Pronycticebus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of primates}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = Pronycticebus
| authority = G. Grandidier, 1904
| fossil_range = Middle Late Eocene
| type_species = †Pronycticebus gaudryi
| type_species_authority = G. Grandidier, 1904
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = {{plainlist|
- P. gaudryi
- P. neglectus}}
}}
Pronycticebus was a genus of adapiformes primates that lived during the middle to middle late Eocene. It is represented by two species, Pronycticebus gaudryi and Pronycticebus neglectus,{{Sfn|Gebo|2002|pp=28–29}} of which an almost complete specimen was found in Germany,{{Sfn|Fleagle|1998|p=362}} and the Quercy Phosphorites Formation of France.
Morphology
Pronycticebus neglectus possessed what appears to be a grooming claw on the second digit of each foot like modern strepsirhines (Fleagle, 1999) and had a dental formula of 2:1:4:3. Pronycticebus neglectus has a petrosal bulla and a postorbital bar. Pronycticebus neglectus may have been a nocturnal or a crepuscular species, which is suggested by a relatively large orbital size. Pronycticebus neglectus has a relatively large baculum for a species of its size, which had an average body mass of 825 grams.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
Range
Pronycticebus neglectus lived in Europe.{{Sfn|Fleagle|1998|p=362}}
Locomotion
Based upon limb morphology, Pronycticebus neglectus moved by quadrupedalism, leaping, and climbing. This species is less of a leaper than the notharctines and used slow quadrupedalism less than the adapines.{{Sfn|Fleagle|1998|pp=362–363}}
References
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
- Conroy, G.C. 1990. Primate Evolution. W.W. Norton and Co.: New York.
- Martin, R.D. 1990. Primate Origins and Evolution: A Phylogenetic Reconstruction. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey.
- {{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/cacajao/pronycticebus_neglectus.html|title=Pronycticebus neglectus|publisher=members.tripod.com|access-date=2014-11-06}}
- http://www.aim.unizh.ch/StaffofInstitute/AffResearchers/uthal/Publications.html{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051126150447/http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/primates/Strepsirrhini/Cercamoniinae.htm Mikko's Phylogeny Archive]
=Literature cited=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book | last1 = Gebo | first1 = D.L. | contribution = Adapiformes: Phylogeny and adaptation | year = 2002 | editor-last1 = Hartwig | editor-first1 = W.C. | title = The Primate Fossil Record | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 978-0-521-08141-2 | oclc = 47254191 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ezm1OA_s6isC&pg=PA21 }}
- {{cite book | last1 = Fleagle | first1 = J.G. | year = 1998 | title = Primate Adaptation and Evolution | publisher = Academic Press | isbn = 978-0-080-49213-1 | oclc = 40543995 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PgiGPYeVN0sC&pg=PA362 }}
{{refend}}
{{Strepsirrhini|S.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7249981}}
Category:Prehistoric primate genera