Another Ancient Primate Lineage Sailed to South America

ABOVE: Ucayalipithecus perdita teeth
© ERIK SEIFFERT

With nothing but a floating patch of vegetation and the wind at their backs, a prehistoric primate lineage crossed the Atlantic from Africa to South America millions of years ago, according to a study published April 9 in Science. The new evidence pointing to this accidental migration builds on a previous discovery supporting the idea that another primate group had done the same thing.

In 2015, scientists announced the recovery of primate teeth from animals that lived 36 million years ago in the Peruvian Amazon basin believed to have been the ancestors of New World monkeys. With no fossil evidence of these primates in Europe, North America, or even Antarctica, it appears they did not take the scenic route from Africa, but rather, a more direct path across the sea.

Now, four fossilized molars dating back 32–35 million years ago have been found in ...