During the Eocene, the climate in the Arctic was milder than that recorded this Wednesday and the first relatives of primates managed to adapt and live in that place, 52 million years ago, although with limited biodiversity.
Fossils found on Ellesmere Island, Canada, allowed a team of scientists to identify two new types of species, Ignacius dawsonae and Ignacius mckennai, says a study published by the scientific journal Plos One.
The Eocene was a time of intense global warming, so the Arctic Circle was much warmer when these close relatives of primates lived, even though winter darkness dominated half the year, as it does now.
The scientists analyzed fossil fragments of jaws and teeth to identify the new species as close relatives of early primates, which underwent different adaptations to an unusual environment.
Both species are relatively large, a common feature of northern mammals, and have dental features that suggest a diet of hard foods.
The authors believe that food was much more difficult to find during the winter months when foods such as fruit were not available, and they had to resort to nuts and seeds.
Therefore, the teeth and even the jaw muscles of these animals have changed compared to their close mid-latitude relatives.
During the Eocene, the lower latitudes of North America were home to many primitive primates, but these two species are only known from the Arctic.
The discovery adds to previous evidence that this ecosystem experienced limited biodiversity, compared to habitats further south.
The researchers suggest that although the warmer climate allowed certain organisms to migrate north, this movement could be limited by factors such as long periods of darkness.
Source: TSF
