So I was wondering… is there any evidence of there having been primates etc. in North America at any time? Seems to me, that they are pretty adaptable creatures, but they’re mostly restricted to tropical or semi-tropical areas. On the other hand, trees don’t appear to be entirely necessary for them as evidenced by baboons (babboons?), and those Japanese snow monkeys indicate that temperature is not a restriction. So how come there are no primates in NA when there are some in Mexico? I guess Europe also doesn’t have any either. What’s up with that?
There were lemur-like primates in Wyoming back in the Eocene, but that was when it was tropical. There are a (very) few non-human primates in Europe, the Barbary “Apes” (Macaques) that live on the Rock of Gibralter.
Primates do seem to have been mostly tropical through most of their geological history, with very minor colonization of the temperate zones. It’s mere happenstance that the ones that currently live in temperate areas happen to be in the Old World rather than the New.
Actually there are extensive populations of primates in both North America and Europe–over 300 million in North America, and over 700 million in Europe.
But that’s probably not what you meant.
Current population numbers in the hundreds of millions. There are areas so thoroughly infested with homo sap that there’s scarcely anything else to be found.
What?
OK, OK, I’ll leave peacefully…
Dammit Buckner! Just had to say it first, huh?
And, if the legends are to be believed, a handull of sasquatch.
Dominance hierarchies are common among social primates.
Well, I think we’d have to prove it exists before we can try to classify it.
Obviously, you haven’t seen Robin Williams without his shirt on. What more proof do you need?
Weren’t the apes of Gibraltar the only upright apes beyond us and our closest relatives?
–Tim
No. Witness Tom DeLay. QED
Barbary apes are tailless, but they aren’t bipedal. (I mean, it wouldn’t suprise me if they get up on their hind legs for a bit, but I don’t think it’s their habitual form of locomotion.) As far as I know, the only bipedal primates have been the ones in the Family Hominidae, and we’re the only living hominids.
Here’s an article from the New York times that discusses (at least in passing) the disappearance of primates from North America, by the way.
I’ve got news for you, Mexico is in North America.
Wait, wait, wait…the Barbary “apes” are tailless? But I thought they were really monkeys, and that all monkeys have tails. As Rusted Root would sing, it’s the simian way.
I think this answers your question: *… Barbary apes are monkeys of the Macaque family, but were called apes because they have a very small tail, which can be seen only when the animal is handled. … *
Quote from www.wildlife2000.com/animals/barbary-ape.htm. (Although I couldn’t get in there at the moment.)
Floater
And just who “handled” these animals to find that out? Paula Poundstone, maybe?
There have in fact been primates in North America in the distant past. An older group called the Adapids existed in North America and Europe in the Eocene,roughly 55 to 38 million years ago. Adapids resembly living lemurs in terms of size and morphology. Close to 20 genera have been described from North America. Modern lemurs are a considered a sister group to the Adapidae.
The Omomyidae were another group from the Eocene, common in North America, Europe and Asia, with again about 20 genera so far in NA. This group is considered basal to modern day Tarsiers.
The Platyrrhini are the modern day South American monkeys. Their origin is up for debate, as there is no fossil record for basal primates in South America. There are no fossils of anthropoids (modern type primates) in North America. It is not believed that New World monkeys (primates from South and Central America) originated in South America partly because of this. The earliest known fossil is from the late Oligocene (between 30 and 25 million years ago) in Bolivia.
Ameripithicus clintonis, subspecies oralofornicus.
I have handled a barbary ape. Or more accurately, I have been handled by a barbary ape.
They are pretty tame, since they thrive on (illegal) handouts from tourists and taxi drivers. I didn’t know how tame they were until I saw one sitting on the hood of a car and went in for a closer look. I get within a couple of feet, and the damn thing reaches out its arms in the universal “Hold me!” gesture. I move a little closer, and he climbs right onto my shoulder. Then he settles in and starts “grooming” me.
I got a too-close view of his tail. Or lack thereof.
On another visit, one of the critters ran up my female companion’s leg and onto her back. She freaked at first, but then thought it was cute. And while she was grinning at how cute it was, the beast was ransacking her backpack. Made off with a chocolate bar.