Palaeopropithecus
| Palaeopropithecus | |
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| Life restoration of Palaeopropithecus ingens | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Strepsirrhini |
| Family: | †Palaeopropithecidae |
| Genus: |
†Palaeopropithecus G. Grandider, 1899 |
| Species | |
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| Subfossil sites for Palaeopropithecus red = P. kelyus; green = P. ingens; blue = P. maximus | |
Palaeopropithecus was one of three recently extinct genera of sloth lemur that was found on Madagascar, and were closely related to living lemur species found there today. There were three known species, Palaeopropithecus ingens, P. maximus, and P. kelyus. New radiocarbon dates indicate that these large sloth lemurs may have still been living around 1500 CE. It is thought that Palaeopropithecus ingens is mentioned in Malagasy legends as the tretretretre or tratratratra.
Palaeopropithecus was long believed to be an aquatic creature, swimming with its eyes, ears and nostrils just above the water. However, this theory was based on misattributed postcranial remains. Charles Lamberton thoroughly refuted this in 1957. Fossils previously assigned to crania of other species were then reassigned to Palaeopropithecus. Postcranial evidence suggests a highly arboreal lifestyle with suspension locomotion, hence the name sloth lemur.
Palaeopropithecus primarily lived in the trees to stay away from predators as well as to gain valuable resources in food and shelter. To survive properly in the trees, Palaeopropithecus had long and powerful arms and legs, each with significantly long fingers and toes to allow them to hang upside down on trees. These were used to swing from branch to branch to travel across the jungle. These long arms made it much easier to grab hold of various trees and branches, making travel at the arboreal level easier. Laurie Godrey stated in The Extinct Sloth Lemurs of Madagascar, "Thus, these animals exhibit the odd behavioral combination of being both specialized leapers and adept climbers and hangers." The long arms of Palaeopropithecus had hook like extremities on their hands and feet. This benefited Palaeopropithecus by enabling them to hook their bodies onto the foliage to stabilize themselves as they traversed through the trees. Palaeopropithecus on average weighed between 100-120 pounds. This weight is heavier than most modern lemurs and could potentially have caused the species to fall while hanging on branches, forcing the species to make sufficient use of their long arms and legs to survive.Palaeopropithecus eating habits were different then modern lemurs. The teeth of Palaeoprophithecus indicate that the animal was folivorous to eat leaves and tougher so they can eat hard foods such as nuts and seeds. This helped them fill out a generalized niche where they had multiple food resources to rely on.
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Wikipedia