The oldest primate Flashcards
When did people find an exciting 55 million year old fossil?
2013, it’s the oldest primate fossil that exists.
What is a primate?
Primates are a group of mammals that include Monkeys, Apes, Tarsiers and Humans.
What is a scientific journal?
A scientific journal is a collection of articles written by scientists about their research. The articles are peer reviewed.
What does peer reviewing mean?
Peer reviewing is where other scientists that aren’t involved in your work but are experts in this particular area of research, check the work.
How big was the earliest known primate?
It was about 71mm long and weighed 30g, it could fit in your hand.
Who found the old fossil?
A Chinese farmer found the fossil and then showed it to a scientist. A 10-year quest then began to solve the mysteries locked within the remains.
What did Dr Ni and other Chinese and American experts do to the fossil?
The scientists split apart the rock the fossil was surrounded in. They took accurate measurements and made detailed observations. Then they took the fossil to France. Another scientist used a technique to study the fossil.
What did scientists realise about the fossil?
They realised that the fossil was part of a new species never scene before. They called the species Archicebus Achillies.
What are some of the characteristics of the Archicebus Achillies?
The Archicebus has feet like a small monkey and it’s skeleton has small eye sockets suggesting it was active during daylight.
When was the Archicebus active?
In daylight.
What was the Archicebus’ habitat like?
The Archicebus lived in a time where the earth was full of tropical rainforest. It’s skeleton shows us that it wast active and agile, this means he probably spent t’s time in the tree tops. It’s small teeth suggest that it eats small insects.
How useful if the fossil to contribute to our knowledge of human Evolution?
We don’t know yet weather it will help us with our knowledge. However it is very likely it will.
What is the Archicebus an ancestor of?
Scientists think that the Archicebus is an ancestor of the Tarsier (primate). It’s a small nocturnal animal that live in Asian forests.
What do we now know about the size of early primates?
We know they were smaller that today’s monkeys. Instead they were probably small mammals, scurrying through rainforest canopies.
What has the fossil showed us about the origins of humans?
We now believe that Humans originally came from Asia instead of Africa.
