Undisputed anthropoids appear in the fossil record of Africa and Asia by the middle Eocene, about 45 Ma. Here, we report the discovery of an early Eocene eosimiid anthropoid primate from India, named Anthrasimias, that extends the Asian fossil record of anthropoids by 9 -10 million years. A phylogenetic analysis of 75 taxa and 343 characters of the skull, postcranium, and dentition of Anthrasimias and living and fossil primates indicates the basal placement of Anthrasimias among eosimiids, confirms the anthropoid status of Eosimiidae, and suggests that crown haplorhines (tarsiers and monkeys) are the sister clade of Omomyoidea of the Eocene, not nested within an omomyoid clade. Co-occurence of Anthropoidea, Omomyoidea, and Adapoidea makes it evident that peninsular India was an important center for the diversification of primates of modern aspect (euprimates) in the early Eocene. Adaptive reconstructions indicate that early anthropoids were mouse-lemur-sized (Ϸ75 grams) and consumed a mixed diet of fruit and insects. Eosimiids bear little adaptive resemblance to later Eocene-early Oligocene African Anthropoidea.early Eocene ͉ Eosimiidae ͉ India ͉ Primates ͉ paleontology

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The sedimentary sequences associated with the Deccan Flood Basalts, i.e., infratrappean and intertrappean deposits, are known to yield a diverse assemblage of fauna that includes foraminiferans, ostracods, molluscs, fishes, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, crocodiles, dinosaurs, and mammals. The existing literature debates the exact nature of origin, age, and duration of the Deccan volcanic activity; however, there is a general accord within the geosciences community that the Deccan Flood Basalts bestrode the Cretaceous–Palaeogene Boundary. Within the past few decades, the record of the biotic component (particularly faunal elements) reported from the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences have grown both numerically and taxonomically. Constraining the age of the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences has a direct bearing on the studies that discuss the origin, evolution of the biota in a palaeobiogeographic framework, and also in the context of changes in the palaeoenvironment and palaeoecology. Thus, it becomes important to reinforce the age, environment of the Deccan‐volcano sedimentary sequences, and the origin/affinity of the faunal elements recovered from within these sedimentary deposits. We here reappraise the biotic (with an emphasis on the fauna) evidence in a biostratigraphic, palaeoecologic, and palaeobiogeographic aspect.

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