Researchers Uncover the Oldest Primate Fossil Yet
5th June 2013
Researchers have uncovered what is now the oldest known primate fossil, pushing our understanding of human evolution seven million years farther into history than we could see before. Discovery of the 55-million-year-old fossil allowed an international team of researchers to identify a previously unknown species, as well as an unknown genus of animals that surrounds it. The fossil sits at a juncture in evolution that helps to explain how humans, apes, and monkeys all diverged from a small primate known as a tarsier.