Karanisia Explained

Karanisia is an extinct genus of strepsirrhine primate from middle Eocene deposits in Egypt.

Classification

Two species are known, K. clarki^{[1] [2]} and K. arenula.^[3] Originally considered a crown lorisid, more comprehensive phylogenetic analyses suggest it is a more basal to crown lorisiformes.^{[4] [5]}

K. clarki was described in 2003 from isolated teeth and jaw fragments found in Late Middle Eocene (c. 40 million years ago) sediments of the Birket Qarun Formation in the Egyptian Faiyum.^{[6] [7]} The specimens indicate the presence of a toothcomb, making it the earliest fossil primate to indisputably bear this trait, which is unique to all living strepsirrhines (lemurs, lorises, and galagos).

In 2010 a second species, K. arenula, was described in the journal Nature from Late Middle Eocene rocks in Libya.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Karanisia . The Paleobiology Database . 2009-07-08.
2. Web site: Karanisia clarki . ZipCodeZoo.com . 2009-07-08 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120609212828/http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/K/Karanisia_clarki/ . 2012-06-09 .
3. Jaeger . J. J. . Beard . K. C. . Chaimanee . Y. . Salem . M. . Benammi . M. . Hlal . O. . Coster . P. . Bilal . A. A. . Duringer . P. . Schuster . 10.1038/nature09425 . M. . Valentin . X. . Marandat . B. . Marivaux . L. . Métais . E. . Hammuda . O. . Brunet . M. . Late middle Eocene epoch of Libya yields earliest known radiation of African anthropoids . Nature . 467 . 7319 . 1095–1098 . 2010 . 20981098 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130308211417/http://www.carnegiemnh.org/assets/science/vp/Late%20middle%20Eocene%20epoch%20of%20Libya%20yields%20earliest%20known%20radiation%20of%20African%20anthropoids.pdf . 2013-03-08 . 2010Natur.467.1095J . 4431606 .
4. Seiffert . E. R. . Early primate evolution in Afro-Arabia . 10.1002/evan.21335 . Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews . 21 . 6 . 239–253 . 2012 . 23280921. 38884357 .
5. Gregg F. Gunnell; Doug M. Boyer; Anthony R. Friscia; Steven Heritage; Fredrick Kyalo Manthi; Ellen R. Miller; Hesham M. Sallam; Nancy B. Simmons; Nancy J. Stevens; Erik R. Seiffert (2018). "Fossil lemurs from Egypt and Kenya suggest an African origin for Madagascar's aye-aye". Nature Communications. 9: Article number 3193. doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05648-w.
6. Seiffert . E.R. . Simons . E.L. . Attia . Y. . 10.1038/nature01489 . Fossil evidence for an ancient divergence of lorises and galagos . Nature . 422. 6930 . 421–424. 2003 . 12660781. 2003Natur.422..421S . 4408626 .
7. Book: Gould, Lisa . Sauther, Michelle L. . Lemurs: Ecology and Adaptation (Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects) . 1 . . 2006 . 7–8 . 978-0-387-34585-7 .