A finding of oligocene primates on the European continent.
In this paper, we provide evidence that contrary to the current view, primates on the European continent did survive the dramatic extinction/origination event across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary 34 million years ago that severely affected the Eurasian mammal communities (the European "Grande Coupure" and the Asian "Mongolian Remodeling"). The survival of a mouse-sized omomyid for at least 2 million years, recorded in two localities of the Lower Stampian (Lower Oligocene) in a well dated stratigraphic series of fluviatile sediments in the north oriental sector of the Ebro Basin (Northeastern Spain), reflects the size-related survival pattern described recently for other coeval mammalian taxa.
Köhler
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Institut de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, c/Escola Industrial, 23, 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
Moyà-Solà
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D000818:Animals; D000883:Anthropology; D005060:Europe; D011323:Primates / Q000145:classification*