Cantius frugivorus

Taxobox | name = "Cantius frugivorus"
fossil_range = Eocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
familia = Nothactidae
subfamilia = Nothactinae
genus = "Cantius"
subgenus = "Neocantius"
species = "C. frugivorus"
binomial = "Cantius frugivorus"

"Cantius frugivorus" was a small adapiformes primate that lived in the early Eocene in North America. It is more advanced then the plesiadapiformes.

Morphology

This species had a dental formula of 2:1:4:3 on both the upper and lower jaw. The incisors are small and vertical in "Cantius frugivorus", and the canines are prominent. The mandibular symphysis is unfused and this was most likely a diurnal species. "Cantius frugivorus" had an average body mass of around 2.8 kilograms.

Diet

Based on the dental morphology of "Cantius frugivorus", it most likely had a frugivorous diet.

Locomotion

The limb bones of "Cantius frugivorus" suggest it moved by arboreal quadrupedalism and leaping.

References

*Fleagle, J.G. 1999. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Academic Press: San Diego.
*http://www.talkorigins.org/pdf/faq-transitional.pdf
* [http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Primates/Strepsirrhini/Nothactinae.htm Mikko's Phylogeny Archive]