Plesiadapiforms, the Archaic Primates

Flashcards covering the vocabulary and definitions related to Plesiadapiforms.

Plesiadapiforms

Archaic primates that emerged during the Paleocene epoch, possessing some primate features but lacking others.

Archaic Primates

Plesiadapiforms, which have some but not all primate features.

Plesiadapiform

Means 'almost adapiform,' referring to similarities in molar teeth between some plesiadapiforms and adapiforms (true primates).

Euprimates

True primates, distinguished from plesiadapiforms by morphological differences observed in skeletal remains.

Postorbital Bar

A bony structure seen in extant strepsirrhines that is absent in plesiadapiforms.

Postorbital Septum

A bony structure seen in haplorhines that is absent in plesiadapiforms.

Auditory Bulla

The bony structure enclosing the middle ear; whether it was formed by the petrosal bone in plesiadapiforms is unclear for many specimens.