Dubbed primatomorphs, these species were discovered on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, in sedimentary strata associated with the early Eocene, a period of warmer temperatures.
According to lead author Kristen Miller, a graduate student at the Biodiversity Institute and Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas, primate relatives have never been found at such extreme latitudes as they are generally found in tropical regions around the equator.
The Arctic Circle was much warmer when these close evolutionary cousins of primates lived, a boreal ecosystem that harbored an abundance of early Cenozoic vertebrates including ancient crocodiles, but like today, it was still mostly dark for half the year.
In Miller’s opinion, this ambiguity may have caused both species to evolve more robust teeth and jaws compared to other primate relatives of the time.
Additionally, the researchers noted that both species were slightly larger than their closest relatives further south, a group of cousins of primates called Plesiadapiforms.
Experts believe the adaptations of both Arctic species during a time of global warming show how some animals could likely evolve new traits in response to climate change caused by current human activities.
“It shows how something like a primate or primate relative that is specialized in one environment can change because of climate change,” Miller said.
I think what it’s probably saying is that the range of primates could be expanding with climate change, or at least moving towards the poles instead of the equator, he added.
Life is starting to get too hot there, perhaps we have many taxa moving north and south instead of the intense biodiversity we see at the equator today, he noted.
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