Dinosaurs and Fossils

Chinese fossils reveal species of thumb-sized primates
At a limestone mine in eastern China, anthropologists have discovered the fossils of two different species of “teeny, tiny primates”, which are smaller than any other known primate on the family tree. These tiny primates lived about 45 million years ago in rain forest areas, feeding on insects and sap. The smallest known primate alive today is the Madagascar mouse lemur, which weighs 28 grams. The smallest of the two primates found would have weighed about 9.5 grams. Researchers also found more fossilized bones from a previously discovered third primate they called “Eosimias”. They claim that Eosimias is an early ancestor of humans. Eosimias and the two newly-discovered primate species lived together about 40 to 50 million years ago in a time where the lower primates split from the higher primates. Lower primates include lemurs and higher primates include chimpanzees, gorillas and humans. Of the two tiny fossils found, the smaller one could be below Eosimias on the evolutionary branch and could be a common ancestor of higher primates and lower primates. The larger of the two fossils is thought to belong to the higher primates. The tiny size of the primates means that they would have foraged at night for food and hid during the day from predators. They would have had features common to all primates – two eyes facing forward and soft hands with which to grab bugs.