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New Theory on the Origin of Primates

marco_polo · 2010-01-20 19:18:04

New research has strongly argued that the distribution of the major primate groups can be best explained by Mezonic tectonic shifting, beginning with the breakup of Pangea in the Mid Jurassic (And subsequent primate evolution by the breaking up of it successors sub continents, especially Gondwana where the group that went…

20-01-2010 7:18pm

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marco_polo

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New research has strongly argued that the distribution of the major primate groups can be best explained by Mezonic tectonic shifting, beginning with the breakup of Pangea in the Mid Jurassic (And subsequent primate evolution by the breaking up of it successors sub continents, especially Gondwana where the group that went on to become modern primates mainly evolved).

Current concensus places the split sometime in the mid-Cretaceous period, around 85 mya based primarly on molecular clocks. And the oldest known Primate-like fossil mammal thus discovered is Plesiadapis (from the extinct order Plesiadapiformes) is only dated to about 58 MYA.

It is certain to be highly controversial (in an already controversial branch of Palaeontology) and hotly disputed as it pushes some key dates of primate evolution way further back than currently accepted.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100119154710.htm

A new model for primate origins is presented in Zoologica Scripta, published by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The paper argues that the distributions of the major primate groups are correlated with Mesozoic tectonic features and that their respective ranges are congruent with each evolving locally from a widespread ancestor on the supercontinent of Pangea about 185 million years ago.

Michael Heads, a Research Associate of the Buffalo Museum of Science, arrived at these conclusions by incorporating, for the first time, spatial patterns of primate diversity and distribution as historical evidence for primate evolution. Models had previously been limited to interpretations of the fossil record and molecular clocks.

For reference a picture of Pangea in the Late Jurassic circa 150 MYA

And from the Late Cetaceous (circa 95 MYA), a full 10 million years before primate origin according to molecular data. It is immediatly obvious that it begs the question of how the New World Monkeys got to South America which is a major problem for current theories.

Here is a short pdf (a little bit old, from 2000) that sums up current thinking: Lecture on Primate Evolution

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