Tremacebus is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian in the SALMA classification). The type species is T. harringtoni.

Tremacebus
Temporal range: Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian)
~21.0–17.5 Ma
Skull of Tremacebus harringtoni
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Aotidae
Genus: Tremacebus
Hershkovitz, 1974
Species:
T. harringtoni
Binomial name
Tremacebus harringtoni
(Rusconi, 1933)

Description

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Tremacebus was about 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length, and would have resembled a modern night monkey, to which it may have been related,[1] though possibly a stem aotid.[2] However, its eyes appear to have been smaller than the modern species, CT scans of the cranium suggest a relatively small olfactory bulb and poor sense of smell, compared with night monkeys. These features suggest that it may not have been nocturnal.[3] It had an estimated body mass of 1.8 kg (4.0 lb).[2]

Only a few fossils have been found, including a skull from the Sarmiento Formation, Patagonia.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 289. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  2. ^ a b Silvestro, Daniele; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Serrano Serrano, Martha L.; Loiseau, Oriane; Rossier, Victor; Rolland, Jonathan; Zizka, Alexander; Antonelli, Alexandre; Salamin, Nicolas (2017). "Evolutionary history of New World monkeys revealed by molecular and fossil data" (PDF). BioRxiv: 1–32. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
  3. ^ Kay, Richard (2002). "Tremacebus harringtoni, Fossil Primate". Digimorph. UT Austin. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  4. ^ Tremacebus at Fossilworks.org
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