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Professor Christopher Gilbert Co-Authors Study that May Alter the Primate Fossil Record

Professor Christopher Gilbert, of the Anthropology Department, co-authored a study of a 1.9 million year old fossil monkey in Kenya which provides the first evidence of thumb reduction in the primate fossil record and clarifies the evolution of colobine monkeys. In a new article published in the journal PLOS ONE, a team of scientists from the University of Oregon, Hunter College-CUNY, Lehman College-CUNY, the Graduate Center-CUNY, and the American Museum of Natural History announced the discovery of an important anatomical feature found in a 1.9 million year old fossil monkey specimen from Kenya http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125030 .  “This is not only the first evidence of thumb reduction in the primate fossil record, but it also represents the oldest fossil clearly related to the living African colobus monkeys.  Therefore, this specimen will help clear up many issues in colobine evolution moving forward,” Gilbert said.

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