Pronycticebus was a genus of adapiformes primates that lived during the middle to middle late Eocene. It is represented by two species, Pronycticebus gaudryi and Pronycticebus neglectus,[1] of which an almost complete specimen was found in Germany,[2] and the Quercy Phosphorites Formation of France.
| Pronycticebus Temporal range: Middle Late Eocene
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Strepsirrhini |
| Family: | †Notharctidae |
| Subfamily: | †Cercamoniinae |
| Genus: | †Pronycticebus G. Grandidier, 1904 |
| Type species | |
| †Pronycticebus gaudryi G. Grandidier, 1904
| |
| Species | |
| |
Morphology
editPronycticebus neglectus possessed what appears to be a grooming claw on the second digit of each foot like modern strepsirhines (Fleagle, 1999) and had a dental formula of 2:1:4:3. Pronycticebus neglectus has a petrosal bulla and a postorbital bar. Pronycticebus neglectus may have been a nocturnal or a crepuscular species, which is suggested by a relatively large orbital size. Pronycticebus neglectus has a relatively large baculum for a species of its size, which had an average body mass of 825 grams.[citation needed]
Range
editPronycticebus neglectus lived in Europe.[2]
Locomotion
editBased upon limb morphology, Pronycticebus neglectus moved by quadrupedalism, leaping, and climbing. This species is less of a leaper than the notharctines and used slow quadrupedalism less than the adapines.[3]
References
edit- ^ Gebo 2002, pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Fleagle 1998, p. 362.
- ^ Fleagle 1998, pp. 362–363.
- Conroy, G.C. 1990. Primate Evolution. W.W. Norton and Co.: New York.
- Martin, R.D. 1990. Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.
- "Pronycticebus neglectus". members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
- http://www.aim.unizh.ch/StaffofInstitute/AffResearchers/uthal/Publications.html[permanent dead link]
- Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
Literature cited
edit- Gebo, D.L. (2002). "Adapiformes: Phylogeny and adaptation". In Hartwig, W.C. (ed.). The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-08141-2. OCLC 47254191.
- Fleagle, J.G. (1998). Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-080-49213-1. OCLC 40543995.