Godinot M, Mahboubi M
Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (CNRS, URA 327), Université Montpellier, France.
Nature. 1992 May 28;357(6376):324-6. doi: 10.1038/357324a0.
The record of early fossil Simiiformes (Anthropoidea) from the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has increased dramatically in recent years. We report here the discovery of a new, diminutive and much older (Early or Middle Eocene) simian from an Algerian locality, Glib Zegdou. This species is smaller than any other living or fossil African simiiform. Derived similarities shared with Aegyptopithecus suggest that the new genus is more closely related to propliopithecines than to oligopithecines, implying that these two subfamilies differentiated during the Early Eocene. The new discovery confirms predictions about the great antiquity of Simiiformes and emphasizes a long and endemic African history for higher primates.
近年来，来自非洲和阿拉伯半岛晚始新世和早渐新世的早期化石类人猿（灵长目）记录大幅增加。我们在此报告在阿尔及利亚一个地点——吉利卜泽古发现的一种新的、体型微小且年代更为久远（早始新世或中始新世）的猿类。该物种比任何其他现存或化石类非洲猿类都要小。与埃及猿共有的衍生相似特征表明，这个新属与原上猿科的关系比与渐新猿科更为密切，这意味着这两个亚科在早始新世就已分化。这一新发现证实了关于类人猿古老起源的预测，并强调了高等灵长类动物在非洲悠久且独特的历史。
