Oldest known primate fossil discovered

DavidBrown said:
A team of paleontologists has found the oldest known primate fossil in China. It is 55 million years old (8 million years older than previous oldest known fossil) and suggests that primates may have originated in Asia sometime relatively soon after the dinosaurs got skunked.
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Actually, much of the above is false. It is the oldest primate fossil in China, and the oldest completely preserved primate fossil in the world, but it is not the oldest primate fossil in the world. Moreover, the fragmentary evidence which already existed demonstrates that the Haplorhini and Strepsirhini were already distinct from one another by 62 mya, indicating that stem primates likely arose prior to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Actually, much of the above is false. It is the oldest primate fossil in China, and the oldest completely preserved primate fossil in the world, but it is not the oldest primate fossil in the world. Moreover, the fragmentary evidence which already existed demonstrates that the Haplorhini and Strepsirhini were already distinct from one another by 62 mya, indicating that stem primates likely arose prior to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
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Not to get in an argument, but I was repeating what the scientific paper said. There is no doubt uncertainty about when the primates actually showed up - the molecular clock from genetics studies suggests that many of the current mammal groups were contemporaneous with the dinos.
 
Oh, I know :) I wasn't calling you wrong, I was just noting that the paper was making incorrect statements about just how significant this find is.

It's still pretty damn significant without the hyperbole the authors were using.
 
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