Marcelo Tejedor: "The origin and evolution of Neotropical primates"

Talk abstract: The evolutionary history of platyrrhine primates, today widely distributed in the Neotropical Region, has been intensely debated during the past decades. The notable increase in the fossil record has reoriented our previous hypotheses in benefitting from a better knowledge about the origin, diversity, distribution and phylogeny of the platyrrhines in the past, as well as their relationships with the living forms. In light of the recently reported   oldest records of South American primates, from the late Eocene of  Santa Rosa, Peru, the scenario changes and new evidence strongly supports an African origin and dispersal into South America.