Catarrhini

The parvorder Catarrhini consists of the Cercopithecoidea and Hominoidea (apes). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old World monkeys". Its sister in the infraorder Simiiformes (simians) is the parvorder Platyrrhini. There has been some resistance to directly designate apes as monkeys despite the scientific evidence, so "Old World monkey" may be taken to mean the Cercopithecoidea or the Catarrhini. That apes are monkeys was already realized by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in the 18th century. Linnaeus placed this group in 1758, together with what we now recognise as the tarsiers and the New World monkeys, in a single genus "Simia". The Catarrhini are all native to Africa and Asia. Members of this parvorder are called catarrhines.

Catarrhini

Detroitzoo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AnthropoideaPBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Primates
Life habit
arborealPBDB, for Primates
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 1623 occurrencesOligocene — about 17 of 1623 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 246 of 1623 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 331 of 1623 occurrencesPleistocene — about 951 of 1623 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 2 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 2 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 2 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–24 Mya — about 1 occurrence24–23 Mya — about 1 occurrence23–22 Mya — about 3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 7 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 9 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 9 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 11 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 34 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 37 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 17 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 16 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 15 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 15 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 16 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 19 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 25 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 64 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 105 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 329 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 445 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 426 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

1,623 occurrences of Catarrhini on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,623 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

102 formations

Shungura — 5.14°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.15°N, 36.04°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 3.86°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.23°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.95°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 3.92°N, 36.45°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.22°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.77°N, 36.39°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 3.78°N, 36.33°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.22°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°ENachukui — 3.88°N, 35.71°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.15°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.17°N, 35.77°ENachukui — 4.05°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.76°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EMaboko — 0.13°S, 34.61°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EHadar — 11.17°N, 40.58°EHadar — 11.07°N, 40.77°EHadar — 11.00°N, 40.50°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EOlduvai — 2.97°S, 35.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 32.33°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.45°ESagantole — 10.48°N, 40.60°ESagantole — 10.62°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.45°N, 40.45°ESagantole — 10.47°N, 40.50°EWehaietu — 10.73°N, 40.42°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.48°EWehaietu — 10.72°N, 40.50°EWehaietu — 10.57°N, 40.58°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EChemeron — 0.75°N, 35.88°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°EAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EAdu-Asa — 10.43°N, 40.42°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°EOlorgesailie — 1.58°S, 36.43°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°ENgorora — 0.90°N, 35.85°EJebel Qatrani — 29.45°N, 30.58°EUSNO — 5.35°N, 36.17°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Catarrhini has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 78 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 548 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Catarrhini and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Catarrhini and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,014 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 876 sites for Catarrhini, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

456 references

Each of the 1,623 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 444 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Catarrhini

Credit
Detroitzoo
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAnthropoidea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1812)