Omomyid
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| iOmomyids
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None extant |
Omomyids (members of the extinct taxon Omomyidae) lived about 34 to 50 million years ago during the Eocene and Oligocene era. Fossils of omomyids are found in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They are one of two groups of known Eocene primates, the other being the adapids (Adapidae). The Eocene primates are the earliest known primates. Some of the classifying features of the omomyids include large eye orbits, long grasping fingers, and a short snout. They weighed less than a quarter of a pound (about 100 grams). These extinct creatures were likely nocturnal, with large eyes for seeing better at night. Like most modern-day primates, the omomyids used their long fingers to climb trees. They had small mouths, which means it is likely that they ate insects for their daily diet. Some scientists believe that omomyids are the ancestral form of haplorrhines, a group that includes tarsiers and simians (monkeys and apes, including humans), while others believe they were an evolutionary dead end, or an offshoot related only to the tarsiers.
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| Extant primate families by suborder |
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| Strepsirrhini: Cheirogaleidae · Lemuridae · Lepilemuridae · Indriidae · Daubentoniidae · Lorisidae · Galagidae
Haplorrhini: Tarsiidae · Cebidae · Aotidae · Pitheciidae · Atelidae · Cercopithecidae · Hylobatidae · Hominidae |
