title: Basal anthropoids from Egypt and the antiquity of Africa's higher primate radiation.
abstract: Early anthropoid evolution in Afro-Arabia is poorly documented, with only a few isolated teeth known from before approximately 35 million years ago. Here we describe craniodental remains of the primitive anthropoid Biretia from approximately 37-million-year-old rocks in Egypt. Biretia is unique among early anthropoids in exhibiting evidence for nocturnality, but derived dental features shared with younger parapithecids draw this genus, and possibly >45-million-year-old Algeripithecus, into a morphologically and behaviorally diverse parapithecoid clade of great antiquity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, and Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK. erik.seiffert@earth.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Erik R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Seiffert
authors.forename: Elwyn L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Simons
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Clyde
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Rossie
authors.forename: Yousry
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Attia
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Bown
authors.forename: Prithijit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chatrath
authors.forename: Mark E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mathison
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003817:Dentition; D000076144:Egypt, Ancient; D005580:Fossils; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification; D049690:History, Ancient; D010802:Phylogeny; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013995:Time; D014070:Tooth