformes) are recorded at the end of the Eocene in North Africa (Proteopithecidae, Parapithecidae, and Oligopithecidae), the origin and emergence of this group has so far remained undocumented.

Djebelemur, a tiny pre-tooth-combed primate from the Eocene of Tunisia: a glimpse into the origin of crown strepsirhines.

Background: Molecular clock estimates of crown strepsirhine origins generally advocate an ancient antiquity for Malagasy lemuriforms and Afro-Asian lorisiforms, near the onset of the Tertiary but most often extending back to the Late Cretaceous. Despite their inferred early origin, the subsequent evolutionary histories of both groups (except for the Malagasy aye-aye lineage) exhibit a vacuum of lineage diversification during most part of the Eocene, followed by a relative acceleration in diversification from the late Middle Eocene. This early evolutionary stasis was tentatively explained by the possibility of unrecorded lineage extinctions during the early Tertiary.

New insights into the ear region anatomy and cranial blood supply of advanced stem Strepsirhini: evidence from three primate petrosals from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia.

We report the discovery of three isolated primate petrosal fragments from the fossiliferous locality of Chambi (Tunisia), a primate-bearing locality dating from the late early to the early middle Eocene. These fossils display a suite of anatomical characteristics otherwise found only in strepsirhines, and as such might be attributed either to Djebelemur or/and cf. Algeripithecus, the two diminutive stem strepsirhine primates recorded from this locality.

Cranial remain from Tunisia provides new clues for the origin and evolution of Sirenia (Mammalia, Afrotheria) in Africa.

Sea cows (manatees, dugongs) are the only living marine mammals to feed solely on aquatic plants. Unlike whales or dolphins (Cetacea), the earliest evolutionary history of sirenians is poorly documented, and limited to a few fossils including skulls and skeletons of two genera composing the stem family of Prorastomidae (Prorastomus and Pezosiren). Surprisingly, these fossils come from the Eocene of Jamaica, while stem Hyracoidea and Proboscidea--the putative sister-groups to Sirenia--are recorded in Africa as early as the Late Paleocene.