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News Release 10-120
New Primate Fossil Found in Saudi Arabia
Researchers discover a new primate fossil suggesting the split between humans and Old World monkeys occurred 29 million years ago
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Saadanius hijazensis is a new genus and species of primate that lived in the Arabian Peninsula 29-28 million years ago. The fossil, found in 2009, preserves most of the face, the front upper portion of the skull, the temporal bone, and the palate, with some of the left and right upper teeth. The specimen was found with the palate and teeth facing upward, imbedded in an iron-rich clastic conglomerate in the middle part of the Shumaysi Formation.
Credit: Iyad S. Zalmout, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
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Videoscan of the face of Saadanius hijazensis, a new genus and species of primate that lived in the Arabian Peninsula during the late Oligocene epoch, 29-28 million years before present.
Credit: Julia Fahlke, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
Still image taken from videoscan of the face of Saadanius hijazensis, a new genus and species of primate that lived in the Arabian Peninsula during the late Oligocene epoch, 29-28 million years before present.
Credit: Julia Fahlke, University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology
Download the high-resolution JPG version of the image. (86 KB)
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