Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Primates > Purgatoriidae > Purgatorius

Purgatorius

Synonyms: Purgatorius ceratops

Wikipedia Abstract

Purgatorius is the genus of the four extinct species generally believed to be the earliest example of a primate or a proto-primate, a primatomorph precursor to the Plesiadapiformes, dating to as old as 66 million years ago. The first remains (P. unio and P. ceratops) were reported in 1965, from what is now eastern Montana's Tullock Formation (early Paleocene, Puercan), specifically at Purgatory Hill (hence the animal's name) in deposits believed to be about 63 million years old, and at Harbicht Hill in the late Cretaceous and lower Paleocene Hell Creek Formation. Both locations are in McCone County.
View Wikipedia Record: Purgatorius

Species

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0